In this blog series, we are exploring ways to help dance educators foster better connections with their students, so that they can teach more effectively and meaningfully. This blog series features insight from NDEO members who responded to a call for submissions, as well as ideas gleaned from resources used in our OPDI courses for dance educators.
Be honest, dance teachers 鈥� does this scenario seem familiar to you?
You enter the studio on the first day of classes, eager to start working with a new group of elementary age students. Your lessons are as prepared as they can be, your playlist is ready, and your memory bank is full of the knowledge gained from experience in your professional dance career, competitive dance background, or degree in dance. The students enter, you smile and introduce yourself, and jump into the first of many drills, exercises, and activities you have planned. But as class moves along, you start to realize 鈥� the students are not connecting with any of it. The exquisite exercises you meticulously planned aren鈥檛 holding their interest. The words of wisdom passed down from your mentors are going over your students鈥� heads. The brilliant analogies and metaphors you planned fall flat, even with your liveliest and most enthusiastic telling. You see a student stifle a yawn, another fiddle uncomfortably with their shoes, someone asks what time class is over. In the corner, a renegade group of dancers is giggling and chatting, seemingly on the verge of a full-out mutiny of disruptive behaviors. In short, what you are doing is not working - and you have no idea what to do next.
If you鈥檝e ever been in a situation like this, you are not alone. Many dance educators have had this sort of experience, especially new teachers fresh out of high school or college programs, or those making a transition from the professional dance world into studio or K-12 teaching. Working with elementary age dancers can be difficult, and it takes much more than good dance technique to engage students and teach them effectively. Connecting with students is key for good classroom management, student engagement, and positive class culture. But many dance teachers, especially those who do not have much experience with children, might find it difficult at first to make connections with their students and hold their interest in class.
One does not have to look far to find ample complaints about 鈥渒ids today,鈥� in the classroom and in the dance studio. It may be true that teachers are facing unique issues with student behavior, engagement, and commitment - and there may be good reasons for that. This generation of students (and their parents) navigated the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, which may have stunted or outright altered their development on many different fronts. Nicole Heikkila-Popkin, Dance Instructor in Michigan, observed this in her class during the 2023-2024 season. 鈥淭his past year, my 6-7 year olds were the 'hardest,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淲hile I reflect, these students were at a critical social age of 2-3 during the pandemic and some had just been turned to a screen and lost important socialization time with kids of their age during these years. The problem I ran into most was that they were trying to socialize with others in the class, but were doing it inappropriately - dragging their friends, trying to make a mess for attention, etc.鈥�
Many communities and families are still experiencing pandemic fallout, and the social, emotional, and economic impact of that trauma will be felt for years to come. Technology and social media have changed students鈥� expectations for entertainment and interaction, leading to potential challenges with impulse control, engagement, and sensory processing. As more kids spend longer hours in structured childcare settings and have a robust schedule of activities (including dance!), they spend less time on unstructured and independent play, which is critical for their ability to self-regulate and make decisions.
Without a doubt - this generation of students is different, and the tools and teaching methods that were passed down to us by our own dance teachers may not be as effective as we鈥檇 like. Some dance educators may be quick to throw up their hands when faced with this challenge. They may be tempted to blame the kids, the parents, or the school system, writing some students off as 鈥渦nteachable鈥� when traditional methods don鈥檛 work. They may feel frustrated by an initial inability to connect with students, or they may be hurt when students do not express interest in learning traditional exercises or mastering the complexities of dance techniques. They may even start to doubt their abilities as a teacher, their calling to dance education, or the legacy that they inherited from their teacher.
The reality is that to be an effective dance educator, one must have an understanding of child development and learning processes. To effectively plan and deliver quality dance instruction, a teacher must know what concepts and skills are appropriate at each age and stage of development. They must also know how to communicate effectively with children, get and hold their attention, and keep them engaged in the learning process.
