Transformative Experiences Through Dance: One Teacher’s Story

Previously published in Volume 81, Issue 4

When Eric entered the education gym with his friend Alekcei to enroll in Project Move at the University of Saskatchewan, he thought, "you've got to be kidding me. I don't belong here."

The program, a volunteer dance project designed to provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge and practical experiences for teaching dance to elementary school children, was attended by 28 women, plus Eric and Akekcei.

His second thought was, “If I am expected, as a professional, to teach dance in both physical and arts education, I should look around and find out what it's all about."

Eric and Alekcei stayed, engaged in the dance activities, and then took that knowledge to their school to teach six dance lessons to grades 2, 3 and 4 students. Their success and hard work transformed them from students feeling completely out of their element to self-assured teachers of dance.

As athletes and former elite hockey players, their conversion to dance educators was not a move they anticipated during their educational journey. Six years later and well into their teaching career they are both teachers of dance in their schools and have demonstrated what it takes for a pre-service teacher to step outside of their comfort zone and become a professional in the truest sense of the word. As co-director of Project Move, I had the privilege of sharing their journey.

Forgetting stereotypes and letting go
Learning to teach dance requires one to relinquish inhibitions and embrace the expressive as well as functional components of movement. It also requires a professional commitment to move beyond many traditional ideologies of curricula, release stereotypes of who dances and change beliefs about the place that dance holds within education (Baker, 2013; Ridler, 2014).

Eric admitted while he was moving through some of the creative ideas presented in the Project Move workshops that he felt ridiculous and terrified, which is not an uncommon experience for those who haven't taken part in many dance activities (Kaufmann & Ellis 2007; Ridler, 2014). Engaging in thematic movements with balloons and streamers, and interpreting the movement of a horse galloping through space was something Eric could not recall experiencing. He was hesitant at first and then yielded to the idea that young children might just really enjoy this type of physical activity through dance. It's easy to find other teachers who have experienced the trepidation of envisioning themselves as teachers of dance (Baker, 2013; Ridler, 2014).

Out of the comfort zone
Pre-service teachers entering into the profession face the challenges of teaching in areas that are less than comfortable and indeed in some cases completely foreign. For many, dance is one of those areas, and providing opportunities to learn dance content, practice it, and then engage in teaching dance is imperative to increasing self-confidence in the teaching of dance (Russell-Bowie, 2013).

Project Move addresses these needs by offering dance workshops related to creative exploration of movement, theme dances and hip-hop dance, and provides opportunities to explore simple props and a variety of music for teaching dance. Pre-service teachers are then provided one classroom of students with whom they practice the teaching of dance over a six week period.

During the 22 years Project Move was offered, it mentored over 700 pre-service teachers and 10,000 elementary school children through dance. Past research in Project Move demonstrated positive outcomes for pre-service teachers in relation to the teaching of dance. The teachers: 1) increased their knowledge of dance and curriculum; 2) improved their instructional strategies; 3) developed an ability to create quality dance curricula; and 4) increased self-confidence teaching dance (Kalyn & Krohn, 2005).

Project Move provides an opportunity for mentorship between pre-service teachers and faculty with the ultimate goal to educate, inform, mentor and reverse the attitudes and fears of many pre-service teachers in relation to the teaching of dance in schools.

Unique connection
It is a pleasure to work with pre-service teachers and be a part of such positive outcomes and transformations. Understanding the pedagogical needs of pre-service teachers and recognizing that many of them have reservations about teaching dance due to past movement experiences is the first step to fostering change and positive outcomes through our educational programs. Cultural perceptions of dance, who teaches dance and who dances, are challenges to work through for many students (Ridler, 2014; Risner, 2014).

The experience of these two male teachers is proof that students can emerge as teachers of dance given the right combination of professionalism, and the opportunities to learn and grow in a field that is often not well understood.

Eric has kept in touch with me to share his accomplishments, innovations, successes, challenges and to ask advice in furthering his goals around teaching dance and furthering his own education. This unique opportunity to stay connected to former students as a faculty member in a teacher education program is rewarding and provides a place to reflect on mentorship and to observe ongoing outcomes of innovations within teacher education programs. This article celebrates Eric’s transformation into dance, the teaching profession, and our collegial partnership that developed as a result of his fear and my love of dance.

