Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to propose an expanded model of Choreographies of Teaching (CT) metaphor for online distance education in higher education. Metaphorical approaches have been used for years in Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Education, among other areas of science. Metaphors are models to illustrate basic assumptions and serve as basis for the development of theories. The researcher Fritz K. Oser developed the theory of CT, which is based on dance metaphor to identify the complexity of interactions in the classroom (Zabalza, 2006; Baeriswyl, 2012). It is argued that the metaphor of CT must be understood within a broader metaphor, the dramaturgical metaphor, which involves theater, cinema, dance, television, among other artistic expressions varying in technological mediation. The dramaturgical metaphor makes use of elements which are available to social actors in the process of script-guided performances or improvisation (Vera & Crossan, 2004). This broader view allows the expansion of discriminant and descriptive capacities of CT metaphor. CT consists of a sequence of dance steps, which correspond to the steps of learning. However, a dancer (or student) has a variety of art elements he or she can insert and apply. From this perspective, students should understand and shape the structure of learning content (music) and teaching standards are based on scripts that teachers (choreographers) develop. The choreography defines interactions and repertoires of behaviors for teachers and students (Baeriswyl, 2012). As an expert, the teacher-choreographer knows their role in the process because he or she has a solid base of professional knowledge. He or she can then classify students on a continuum ranging from beginners to experts, and thus adapt the educational activities in accordance with this classification. Therefore, the metaphor of the CT emphasizes the dynamics of the teaching-learning process, which appears in complex patterns (Baeriswyl, 2012). The complexities of these patterns make it necessary to integrate to CT the concept of "types of dance” which represent different expressions, structures and dance steps. Thus, it is understood the process of teaching and learning as broad and diverse types of dance, which can range from classical ballet to improvisation. Ballet is a formal type of dance that is usually performed on stage as part of a composition that often includes mime, acting, storytelling, and is accompanied by music. Ballet is a theatrical or entertainment work in which choreographers express their ideas in a group or a solo dance with musical accompaniment, using appropriate costumes, scenery, and lighting. Being a kind of worldwide influential dance, ballet has a highly technical and specific vocabulary. Thus, adapt and use ballet and other terminologies of types of dance to understand the phenomena of online distance education seems appropriate. It is proposed an analytical model for online distance education that integrates a continuum of types of dance ranging from classical ballet, which represents a traditional, structured approach to teaching and learning with little freedom for students-dancers, to the dance with improvised choreography that mixes freedom and organized improvisation without losing cohesion and unity, despite individual styles (Inns, 2002) and having the student-dancer also as the choreographer of his or her dance (group or solo).

Keywords:

Distance education, higher education, metaphors, choreographies of teaching.