Too often in dance education, children are treated as mini-professional dancers. Young students are lined up at the barre for long sequences of 辫濒颈茅蝉 and tendus, expected to master skills that require complex coordination of arms, legs, and head, and given choreographic themes that are too mature for them to understand or express authentically. From a child development perspective, however, children benefit from progressive training that introduces one part of a skill at a time, slowly building to complex patterns. They benefit from opportunities for guided improvisation and play, which helps them understand what they are learning, make connections, and express themselves. And mature choreographic themes can take a toll on children鈥檚 mental and emotional health.
Sometimes, children are taught this way intentionally, with the goal of winning competitions or training future stars. But more often than not, teachers use these kinds of methods because it is all they know. They are teaching as they were taught - or perhaps more specifically, how they remember being taught. But how many of us really remember the details of our earliest dance classes? We may remember a few of our favorite movements, or the costume we wore for the recital, or how much we loved our teacher. But we likely don鈥檛 remember - nor did we understand at the time - the nuances of the pedagogy that was used in those classes. It鈥檚 more likely that we start to remember the specifics of our classes from later in our training, and it can be those memories that we rely on when we start designing our own lesson plans. This can be great if we are teaching older and more experienced dancers, but it can be detrimental if we are applying these advanced teaching methods to our work with young students.
To help today鈥檚 students succeed, we have to find ways to connect with them - and that might mean letting go of some of the ways that we were taught as young dancers. It can be hard to let go of the past, especially if we feel that the pedagogies and teaching methods of the time were effective for us. But we can honor that history, while also realizing that everything must evolve. It is vital that we as dance educators allow for the evolution of the field to better support today鈥檚 students. This evolution could include changing everything from how we interact with students, to how we plan our lessons and structure our classes, to the content that we teach. It may look different for every teacher, depending on their own experience and skill set, the students they are teaching, and the setting in which they teach. For Fedra Tavia Hunte, a Dance Educator in Ohio, this evolution has meant coming to understand what her students are going through in their lives outside the studio and adjusting her classes accordingly. She says that her most challenging group to work with are older beginner dancers, aged 12 to 16. 鈥淭hese students usually struggle with very low self-esteem and motivation,鈥� she finds. 鈥淭hey take a longer time to come out of their shell. What has worked best for me is patience, and remembering that less is more. These students are slower learners and require more collaborative learning to get them going. Over the years, I鈥檝e found that focusing only on technique classes has proven difficult. These students require more explorative dance classes combined with introductory techniques for whichever dance styles they are learning to help them get over their insecurities. They eventually blossom but it takes time.鈥�
Some dance teachers are fortunate enough to study dance pedagogy and teaching methods as part of their training or college programs. They may even take classes in child development or get hands-on field training under the supervision of a mentor or professor. But many more teachers go into the studio without this level of education and support. In fact, many of us might not even know what we are missing until it feels too late - until we find ourselves in front of the class, watching everything fall apart despite our best efforts.
It is vital that, even if it is difficult for us as dance teachers, we continue finding ways to reach and connect with this new generation of students. Tovah Bodner Muro, Dance Educator and Department Chair at Jacqueline M Walsh High School for the Arts in Rhode Island, reminds us that these relationships can be life changing for students: 鈥淚鈥檝e had so many challenging groups of students in my 19+ year of teaching! My advice is to stick with it and fight to build relationships. My most challenging students have become the ones who show up to concerts and seek me out for hugs. Many of them are tough nuts to crack but that's because history has taught them to build walls for protection. Keep pushing them to be better, and do more, but love them when they struggle and let them know that's ok too.鈥�
Of course, it鈥檚 never too late to improve your skills, and at NDEO we believe in the value of lifelong learning for all dance educators. If you are feeling as though you can鈥檛 connect with your students, or don鈥檛 know how to engage young dancers in the dance studio, we have tools and resources that can help:
- Sign up for this Online Professional Development Institute Courses (OPDI) course:
- Other resources:
Photo credits (in order of appearance): Rachel Rugh, photo courtesy of The Dance Foundation, Photos courtesy of iDance Ministry and the Hip Hop Experience Dance Curriculum, Rikki Ziegelman, BALLROOM BASIX USA, INC.庐