“Set up to fail”: Stories of early career K-12 dance and theatre teachers and their teaching spaces

This paper considers the consequence of space allocation challenges on K-12 teachers of theater and dance. Although all early career teachers face challenges integrating into a new school, our qualitative analysis considers unique impacts on early career performing arts teachers. Many teachers report being bumped from assigned teaching spaces, often unexpectedly, when other school activities require space. Because theater and dance are embodied disciplines, these spatial disruptions left participants feeling de-valued or peripheral, reinforcing the need to address space as a component of belonging for arts teachers.