Dance in the school curriculum and external factors relating to students involvement
From my current professional practise and involvement that I have within the school, I am fortunate to explore new ideas with teachers and students regarding my inquiry. As far as literature and research goes, I have to be extremely specific with what I am trying to focus on. Having mentioned my discussion with the head of dance, we came up with the idea of engagement and how this can vary class to class. I have to mention that all research and findings that involve engagement do not specify dance, it seems to cover all subjects but shining the spotlight on the student/teacher relationship. An editor of the National Standards for Arts Education (1994) Ron Brandt (editor, 1995) concluded the following statement;
'Students see no connection between priorities and what the teachers expect of them so refuse to even try. Teachers can complain that students are not motivated and search for approaches that resign themselves to routines that they no longer expect to be procedure.'
I understand from this statement that it is purely his opinion and has no real research to back this up, however when relaying this back to the head of dance she understood where he was coming from and opened up a few examples of how this can be related. Boys generally do not enjoy dance within the PE key stage 1 & 2. They try there hardest to make fun of the teachers or fellow students, and even other boys that want to participate and end up making the class environment an uncomfortable place to be. This problem occurs daily within schools and all subjects. What Brandt was explaining was that as soon as the student shows the disengagement within the class, the teacher can have a tendency to switch off and almost demotivate them to continue. How is this affecting other students? It must have a huge disadvantage to those who enjoy the subject (what ever the subject may be) and for teachers, it becomes a chore to control.
Septembers issue of the Educational Leadership (1995), a publication whose themes reflect issues of current significance to public school administrators was devoted to strengthen students engagement in the class room environment, Brandt's statement was found in this edition along with Richard Strong, Harvey F. Silver and Amy Robinson's piece on what do students want in order for them to become motivated and engaged within there subjects at school. They came up with what allows a student to feel energised in achieving goals. these four are success, curiosity, originality, and satisfying relationships. Strong, Silver, and Robinson explain how they then took a study out between students and teachers and how by asking the same two questions what the similarities were in the answers that they gave. The questions were;
What do you find engaging?
Both similar answers that stimulated by curiosity in a subject that they enjoy/excel in.
What do you hate to do?
Generally subject areas that they show no enthusiasm or passion for.
This quickly shows me how the interests and outcomes of students and teachers are so similar. Teacher and students have the same ideas when it comes to engagement and although I am looking to focus on the engagement of the student, it is clear how the teachers engagement has to be clear for the student to be responsive.
How we define engagement came through a study taken by Phil Schlecy (1994) and he describes engagement through an individual can be shown through three characteristics;
1) Attraction to their work
2) Persistence no matter what obstacles may get in the way
3)Visible delight in their accomplishment
The way in which I can relate to this from my own personal experiences are dancing as a child outside of school became a clear interest of mine. Persisting to take dance on as a subject at school allowed me to further my knowledge and develop as a performer along with taking all other subjects for my GCSE's. Being able to achieve an A at GCSE gave me the drive to push on as an A Level subject and try to achieve the highest grade possible. I show clear engagement throughout those important years of my school life and now furthering it again in the BAPP course can allow me to open more doors in dance education.
The patterns of motivation are linked into engagement theories, and within this literacy I wanted to follow on from the thoughts given and how we as BAPP students can understand and relate it within our studies. They outline the motivation types as Extrinsic and Instrinsic, each with theories/studies to back the reasoning up;
'Extrinsic motivation—a motivator that is external to the student or the task at hand—has long been perceived as the bad boy of motivational theory. In Punished by Rewards, Alfie Kohn (1995) lays out the prevailing arguments against extrinsic rewards, such as grades and gold stars. He maintains that reliance on factors external to the task and to the individual consistently fails to produce any deep and long-lasting commitment to learning.'
From this above statement I have grasped that Kohn (1995) is not a fan of awarding students with external motivational techniques and commitment to their learning is key for a teacher/student engagement. I could say that throughout secondary school experiencing this does not seem to be a current way of teaching/motivating students. I believe there will be a difference in primary school as this approach can stimulate the younger children's mind who are still in the process of development.
