Observing one’s own teaching–creating awareness for professional development as a dance teacher

The aim of this article is to provide insights into how dance teachers experience observing their own dance lessons and how this experience is articulated in order to create awareness of the development of dance teachers’ own teaching. The interests of this study lie in what the dance teachers are reacting to, what actions they perform as well as how these reactions and actions are manifested in the body. Two dance teachers at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm were observed and filmed giving dance lessons to student teachers of Physical Education and Health. Different situations from the lessons were discussed during a re-experiencing conversation. Using a phenomenological methodology for analysis and empirical-data generation, the results are discussed using the kinaesthetic communicative concepts of interaffectivity and interbodily resonance (Fuchs 2016). The results indicate that observing one’s own teaching is a valuable tool for dance teachers, as it allows them to reflect upon aspects of their teaching pedagogies and possibilities for their professional development. As well as this, the results show that teachers’ teaching goals and objectives are important parameters for what they react to in teaching situations.