Classroom Management
When you think of pre-ballet, what do you envision? Merry little faces with hair in a tiny bun. Leotards in the freshest shades of pink, and tights that always sag at their knees and ankles. Energy and excitement, as they tote around their oversized dance bags, off to become prima ballerinas. Or, do you picture 15 little dancers running around a room with impish grins, poking, laughing and competing for who can tell the teacher their story the loudest?
The truth is usually a combination of both and requires the cultivated skill of a teacher to maintain control while also sparking the attention of the children. Ages three to seven seem to be the good ole’ years when everyone was a dancer. Many people will recall their time as a youngster taking ballet, but generally they don’t remember the techniques their teachers employed to keep the class in order.
Often, young children respond best to structured environments, and when they are sure of the rules they can find a way to express themselves without crossing the line. “If you’re too lax, they will walk all over you,” comments Lara Adams, who teaches dance classes at Jeanne’s School of Dance in Mesa, AZ. After years of teaching beginner ballet for 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds, Adams finds the best method is striking a balance between an authority figure and a friend. “You have to be really firm without being mean.”
Whether it is pre-ballet, beginner ballet, first steps or little steps, establishing the rules at the onset of the year seems to be one of the most popular strategies in dance pedagogy. Heather Garbrandt, a dance teacher at The School at Steps in New York City, stresses the importance of “following through and establishing the rules at the beginning, like no skirts.” She says, “You can’t change the rules, no matter how cute they are, otherwise they don’t know what to expect.”
Consistency is the key, whether the rules are dress code related, like pink tights and no skirts, or behavior oriented, like no talking or touching the other dancers. Of course there will be discrepancies along the way; some hands will go astray and chattering will be heard, but if the rules are clear, less of the 45-minute class can be lost to disciplining.
Setting rules and limits right away helps to alleviate some behavioral issues before they generate into larger problems. “Just being really clear about it up front, and the first time somebody crosses the line you address it, so there are no maybes,” says Roberta Humphrey, director of dance for Joy in Mohegan Lake, NY. “I’m very structured, and we have a really good time, but it’s very clear about what is expected behavior.”
Sometimes, by making the rules interactive, the children can become more focused and involved in the classroom environment. Garbrandt will quiz them on the rules if an occasion arises. When a little dancer begins talking out of turn, she will announce, “What do we do?” giving them the opportunity to reply, “Raise our hands.”
Many teachers utilize this technique because it reminds the kids of the guidelines while also giving them the added bonus of using their voices. “We ask questions and things like that so they get to use their mouths, but basically the concept is that we are using our bodies and not our mouths,” says Humphrey.
At home or school, time-outs are often suggested as a potent discipline tactic, but with such a limited time in dance class many teachers find them to be obstructive. By giving a time-out, the class’s attention is directed at the one child in the corner and no longer on the teacher’s instructions. “If the child is still in the class it tends to be disruptive,” says Lynn Morris, a pre-ballet teacher at the Acton School of Ballet in Acton, MA. “They will make faces and it’s just as disruptive.”
Directing a class towards the attention span and ability of the dancers is one of the best ways to prevent misbehavior, and a quick reaction time is always a necessity. Activities and combinations must have minimal instructions, and the class should seamlessly transition from one activity to the next.
“I mix in things that are fun and creative, by making things a game,” says Adams of her exercises. “At the end of class we pretend to put our hair in a bun, and put on makeup and earrings. It is actually practicing épaulement, but they’re putting on earrings.”
To curb the chitchat, some teachers allow students to tell a story at the beginning or end of class so they don’t feel stifled, which may also discourage them from blurting out comments mid-skipping. For the younger dancers, Humphrey says, “They get one turn to talk and then they try not to talk because the rest of the class is the teacher’s turn. So they try not to be chatty, and it is only one person at a time.” As for hugs, to kindly control the onslaught of embraces, Adams tells the students to save them for after class. Sometimes she’ll propose a one hug now and one later deal. This maintains order in a situation that may quickly spiral out of control and use up valuable class time. Even if the class is planned down to the minute, occasions do arise and adjustments must be made. Although dance classes for children are not as structured as they would be for an adult, the basics are slowly introduced. With warm-ups, barre work, center combinations and moving across the floor, the framework of the class remains, but with a more youthful twist. Morris assigns specific spaces at the barre and places the children according to who concentrates best. “Usually children who focus better are placed next to children who do not,” she said.
In her first steps class, Humphrey sometimes has the students go to the barre. “It might be 30 seconds, but just to get that concept of the barre as part of what you do, and we just go there to do an arabesque.”
The trick seems to be moving quickly from one thing to the next, and using plenty of imagination. Some teachers find a helper beneficial in managing and attending to all the children in the class, while others feel two authoritative figures in the room can deflect the attention from the main teacher.
The guidelines for new instructors always call for positive reinforcement, and often a great way to achieve this is through rewards and incentives. For young dancers, ages three through seven, stickers and stamps at the end of class give them something tangible to work towards, as well as a clear cut reason why they should behave.
Usually, dance schools give the whole class a reward for good behavior in addition to verbal praise. By saying a child’s name after a compliment, like, “What a great plié, Suzy,” the child will have a positive reaction while also motivating the other children to work harder themselves.
If a student misbehaves in Morris’s class, she finds it best to speak to the child individually about what is expected or move them to a new spot in the room. “Usually the problem is solved by a few words from me,” she says. A lot of teachers find it easier to simply remove the child from the disruptive situation by taking his or her hand and moving him or her. Others, like Garbrandt, prefer not to single out one child. “They are just learning, so I make a general announcement.”
When giving stickers, stamps or other treats to the young dancers, the reward is not based on individual merit and is given out to the whole class if they have worked and behaved well as a group. For Adams and her beginners, she stands firmly against giving out stickers, although other teachers at the dance school do for their own classes.
“I just think kids today are inundated with that kind of stuff,” she says. “You put in effort, but you accomplish something that in itself is a big reward.” She did acknowledge that this is a difficult concept for young children to grasp, but has found that “genuine praise is more worthwhile in the long run.”
Each class is different, and as the year progresses, the needs of the little dancers become increasingly apparent. Some require a tougher teacher, and some will crave a softer approach. It seems no age group is easier or better behaved than the other, and each class will have their own dynamic. The 7-year-olds may be more talkative, while the 3-year-olds have less focus.
For dance teachers of any age group, it is important to have precise guidelines and take control, especially for little children. Although dancing is an activity, it must be clear that it is not playtime. By being calm, providing positive feedback and sticking to the rules, the children will begin to learn and understand the structure and discipline so closely associated with dance.