Importance of students' views and the role of self-esteem in lessons of creative dance in physical education

The purpose of this study was to capture the student's views in lessons of creative dance. A qualitative empirical research design was carried out using video-stimulated recall interviews. The participants in this study were 88 children (63 female and 25 male) between the ages of 9 and 11years (M=10.5, SD=1.2) in physical education lessons. A total of 16 teaching units in dance, which took place once a week within a period of 16weeks were conducted. Of the 88 children, a total of 37 young male and female subjects (M=10.5years) were interviewed about their personal views subsequently to the lessons. Transcripts were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The analysis revealed that students made use of specific strategies aimed to resist threats to their self-esteem. We observed that students prefer to find creative ideas with familiar partners. Moreover, it has been observed that the anticipation of negative feedback from classmates can be a source of threats to the self-esteem. The identification of such strategies implies specific didactical methods that should be considered when initiating successful creative processes in physical education.