Dance Partners for Creativity: Investigating the co-development of creativity at the interface between dance and lower secondary level education

最近的文化和教育政策鼓励舞蹈艺术家和教师之间建立伙伴关系，以便在学校培养学生的创造力。然而，这与侧重于测试学生和衡量他们的成就的平行议程不一致。教育专业人士越来越担心，创造力，尤其是中学的创造力，正受到越来越多的考试和成就议程限制的扼杀。舞蹈教育者认为，艺术过程和作品的公式化方法导致学生编舞缺乏真实性和原创性。因此，迫切需要解决这个问题，以帮助将中学实践与艺术形式中已知的创造力重新联系起来。为了满足这一需求，本研究将调查英国11 - 14岁学生（课程关键阶段3）的舞蹈教育中培养创造力的方法。特别是，研究将侧重于通过舞蹈艺术家和教师之间的合作伙伴关系来培养创造力的方法。目前，这被认为是在舞蹈中学阶段培养创造力的一种潜在的富有成效的方式。例如在特殊学校计划内；创意行动研究奖；创新伙伴关系;以及新的高级舞蹈培训中心。虽然这些项目的结果表明，伙伴关系在激发创造力方面可以非常成功，但人们对如何成功的了解还不够。为了进一步调查这一点，将研究这类方案内成功的伙伴关系活动。因此，研究的问题是：舞蹈艺术家和教师在共同开发11-14岁儿童的创造力，在舞蹈教育中表现出什么样的创造性伙伴关系，这些伙伴关系是如何发展的？确定了发展伙伴关系模式和实践的三个关键研究领域。它们是：调查伙伴关系的角色和关系；了解如何构思和促进创造力；通过提问练习来理解合作伙伴关系面临的紧张和困境。最近的一系列研究支持了这项研究。这包括一个理解创造力的灵活框架，这个框架是从该团队之前的研究中发展出来的。它还包括对其他情况下的伙伴关系模式的阐述，以及最近的政策文件。该研究将使用定性方法来批评和告知实践和政策制定。该团队将与3至6名具有研究经验的舞蹈艺术家/教师合作伙伴进行合作研究，并与他们建立关系。这些关系将根据埃克塞特大学伦理委员会的指导方针进行协商。根据小组以往的经验，研究方法将包括：反思性访谈/期刊、观察、文件、概念图、焦点小组、摄影/视频证据以及合作伙伴为调查带来的其他基于艺术的方法。这项研究旨在为舞蹈专业人士，包括艺术家、教师、教育研究人员、教师培训师和政策制定者提供有用的信息。这是团队多样性的一个优势，他们可以接触到这些群体。该团队包括一位国际知名的教育创意专家、一位研究舞蹈教育创意和教师与艺术家合作关系的专家，以及政策和教师教育专家。传播和辩论对这项研究至关重要，将通过两个研讨会（在拉班和埃克塞特大学）进行：一本书（综合所有团队成员参与的发现）；经同行评审的文章和会议报告；以及对其他出现的机会做出反应。这包括那些在其他领域努力寻找创造力空间，并热衷于发展对创造性伙伴关系的理解的人。

Recent cultural and education policies have encouraged partnerships between dance-artists and teachers in order to foster student creativity in schools. However, this sits at odds with a parallel agenda which focuses on testing pupils and measuring their attainment. There is growing concern within the education profession that creativity, particularly in secondary schools, is being stifled by increasing constraints from this testing and attainment agenda. Dance educators believe that formulaic approaches to artistic process and products are resulting in student choreography lacking in authenticity and originality. There is therefore a pressing need to address this to help reconnect secondary school practice with the creativity known to exist within the artform. To contribute to addressing this need, this research will investigate approaches to creativity in dance education with 11/14 year olds (curriculum Key Stage 3) in England. In particular, the research will focus on an approach where creativity is fostered by working partnerships between dance-artists and teachers. This is currently felt to be a potentially fruitful way of fostering creativity at the secondary level in dance. For example within the Specialist Schools Programme; the Creativity Action Research Awards; Creative Partnerships; and the new dance Centres for Advanced Training. Whilst outcomes of these programmes suggest that partnership can be highly successful in stimulating creativity, not enough is known about how. In order to investigate this further, successful partnership activity within these kinds of programmes will be researched. The research question is therefore: What kinds of creative partnerships are manifested between dance-artists and teachers in co-developing the creativity of 11-14 year olds, in dance in education, and how do these develop? Three key research areas have been identified to develop partnership models and practice. These are: investigating partnership roles and relationships; gaining understanding of how creativity is conceived and facilitated; and questioning practice to understand the tensions and dilemmas faced by the partnerships.A range of recent research underpins this study. This includes a flexible framework for understanding creativity, developed from the team's previous research. It also includes articulations of models of partnership from other contexts, as well as recent policy documents.The research will use a qualitative methodology to critique and inform practice and policymaking. The team will research collaboratively with between 3 and 6 dance-artist/teacher partnerships with experience in research, with whom relationships already exist. These relationships will be negotiated within the University of Exeter Ethics Committee guidelines. Drawing on the team's previous experience, research methods will include: reflective interviews/journals, observation, documentation, conceptual drawing, focus groups, photographic/video evidence, and other arts-based methods brought to the investigation by the partnerships. The research is intended to be useful to dance professionals including artists, teachers, education researchers, teacher trainers and policy makers. It is a strength of the team's diversity that they can reach these groups. The team includes an internationally recognised expert on creativity in education, an expert on researching creativity in dance education and teacher-artist partnerships, and policy and teacher education specialists.Dissemination and debate are vital to this research and will occur via two seminars (at Laban and the University of Exeter): a book (synthesising findings drawing on all team members' participation); peer-reviewed articles and conference presentations; as well as responding to other opportunities as they arise. This includes those within other domains struggling to find space for creativity, and keen to develop understanding of creative partnership.