Konsten att undervisa ryttare: En studie om ridlärares pedagogiska praktik

The art of teaching riders – a study about riding teachers’ pedagogical practice

This thesis concerns how riding teachers’ reflect upon their teaching and how they teach. The overall aim of the thesis is to contribute with knowledge about how riding lessons are organized, regarding both the accomplishment of lessons as activity systems and the interactional organization of instructional work. Horseback riding can be understood as an embodied and practical knowledge, and includes communication and collaboration between horse and rider, sometimes referred to as equestrian feel (Dashper, 2016). Two different theoretical perspectives were applied to explore how such knowledge is taught. Activity theory (Engeström, 1987) was used to analyze interviews with and observations of ten riding teachers about their understanding and implementation of their pedagogical practice. Teachers’ and students’ interactions during riding lessons were examined using an ethnomethodological and conversation analytic approach (Goodwin, 2000; Schegloff, 1996). The analyses were based on video-recordings of ten group lessons and 40 one-on-one riding lessons.

The results show that riding lessons can be conceptualized as activity systems where the focus of teaching constantly changes; from horse to student to routine. Traditions and safety regulations are shown to generate contradictions that may hinder the teachers from developing their teaching. However, the teachers express a wish to use more student collaborative methods, and display an intention to communicate with students about equestrian feel. Another result unveils how the teacher and the individual students, within the mobile context of riding lessons, make instructional sequences possible by co-creating instructional spaces. A third result illuminates the participants’ collaborative work to make equestrian feel available for instruction. The teacher molds equestrian feel through online instructions, i.e., instructions produced during the students’ active riding. These instructions shift focus between the students’ seat and influence, the horse’s actions and the student’s embodied feel. Moreover, the teachers are shown to use visual, verbal and embodied resources as they interpret equestrian feel for the student. In sum, the studies shed light on the complex art of teaching practical and embodied knowledge of riding.