In 2002, the Queensland Schools Curriculum Council launched the Years 1-10 Arts Syllabus as one of the eight Key Learning Areas. This syllabus requires primary teachers to provide arts learning programs in the areas of Dance, Drama, Media, Music and Visual Arts. This syllabus was a landmark for arts education in Queensland as it became a mandate for primary teachers to teach each strand of the arts. This move is one of many recent changes in arts education evident across the globe reflecting a common move towards a broad arts education in schools. In alignment with the mandatory requirement of the Years 1-10 Arts Syllabus, primary teachers are now required to teach Dance, a subject which most have had little to no training or professional development in. This thesis will explore the research question, 'Which strategies used in professional development build competence and confidence in primary teachers to integrate dance in the primary classroom?' Through a series of school-based professional development workshops conducted at two Gold Coast primary schools, the research project utilized an action research approach (Kemmis, 1988) to investigate the effectiveness of this professional development approach. After collating and analyzing the data gathered from these two research sites, a number of key themes emerged around the initial resistance factors to dance professional development and the integration of dance learning in the classroom as well as the impact and influence of this professional development on teachers' competence and confidence. The research identified a range of professional development strategies including learning experiences, structures, resources and conditions that have impacted on the effectiveness of this professional development. Some of these strategies are dance specific while others are more generic and have broader implications for the development and facilitation of professional development of Queensland primary teachers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/265381 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Donovan, Samantha Jane |
| Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Copyright Samantha Jane Donovan |
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