Research in Dance Education aims to inform, stimulate and promote the development of research in dance education and is relevant to both learners and teachers. The desire to improve the quality and provision of dance education through lively and critical debate, and the dissemination of research findings is uppermost.

The journal sets out to include contributors from a wide and diverse community of researchers. This extends to all aspects of dance in education, providing opportunities for both experienced and less experienced researchers. The journal encourages a wide range of research approaches and methods, in a forum for debate. An international audience will be attracted to the comparative study of dance teaching and learning, which the journal encompasses. Issues of pedagogy and subject content are addressed in relation to creating, performing and viewing dance in various contexts. The role and value of Dance as part of Arts Education and the connections with other Arts practitioners is also addressed.

The research field of Research in Dance Education includes: all phases of education, pre-school to higher education and beyond; teaching and learning in dance, theory and practice; new technology; professional dance artists in education; learning in and through dance; aesthetic and artistic education; dance and the arts; dance and physical education; training dance teachers: initial teacher education, continuing professional development, dance degrees, and professional dance training; examination dance; dance therapy; special educational needs; community dance and youth dance; dance in society: gender, ethnicity, class, religion, economics; psychological issues: self esteem, motivation, body image, creativity, philosophy and the arts, and research methods and methodologies.

The Perspectives section aims to re-publish significant work, which may no longer be available in print, to a wider readership. Articles are either of historical interest per se, or the issues addressed are so fundamental they remain relevant today. The section Editor welcomes suggestions of specific articles that you would like to see reproduced in future volumes of the journal. Recommendations should be accompanied by a photocopy of the article (with full reference) and a brief statement explaining why it is proposed for reprinting.

The main purpose of the Dancelines section is to showcase outstanding student writing and to offer a supportive environment in which comparatively inexperienced student or recently graduated authors could gain confidence and develop their writing skills. One of the main intentions is to encourage scholarship and enthusiasm to write about dance and thus Dancelines is seen as acting as a seedbed for future writers. Both undergraduate and postgraduate work, normally between 3000 and 6000 words long is welcomed - the key criterion being that the work is publishable in an academic journal.