2025 Theses Doctoral

Dancemaking as Social Learning: Adolescent Decision-Making During Autonomous Small-Group Collaborative Choreography

Swenson, Rachel Schroeder

Adolescent social and emotional learning and civic-identity development are complex, dynamic, culturally adaptive, and reflection-driven processes.

This case study employed a grounded approach and used qualitative research methods to examine small-group decision-making processes among 13 adolescent dancemakers in collaborative choreography. The study privileged participants’ voices and experiences from two high school dance programs in Utah, where the participants were observed navigating complex social, emotional, kinesthetic, and creative decision-making while engaging with peers in an autonomous and democratic learning situation. Data collection methods included observation field notes, interviews, focus groups, and content analyses of participants’ written reflections.

The data was analyzed and coded using an emic approach to determine patterns and themes arising in the data from each participant’s viewpoint. Data analysis was carried out in three phases—data treatment, deductive, and inductive. The results emphasized the significance of belonging in guiding adolescent decision-making during collaborative dancemaking. The findings on sensing and developing belonging were analyzed using an integrative framework as a methodological tool. The analysis aimed to better understand the multi-layered complexities of sensing and developing belonging and its implications for civic identity through collaborative dancemaking.

Overall, this study’s findings uncovered group rights, roles, learning, challenges, benefits, and provided empirical evidence to inform best practices in secondary dance-education choreography and social-emotional learning (SEL) pedagogy. The study’s primary aim was to initiate broader conversations on SEL development, responsible decision-making, and adolescent civic-identity development among its intended audience of educators, administrators, and scholars interested in social, emotional, collaborative learning, leadership, and civic-identity development.