MA Dance Pedagogy

I've been focusing a little on behaviour change whilst reading for my lit review, and I came across some real light bulb moments about theories I already used in my professional practice without even realising! I have been studying the idea that in sports and exercise we normally use operant conditioning to change behaviour. The type of learning where behaviour is controlled by consequences. B.F Skinner looked at the idea that classical conditioning (stimulus + involuntary reflex, ie. the most classic experient where a dog is trained to salivate at the sound of the bell, because the bell is rung every time before food comes out) is too simple to be the "complete explanation of complex human behaviour" His ideas were rooted in his belief that the best way to understand behvaiour "is to look at the causes of an action and its consequences." From the article "Skinner - Operant Conditioning" by Saul Mcleod, last updated 2015 https://www.simplypsychology.or...

After catching up with Helen about where I am with the project, we talked about the possible revision of my title of the project, to allow my to focus on what I am trying to learn. My title relates to styles and approaches of an adult dance exercise class - however what I've really been researching and what has been taking my interest is more to do with motivation, keeping people interested and enjoying classes, how I can improve my practice to create more enjoyment in my classes and the social aspect of classes. We also looked at a couple of my research methods which might conflict with the universities ethical conduct guide. For exampe I had thought about having someone observe me teaching a class, but Helen explained that it would still be a bit of a murky situation in regards to ethics due to the class participants even if they were not being watched specifically. We talked instead about me doing my own observation of my own teaching, alongside observing other teachers in t...