The Teaching Artist: a model for university dance teacher training

Abstract

This paper describes a teaching model, The Teaching Artist, developed to address the pedagogical and cultural divide between the traditional dance teacher and the dance artist who teaches: traditionally, one teaching about dance and the other, teaching through dance. The Teaching Artist model was developed through the Q150 Project. The Q150 Project provided an opportunity to meld these cultural idioms. It involved pre-service secondary dance teachers in their second year of teacher training at the Queensland University of Technology. The Project’s design involved three components: artistic development, pedagogic development and implementation. The participants researched social and artistic dance histories and practices across Queensland towns. From their research, they created dance works specific to those local communities. The works created formed the basis for primary and secondary school workshops taught by the participants. By their participation in the Project, the pre-service teachers created tangible links with the schools in which they will practise and experienced the nexus between artist and teacher in an authentic teaching and learning environment.

Keywords:

• Teaching Artist
• teacher training
• dance
• university