Mentoring relationships
Mentoring is described by the Oxford dictionary (1990) as a trusted relationship between individuals who are engaged in the mentorship. The mentor is seen as a guide and someone who provides teaching assistance. Some forms of mentorship are formally designed to connect pre-service teachers with experienced educators over a long-term program while other mentoring relationships spring from shared common experiences and meaningful communication. Teacher education mentors provide pre-service teachers with support through practical experiences as they move towards crossing the professional line into their own teaching contexts and careers (Kell & Forsberg, 2015).

Mentoring relationships that continue after graduation become respected and reciprocal professional partnerships that reap the benefits of success, challenge, and inquiry into practice. This best describes the ongoing collegial partnership developed between Eric and myself over the past six years. It has been gratifying to carry on the sharing of ideas and solving professional challenges through emails, videos, and phone conversations. Opportunities to engage in academic writing that reflected his narrative experience regarding learning to teach dance are evident in our joint published papers and conference presentations. Assisting Eric with his application for Graduate School, sharing in his excitement and accomplishment receiving a $50,000 grant to promote Canadian Identity through post-war reflective studies, and recently having him interview me for one of his graduate assignments are other outcomes of our partnership.

Eric's appreciation of dance has grown over the years and his successful teaching of dance has inspired many students and teachers. Eric has observed feelings of anxiety and discomfort in others around teaching dance which is not only a reality for pre-service teachers but experienced teachers as well. Many teachers have not had the benefits of ongoing immersion opportunities in teaching dance; whether it be in physical or arts education and feel their lack of expertise, lack of professional development, and time to gain confidence in dance education is fractured (Andrews, 2015). Eric feels gratified that his experiences have permitted him to enter his teaching career with confidence in this area of curriculum.

Eric periodically shares his students’ dance creations and choreography that I am able to then show to my undergraduate dance classes to demonstrate growth from a reluctant member of Project Move to a confident professional, who embraces the challenges of teaching dance. Eric firmly believes that without his dance experience he never would have excelled in his profession in the same way. Dance set him apart from other teachers and provided him with an edge.

He affirms that stepping outside of his comfort zone and taking on the exploration of body movements in new ways he had not experienced before, opened up a branch of knowledge that helped him understand movement in a new way. A rather subjective experience, Richard (2013) suggests that in "creative dance classes students are learning to develop an awareness of their dancing self, an inter-subjectivity as they engage in collaborative creative processes and discover the interconnectedness of dance as a language of learning" (p.7). 

Acquiring a new language of learning through dance education was the impetus for other accomplishments. In Eric's words:

Teaching dance provided me with growth in character that I did not anticipate and it gave me confidence to explore ideas and continue to teach where I was least comfortable. It set me apart from other new teachers. Not only did I gain experience in dance, I was not afraid to teach it. As a male, this was rare. I demonstrated how to generate good teaching and performing in dance with a wide range of students from K-8. I believe that is one of the main strengths I brought to my first teaching job, offered to me the day my internship ended. They wanted to keep me in the school and promptly turned me into the school's physical educator and dance educator! This confirmd for me that participating in Project Move was one of the best moves I’ve made, professionally. You could say that dance redefined me. I was humbled to realize how much more there was to movement. Dance was a whole new world of discovery and learning for me.

Eric's pedagogical strategies
The following suggestions are some of the pedagogical strategies that Eric now shares with others to encourage successful outcomes in dance education for students and teachers.

