The influences of an exemplary ballet teacher on students’ motivation: ‘The Finnish Way’

Abstract

This ethnographic case story aims to illuminate the instructional practices and decisions of an exemplary ballet teacher, Minna Stenvall at the Finnish National Opera Ballet School. Minna is considered to be exemplary in her field because she received the Best Ballet Pedagogue Award in 2014. Spurred on by the literature on the significant role played by ballet teachers in the talent development of dance students and dancers, the main research question is ‘What does a successful teacher do to motivate gifted students to excel?’ The data – gathered via in-depth interviews with Minna, classroom observations and attendance at the school and company performances over a school semester – were intended to clarify our understanding of the complex but understudied practices and processes of teaching gifted children in ballet. For the research finding report, I used creative writing as a medium to narrow the spaces and attitudes between researcher vs. researched, description vs. interpretation and theory and fiction vs. nonfiction. The conceptual framework of social, pedagogical and cognitive dimensions of exemplary teaching frames the discussion. I conclude with a discussion of (a) the methodological approaches to address the contexts and transparency of research, and (b) the notion of putting the research into use.

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