Abstract
Quality of life is intimately connected to quality of working life, which has many nuances, including one’s desire to perform their work with excellence. Thirty-five teachers in six countries (Brazil, Canada, Jamaica, Portugal, Turkey, and the United States) participated in a study about contrasting experiences of “effectiveness” and “ineffectiveness.” The study employs a qualitative research methodology informed by phenomenological hermeneutics, experiential inquiry, and interpretive biography. Data include 70 teaching stories and additional material provided by participants through email dialogue. Participants’ narratives about their teaching yielded five categories of description (bodily experiences, emotions and feelings, metaphysical and naturalistic perceptions, interactions with students and colleagues, and self-assessment) and three experiential themes. Meanings are amplified and presented through poetic depiction, followed by discussion of emergent themes of complexity, transformation, and embodiment. As a whole, the study celebrates the complex and infinite possibilities of both dance teaching and the quality of dance teaching life as embodied transformation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Åkerlind, G. S. (2007). Constraints on academics’ potential for developing as a teacher. Studies in Higher Education, 32(1), 21–37.
Baldwin, T. (Ed.). (2004). Maurice Merleau-Ponty: Basic writings. London: Routledge.
Bond, K. (2001). “I’m not an eagle, I’m a chicken”: Young children’s perceptions of creative dance. Early Childhood Connections, 7(4), 41–51.
Bond, K. (2003). Meaning in dance. Doctoral seminar, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Bond, K. (2017). “Boys are morons … Girls are gross:” Let’s dance! In W. Oliver & D. Risner (Eds.), Dance and gender: An evidence-based approach (pp. 135–157). Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida.
Bond, K. (2018). “Me, a tree”: Young children as natural phenomenologists. In S. Fraleigh (Ed.), Back to the dance itself: Phenomenologies of the body in performance (pp. 205–232). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Bond, K., & Etwaroo, I. (2005). “If I really see you”: Students’ experiences of identity and difference in a higher education setting. In M.-C. Powell & V. Marcow-Speiser (Eds.), The arts, education, and social change: Little signs of hope (pp. 87–100). Cambridge, MA: Peter Lang.
Bond, K. E., & Richard, B. (2005). “Ladies and gentlemen: What do you see? What do you feel?” A story of connected curriculum in a third grade dance education setting. In L. Y. Overby & B. Lepczyk (Eds.), Dance: Current selected research (Vol. 5, pp. 85–133). New York: AMS.
Bond, K. E., & Stinson, S. W. (2000/01). “I feel like I’m going to take off!”: Young people’s experiences of the superordinary in dance. Dance Research Journal, 32(2), 52–87.
Brady, I. (2005). Poetics for a planet: Discourse on some problems of being-in-place. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. 979–1026). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Burch, R. (1989). On phenomenology and its practice. Phenomenology & Pedagogy, 7, 187–217.
Burt, R. (2004). Genealogy and dance history: Foucault, Rainer, Bausch, and DeKeersmaeker. In A. Lepecki (Ed.), Of the presence of the body: Essays on dance and performance theory (pp. 29–46). Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press.
Carlisle, C. (2005). Kierkegaard’s philosophy of becoming: Movement and positions. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.
Damasio, B. F., Melo, R. L. P., & Silva, J. P. (2013). Meaning in life, psychological well-being and quality of life in teachers. Paidéia, 23(54), 73–82.
Denton, D., & Ashton, W. (Eds.). (2004). Spirituality, action, and pedagogy: Teaching from the heart. New York: Peter Lang.
Denzin, N. K. (2002). Interpretive interactionism (2nd ed.). London: Sage. (Original work published 1989).
Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.). (2005). Handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dewey, J. (1976). Experience and education (19th ed.). New York: Macmillan. (Original work published 1938).
Filene, P. (2005). The joy of teaching: A practical guide for new college instructors. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
Fortin, S. (1993). The knowledge base for competent dance teaching. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 64(9), 34–38.
Freire, P. (2016). Pedagogia da autonomia: Saberes necessários à prática educativa (53rd ed.). [Pedagogy of liberation: Essential principles to the educative practice]. São Paulo, Brasil: Paz e Terra. (Original work published 1996).
Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed (50th anniversary ed.) (M. Bergman Ramos, Trans.). London: Bloomsbury. (Original work published 1968).
Heidegger, M. (2005). Introduction to phenomenological research. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
Hudson, P. (2006). Examining mentors’ personal attributes. In P. L. Jeffery (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2005 AARE – Australian Association for Research in Education. Parramatta, NSW: AARE.
Husserl, E. (1988). Cartesian meditations: An introduction to phenomenology. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff.
Jay, J. K. (2003). Quality teaching: Reflection as the heart of practice. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow.
Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Parini, J. (2005). The art of teaching. New York: Oxford University Press.
Paris, C., & Combs, B. (2006). Lived meanings: What teachers mean when they say they are learner-centered. Teachers & Teaching, 2(5), 571–592.
Rodgers, C. R., & Raider-Roth, M. B. (2006). Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 12(3), 265–287.
Rogers, A. (2002). Teaching adults (3rd ed.). Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Rumi, J. al-Din. (2004). The Masnavi (book one). New York: Oxford University Press.
Shapiro, J. P., & Stefkovich, J. A. (2001). Ethical leadership and decision making in education: Applying theoretical perspectives to complex dilemmas. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Stinson, S. W. (1993). Realities, myths, and priorities: Teacher competencies in dance. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 64(9), 45–50.
Stinson, S. W. (1995). Bodies of knowledge. Educational Theory, 45(1), 43–54.
Van den Berg, R. (2002). Teachers’ meanings regarding educational practice. Review of Educational Research, 72, 577–625.
van Manen, M. (1991). The tact of teaching: The meaning of pedagogical thoughtfulness. London: Althouse Press.
van Manen, M. (1995). On the epistemology of reflective practice. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 1(1), 33–50.
van Manen, M. (1997). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy (2nd ed.). Toronto, ON: Transcontinental. (Original work published 1990).
van Manen, M. (2002). The tone of teaching. London: Althouse.
Watts, J., & Robertson, N. (2011). Burnout in university teaching staff: A systematic literature review. Educational Research, 53(1), 33–50.
Wu, Y-J. (2005). Dancing with little spirits: A journey towards enhancement of pedagogical relationship and intersubjectivity in a third grade dance education setting in Taiwan. Doctoral dissertation, Temple University, Philadelphia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vieira, A.P. (2019). Quality of Working Life for Higher Education Dance Educators: Embodiment, Complexity, Transformation. In: Bond, K. (eds) Dance and the Quality of Life. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 73. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95699-2_23
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95699-2_23
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-95698-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-95699-2
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)