Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of various dance strategies and early childhood teachers’ pedagogical competence on creating a positive classroom climate which is important for children’s academic achievement and social development. This study used a quasi-experimental ex-post facto design method, with ANOVA to analyse data and test the hypotheses. The respondents in this study involved 176 early childhood teachers. The study found a result of sig. 0.036, indicating that the use of various dance strategies can have a significant positive influence on classroom climate. Other findings indicated that a ‘creative’ dance strategy that is student-centred, has a greater positive influence on classroom climate than an ‘imitative’, teacher-centred strategy. Future studies are expected to follow up on other factors that can influence classroom climate as a key to successful learning.

Key words: Dance instructional strategies, Teachers’ pedagogical competencies, Classroom climate