Research in Dance Education
(Young people's experiences of effort and engagement in dance) Bond, Karen E.
and Stinson, Susan W. (2007)
At our last campus session
Paula referred to this piece of literature during discussions. I found it
interesting and somewhat relevant to my own professional inquiry.
This literature gives
examples of the findings from an inquiry into how young children learn in dance
education. The study suggests that children must be challenged in order to
achieve
“Students attribute school success and failure to a
variety of causes. Wiseman and hunt (2001) identify four: ability, effort, task
difficulty and luck (2001:43)"
Also suggesting that the
goals must be attainable for them to feel successful in their efforts.
Therefore taking into great consideration the level and difficulty of each task
when planning a dance lesson, to ensure inclusive teaching for students of all
abilities and learning styles.
“Reeve (2005) suggests that students orientated toward
learning/mastery goals may become bored when their skills override the
challenge of a task (echoing Csikszentmihalyi). While students with performance
orientations enjoy tasks in which they can show high ability”. (2007:175)
The study highlighted children’s
views on dance. Many enjoyed the dance lessons if they felt that they have made
an achievement. Some students learn through movement and those who have chosen
dance are more likely to prefer this learning style (Kinesthetic learners).
This links in with my findings from my previous literature review on Gardner’s
Multiple intelligence theory, which suggests that dancers learning through
bodily-kinesthetic styles.
From reviewing this
literature I will consider using a number of smaller tasks, to incorporate
teaching methods to suit ‘all’ learners. I remain convinced that the use of
technology will further consolidate student learning, especially targeting students
who learn from visual aids.
“Dance educators have focused on the importance of
learning through movement for Kinesthetic learners”. (2007:177)
This also leads me to
look into Kolb’s learning styles. as Kolb's model gave rise to the Learning
Style Inventory, an assessment method used to determine an individual's
learning style.
I think it can be extremely difficult to satisfy everyone in a dance class. There are so many ways in which children and young adults learn and I feel they do not always make it clear to which teaching methods suit them best. I have recently began teaching again and I always have to tweak my classes, no two are the same.
ReplyDeleteHi Kimberley,
ReplyDeleteyes thats the joy of teaching, everyday is different. I have just researched into Kolb's learning styles / learning cycle and blogged a review on this, which you may find interesting. It describes the different learning styles of individuals and emphasis's the need to use a variety of teaching tools in class to enable inclusive learning.
Gemma
Hi Gemma,
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this review i found it very interesting and helpful in parts. Whats your opinion on children/students are are completely not engaged and gifted and talented students all in the same classroom at the same time? Do you focus on pushing the gifted or supprotibg encouraging the others?
Nina
Hi Nina,
ReplyDeleteIt is important to plan for all pupils, however it is difficult to 'teach' effectively and for learners to 'learn' if some students refuse to participate and/or become disruptive. Seek out the behaviour for learning policy and follow those steps to sanction any un-desired behaviours in individuals. This often works as a deterrent. The class should respond positively. Try using shorter tasks which vary in teaching styles (see review on Kolb) and praise, praise, praise! The gifted and talented students will be challenged if given more responsibility, for example leaders of group work/team captains/teacher assistants etc. That will also free you up to observe and deal with any issues.
Gem