Poster #84 - Teamwork-Based Developmental Outcomes in Student-Led High School Dance

• In Event: 3-003 - Poster Session 09
  In Poster Session: PS 09 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Extracurricular arts activities are an excellent forum for studying relational activity and adolescent personal growth. Extracurricular activities can help students seek out an identity as actors in a social world (Eccles & Barber, 1999), and relatedness is an important motivation for adolescents participating in the arts (Malin, 2015). As adolescents are conscious, deliberate producers of their own development (Lerner, 2002) and are cognitively capable of reflecting on their experiences, their own personal growth narratives are excellent sources for understanding social-developmental processes at this age (Larson et al., 2011, McAdams & McLean, 2013).

Student-led teaching and learning empowers students with ownership of the learning experience and mimics real-world collaborative learning scenarios (Marvell et al., 2013). However, student-led extracurricular activities are relatively rare and under-studied in positive youth development literature. The current study uses a mixed methods approach to describe developmental outcomes of student-led extracurricular dance programs, in youths’ own words. The student-led approach for these programs distinguishes them from other team dance experiences common at the high school level, as youth organize, develop, and teach the choreography for competitions, drive group decision making, and run team practices.

In semi-structured interviews with 46 high school-age participants (ages 14-18; mean=16.1) from four student-led dance teams, we elicited stories and descriptions of personal growth from team participation. A majority of the sample (52%) identified as Asian American, and 70% identified as girls/women. Interviews were coded along six basic domains of learning experiences, as outlined in Hansen et al. (2003): Basic cognitive, physical, and emotional skills; Initiative; Identity Work; Relationships; Teamwork/Social skills; and Adult networks. Examples of skill transfer to other domains were also coded. Codes were quantitatively summarized, cross-tabulated, and compared statistically based on participants’ team responsibilities. This report pulls on extensive qualitative data from the interviews to contextualize the teamwork-based learning that occurs in this student-led environment.

The most common development gains youth reported were Relationships (in 87% of transcripts) and Teamwork/Social skills (in 85% of transcripts, including leadership, giving and receiving feedback, group decision making, and communication). Youth reported that, more than any other skills, teamwork and social skills transferred to other domains. Team leaders were more likely to discuss gaining leadership skills than other dancers, but improved teamwork skills were reported by dancers regardless of leadership status. Cross-tabulation results show an association between strong student relationships and teamwork skill development.

Qualitatively, we highlight quotes from youth that demonstrate how skills are learned alongside peers in student-led tasks, provide examples of the interpersonal challenges experienced by youth in student-led programs, document how dancers incorporate online resources into their teaching and learning practices, and describe the supportive role of adult advisers in these programs.

This study emphasizes the role of peer interaction in adolescent personal development, and describes pathways for the development of interpersonal skills in a student-led environment. The programs studied here illustrate what social skills are gained when educators give students opportunities to take control, ownership, and accountability of their own creative endeavors.

Author

• Mike Scanlon, foundry10
  Presenting Author