‘Bring on the dancers’: reconceptualising the transition from school to work

Abstract

Our understanding of the transition from school to work has traditionally been underpinned by a three-stage model. This is one in which the first stage is a preparatory one, where the focus is on school, followed by a second transition stage and ending in a third stage, the successful entry to work. This is a model that has been challenged by work from the ‘cultural studies’ school but still informs much contemporary work. The study of freelance dancers’ entry into work reveals a very different experience of the transition. Rather than a sequence of experiences of school, preparation for work and then entry into established employment, the dancer’s experience is one of coterminus experiences of work, vocational training and family life that can start before the entry into primary education. This represents a serious challenge to the three-stage model as a general model for conceptualising transitions. Using the experience of the dancers and building on the work of Becker and Wyn, this paper explores how the concept of belonging points the way forward towards a more comprehensive conceptualisation of the transition.

Keywords:

• school to work
• transitions
• dance
• belonging

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful comment we received from two anonymous reviewers. We would also like to thank the participating dancers for their time and willingness to share their thoughts so openly.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

Research was conducted at the Centre for Labour Market Studies, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.

1. Some questioned the accuracy of these characterisations, for example Goodwin and O’Connor (2005) suggested that many transitions in the 1970s and 1980s were non-linear, stressing the importance of ‘critical moments’ Goodwin and O’Connor (2009). Furlong (2009) also suggests that this entire dichotomy (linear vs. protracted) is closely aligned to changes in general, political and theoretical discourse suggesting that it is our perceptions of transitions that have changed perhaps more so than the transition itself but this never imputed the integrity of the overall three-stage model.

2. A similar point has recently been made by (Hodkinson, Sparkes, and Hodkinson 2013).

3. Dancing on the tips of the toes with the aid of specialist dance shoes.

4. The research was conducted following ethical approval and full compliance with the ethical guidelines of both the BPS and BSA.

5. Structured examinations were predominantly found in the UK, Africa and Malaysia, the less structured approach in the USA and elsewhere.

6. ISTD – Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing – one of the UKs leading dance examination boards.

7. A very prestigious vocational college for performing arts training.