Age and Gender Issues in Adolescent Attitudes to Dance

Abstract

Qualitative research indicates that dance is an immensely popular recreational activity with young people, yet in many European schools it is often regarded as that aspect of the PE curriculum most suited to young children and high-school girls. This practice however is not based on empirical information; details relating to adolescent attitudes to dance for instance andhow these may vary with age and gender are sparse. Opinions were sought, therefore, from a total of 1668 11–16-year-old boys and girls, from 19 schools throughout England, using a questionnaire which included four Likerttype dance attitude scales. Analyses showed little change in attitudes between the ages of 11 and 16 and no interaction of age with gender. Girls displayed more positive attitudes than boys on two of the scales, but the reverse was the case on the third scale and no gender differences were evident on the fourth. The virtual absence of change in age-related scale scores highlights the need for both increased dance provision in schools and more focused teaching, while the specific nature of the gender-related attitude differences offers curriculum development opportunities. The absence of interaction between age and gender suggests cultural rather than school influences on attitudes.

The Impact of the Bass Drum on Human Dance Movement

“…This observation could be explained by a study of Passmore and French (2001), which revealed that women are more likely to actively engage in dance activities than men. Moreover, Sanderson (2001) suggested that this difference in attitude to dance is already established during childhood. In her study, opinions were sought from a total of 1,668 girls and boys, aged between 11 and 16 years, using questionnaires that included dance attitude scales.…”

The position of dance in physical education

“…Attitudes towards participation in dance practice within the social setting of PE vary between different age groups, between boys and girls as well as within groups of boys and girls (Lundvall & Meckbach, 2008;Redelius, 2004;Sanderson, 2001). Students have limited opportunities to learn and develop in the areas of aesthetical knowledge and experiences through dance (Gard, 2003(Gard, , 2006(Gard, , 2008Lundvall & Maivorsdotter, 2010;Sanderson, 1996Sanderson, , 2001) and whether or not they have the chance to do so often depends on teachers' competence and pedagogical knowledge (Goodwin, 2010; Swedish National Agency for Education [SNAE], 2005;Zavatto & Gabbei, 2008). Furthermore, folk dance practice in PE has strongly emphasised white dance forms (Rovengo & Gregg, 2007).…”

“…Furthermore, folk dance practice in PE has strongly emphasised white dance forms (Rovengo & Gregg, 2007). Studies also show that only a small portion of PE classes has been devoted to dance and that dance has primarily been taught to younger children or girls (Carli, 2004;Sanderson, 1996Sanderson, , 2001.…”

A Selective Review of Social Status Characteristics of Folk Dance Dancers and Their Family Members with Presentation of Gender Specificities

“…This knowledge is not based on empirical information such are very rare details relating to adolescent attitudes to dance, and how these may vary with age and gender are spares. According to model, established by [37] (Sanderson, P. 2001), with application of Dance Attitude Scales, recant studies were elaborated in Serbia, and region wider, with the basic aim to estimate assumed differences in attitudes to different dances with adolescents of both gender, and different age. The opinions on the variety aspects of dance art were sought, therefore from relative unified sub-samples of 11-15-year-old children (boys and girls), from particularly urban schools in Serbia (Niš, Kruševac, Valjevo, Jagodina, Vršac, Grocka), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tuzla), and Montenegro (Podgorica, Danilovgrad) using questionnaires which included Likert-tipe dance attitudes scales on Art Dance, Social Dance and Folk dance [17], (Popovic, R., Djordjevic, I., Dolga, M., Purenovic, T., Pavlovic, M., 2009).…”