What can psychology tell us about teaching dance? The potential contribution of Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior

Abstract

This study explores the potential contribution of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) to our understanding of student teachers' strength of intention to teach dance prior to and following an intensive eight‐hour module before beginning their school‐based practice. Students attending a primary Postgraduate Certificate in Education Course (PGCE) (n=89) were identified as ‘intending strongly’ or ‘not intending’ to teach dance. They then completed a questionnaire designed to measure their behavioural beliefs, their normative beliefs and their control beliefs in accordance with Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behaviour. They were also questioned about their feelings of self‐efficacy and self‐identity as prospective teachers of dance and about their perceived barriers to teaching dance effectively. The questionnaire was re‐administered at the completion of the intensive dance course.

Initially, no significant difference was found between the strength of behavioural beliefs, attitude and self‐efficacy of intenders and non‐intenders (p<.01), but a difference was found in the level of normative beliefs. Following the dance course a significant positive shift (p<.05) was shown in the intentions of the non‐intenders. Significant positive relationships were found between most variables, apart from perceived behavioural control. Taken as a whole the combined contribution of these variables accounted for 32.9% of the variance in intention to teach dance, and multiple regression analysis indicated that the model was a highly significant predictor of intention. Some implications of these findings for dance teacher training are proposed.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Guy Faulkner (University of Toronto, Canada) for his advice on developing this research.