From dancing to teaching

The competent dance teacher in Swedish commercial dance schools

Bibliographic Data

ID21718915
AuthorsSofia Antera (0000-0002-7725-782X, Uppsala University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Pages1-18
Publication date2025-10-06
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueResearch in Dance Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-7893 • E-ISSN: 1470-1111
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14647893.2025.2570138
OpenAlexW4414858608
LanguageEN
References cited32

Dance teaching in formal education in Sweden follows a curriculum, yet dance teaching in commercial dance schools is less regulated. In the later, dance teachers join the dance teaching practice without preparation, and they learn how to be teachers while working as such. This study explores the regime of competence for dance teachers in commercial schools, meaning the set of principles and abilities that would allow them to be seen as professional dance teachers. The research material derives from semi-structured interviews with 12 dance teachers, employed in commercial dance schools for Latin dances and it was analysed thematically. Findings showed that teachers focus primarily on preparing their students for social partner dancing and, hence, their competence is directed towards this aim. The regime of competence for the interviewed dance teachers included passion for dance, communication competence, instructional competence (incl. co-teaching competence), formal dance teacher training and dance competence. The study contributes with knowledge about what teaching-related competence teachers favour and develop in the absence of pedagogical preparation and formal teaching setting

Dance · Dance education · Qualitative research · Semi-structured interview · Teaching method · Art Education and Development · Diverse Music Education Insights · Diversity and Impact of Dance

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Open DOIOpen Access