• Bringing in experts such as Karrnnel, an award winning musician, artist, and composer from Saskatchewan who shares innovative ways to engage students in music and dance provides not only opportunities for the students but much needed professional development for teachers.
• Theme dances are very successful, especially with middle years students. Providing a variety of themes to choose from including movies, sports, occupations, literary characters and stories encourages students to integrate movement variables, music and ideas into creative dances. A football dance and a popcorn dance sequence were great successes with students. This approach helps provide students with movement ideas and sequencing and from this point they are encouraged to build on existing dances and create new sequences.
• Students’ dances have been video recorded and serve as viewing opportunities to see their final creations. Students love to see their work even if they appear to be embarrassed! They are often surprised how great their dances are and some have performed their dances for assemblies and other school functions. I call this “shock value” because they are so excited about their accomplishments and so am I! You can see in their faces that they are outside of their comfort zone and I sure know what that was like! I think because of my own experience and discomfort initially, I know what my students need to get past and become enthused and educated about dance.
• Simple costumes and props that are thematic such as ball caps, same coloured t-shirts, fancy hats, jewellery, balls, balloons, scarves, ribbons generate creative ideas and students often lose themselves in their costumes and props. Inhibitions take a back seat when extensions of the dance are incorporated.
• He has brought multiple grades together (2/3 & 5/6) for creative dance and after preparing the 5/6 students they became the creative dance ‘teachers’ to the grades 2/3 classes. They created dances together and the older kids felt very proud of themselves and their work in dance.
• Eric has transformed many an athlete into a dancer. There is room for competition in dance! As students perform for each other, I find they become motivated to outdo each other and that triggers more creative, critical thinking, and moving!
• He also believes a healthy practice is to let dancers form their own working groups. It is easier to dance with others you are comfortable with. From there you can begin intersections of student groups as you build relationships through dance curriculum
• Eric refutes the idea that boys will not dance. He affirms they may struggle with it initially, but believes it is all about getting at “their core” and turning the movements into something they can relate to thematically. He has found making percussive sounds with the voice, feet and hands, or using instruments that make noise for example get them dancing and within no time they are hooked!

Eric has had a few tough Grade 7/8 classes this year. He said that teaching dance was a particular challenge to these students but he just would not give up. He taught the students scarf juggling to a pop song and weaved the movement variables, body shapes and designs, and relationships into these activities. Sometimes he uses props such as ropes, hoops and balls to integrate into a sports theme — something they can relate to. Eric is gratified to see their responses and happy to see these often-disengaged students actually enjoying the dance movements. He admits he is not successful all of the time but every success is important.

Eric teaches his students the dances he learned in Project Move except for the Wild-Wild-West dance, an upbeat hip-hop dance. He admits:

I still can’t do that one. Trying to learn that dance was the most humbling experience. I am a good athlete and I have never experienced difficulty in movement and I realized then it was because everything I did was sports-related and it came natural to me. I couldn’t remember the sequences in the dance and I had no rhythm at all but through this embarrassing moment, I learned the most and decided I was just going to give it everything I had. I guess you could say it was very humbling to fail so miserably at this type of movement but it also lit a fire under me. I gained a great deal of respect for dancers that day and I made a commitment to learn and to teach dance the best way I could.

Confidence and growth
Eric reflects that overall, his experience as a dance teacher has been rewarding. I am proof that teacher confidence is vital to success and you only gain confidence through training and experience (Andrews, 2015). The rest is up to you. A teacher needs to practice his or her craft in order to improve and gain confidence. Today, I can teach dance to anyone. I am not scared and that is because I know I am good at it now and I enjoy the challenge. I take that confidence into my classes and motivate my students.

Kilgour Dowdy and Campbell (2008) believe, “Teachers must critically analyze their ideologies, journeys, and dispositions and engage in personal transformation in order to be effective” (p.2).

Ridler (2014) affirms that gaining confidence, breaking down insecurities and learning to be comfortable in your own skin (p. 26) are powerful outcomes learned through dance. Dance invites pre-service teachers to push through what might be perceived as risky learning! With positive mentorship, time, practice and reflection one can return to that innate joy of movement through dance and pass it on their newly discovered potential to others. Eric believes that learning to think creatively through dance has taught him how to think creatively in other areas that he teaches. Young (as cited in Kilgour Dowdy & Campbell, 2008) agrees that everyone learning to think creatively will “echo through other disciplines what they are called on to study and master” (p.9). Teachers must value this creative thinking and learning.

Eric as a mentor
Eric has explored his role as a teacher-facilitator of dance with his students and through his observations of students' “thinking bodies” (Richard, 2013, p. 7) learning between students, teacher and the dance becomes reciprocal. His reconnection to his own body through dance has provided him the opportunity to understand the basic principles of movement and create new ways for his students to explore learning through dance.

As an educator for many years, I believe that we have an innate knowledge of dance that we are born with. Find me a little child who does not respond with joy to the invitation to dance. I’ve seen this over and over throughout my personal and professional life. Their little arms wave in the air, feet stomp, clapping motions occur as the body bends and lifts with the music, all the while smiling and focusing on being in the movement. Somewhere along the trajectory of ‘education’ many students learn not to dance. Dance becomes culturally inappropriate, often demonstrated by what is valued in education. Eric was that little boy who learned not to dance. As a result of responding to another invitation to dance through Project Move, he has returned to the joy of expression and movement through dance.

Education is about thinking, exploring, taking risks, creating and constantly growing as an educator. Learning through dance can help individuals grasp personal goals (Kilgour Dowdy & Campbell, 2008) and Eric can attest to that:

"Teaching dance was scary but so was teaching science, ELA and math for the first time. Teachers need to be accountable to provide a wide variety of learning opportunities for their students. The area of dance education needs to be one of those areas. One day I would like to move into administration. When Brenda asked me what my dance goals would be for my school as an administrator I hadn’t given that much thought. I realized Brenda was pushing me to think again! So, I gave that some thought and I believe from an administrator’s standpoint we need to offer teachers a chance to succeed in dance education. This could begin with a sustainable and engaging program that provides lesson plans teachers can use in their classrooms. Teachers might find teaching dance difficult, but with the right support this could be a fun and enjoyable way to help students and even boost staff morale. I think if you provide them with the necessary professional development, similar to Project Move, it would be a good start. Also, if the principal comes in and does some guest teaching it would help with the morale and the confidence of the teacher and that will be me!"

Eric also believes that interns need to step outside the box and think about what a school needs. You need to be valuable and indispensable. The perfect time to practice something new and make mistakes is in your internship. Teaching is an art and a science and you will never perfect it, only improve it.

Hard work and giving back
In Eric's words:

"My hiring principal told me, “You were a great intern, but you still have a lot of work to do to be a great teacher.” Do not be scared of hard work, it is what separates good teachers from great teachers."

And finally, align yourself with strong mentors throughout your career. Learn from them and give back in your own unique ways.

References

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Baker, K.  (2013).  Teaching dance one step at a time. Physical and Health   Education Journal, 7 (1) 50-52.

Kaufmann, K., & Ellis, B. (2007).  Preparing pre-service generalist teachers to use creative movement in K-6.  Journal of Dance Education, 7 (1), 7-13. doi:10.1080/15290824.2007.10387327

Kalyn, B. & Krohn, J. (2005). Project move: A practical physical education learning opportunity for pre-service teachers. In E. Ralph (Ed.), Effective college teaching: Fresh insights and exemplary practices. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Kell, S., & Forsberg, N. (2015).  The role of mentoring in physical education  teacher education:  A theoretical and practical perspective.  Physical & Health Education Journal, 80 (2) 6-11.

Kilgour Dowdy, J., & Campbell, D. (2008). The Dance of Diversity: White Male Teachers and Arts Based Instruction for Classrooms. The High School Journal, 91 (4) 1-11.  April/May

Oxford Dictionary. (1990).  (8th Edition).  Oxford:  Oxford University Press.

Richard, M.  (2013). Dance as a language of learning and a source of embodied knowing. Physical and Health Education Journal, 7 (1) 6-10.

Ridler, R.  (2014).  Dance:  Learning movements to break through barriers.   Physical & Health Education Journal, 80 (3) 24-26.

Risner, D. (2014). Gender problems in Western theatrical dance: Little girls, big sissies & the “Baryshnikov Complex.” International Journal of Education & the Arts, 15 (10). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v15n10

Russell-Bowie D., E.  (2013).  What?  Me? Teach dance? Background and confidence of primary pre-service teachers in dance education across five countries. Research in Dance Education, 14 (3) 216-232.  doi:10.1080/14647893.2012.722614

Young, L. (2007). Portals into poetry: Using generative writing groups to facilitate student’s engagement with word art. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51 (1), 50-55.