'Intrinsic motivation, on the other hand, comes from within, and is generally considered more durable and self-enhancing (Kohn 1993). Still, although intrinsic motivation gets much better press, it, too, has its weaknesses. As Kohn argues, because intrinsic motivation “is a concept that exists only in the context of the individual,” the prescriptions its proponents offer teachers, are often too radically individualized, or too bland and abstract, to be applied in classroom settings (See “Punished by Rewards? A Conversation with Alfie Kohn,” p. 13).'
As a past student I agree I would always feel motivated by a teacher outwardly expressing delight for my work, however not every teacher will work this way. Therefore not having any rewards such as gold stars or verbal acknowledgement may show the opposite effect to students who then do not begin to believe in themselves. After reading the statement from Kohn (1993) again, I have concluded that there has to be a clear balance between the Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation which is given by the teachers in order for the students to become engaged.
After analysing a lot of literature on how students feel engaged within a subject, I have realised a lot more factors that stem off my one idea. I have started with the idea of engagement within dance in the school curriculum which has then lead into motivation. In my previous blog (link at the top of this blog) I did outline the theory of Maslow (1943) and his hierarchy of needs which highlights individuals engagement within motivation. He stated that everyone is capable of moving up the hierarchy towards a level of Self-Actualisation, however the disruption by failure to meet lower levels through external factors such as job loss, divorce, bad life experiences can lead to a stop in your profession and disbelief in yourself.
Maslow was able to formulate a more positive account of human behaviour by focusing on what is going right and pushing to develop that. For example, if a school student was having trouble at home or a bad social up bringing, if they are excelling in school at a particular subject - for this instance lets us dance, this can help push them into a better place by achieving and feeling that sense of success. This is not just relating to school students, but everyone in life. Using young adults as an example expresses to me how Maslows theory can encourage educational learning especially in order to develop.
Kenrick (et al, 2010) adds to Maslows theory and stated that each person is unique and self motivation can lead people into different directions of life. Finding what an individual excels in can be achieved by help of a teacher, superior figure in their life, sibling and wether it be in sport, art, literature, corporate settings each of us has the capability and opportunity to be in control of our futures.
Applications of Maslow's theory within education, highlight the teaching and classroom management and how his holistic approach to education and learning can depend highly on the individuals intellect. For example emotional and social situations can affect a students capability and can lead to a huge impact on their learning. This leads into lack of concentration as their mind is else where. Factors such as being tired, hungry, can also play a part in how you would manage a classroom situation. I always remember finding it hard to concentrate after lunch as the 'food coma' would sit in and i suppose as a teacher you would have to feel prepared and adapt a day to day teaching in order to engage the students full attention. As a student, there is a major factor of feeling emotionally and physically safe within an environment in order to reach full potential. It is shown that students feel valued and respected within their own personal space and it is important to recognise the teachers responsibility to create the supportive environment. What can also link into this talk on eviroments for students is the way that self esteem can affect students and Maslow(1970) explains how this can most definitely effect progression at an optimum rate.
Now as I push to become more specific to dance, I wanted to share my findings of 'Partnering dance and education' leading from the book by Judith Lynne Hanna. She focuses on the way that intelligence moves for changing times and how verbal language specifically can link well with creating dance pieces and 'dance making'. As I listed in my previous blog there has been criticism over the fact her view is very much biased as she supports dance within the communities and therefore has no argument to her case, but I thought it was worth a read in order to find backings for my inquiry leading with dance in education. Her belief that dance making should be a key stage in students learning as it shows attributes which can encourage development within creativity, vocabulary - linked with dance vocab, and meaning.
As I searched a little deeper into support systems with dance in the cirriculum i found a good website - anew direction.org.uk which expresses the thoughts of why dance should be supported. They explain that PE and Sports Premium can now help pay for dance to be apart of the Key stage 1&2 and how schools now are looking to help sustain the subject further into GCSE and A Level qualifications. It also highlights the cultural educational views and how politicians value arts for its instintiric and instrumental capital and know its vital ingredient for ensuring skill based workforces. The forum explains how they believe all children and young people in England deserve to have access to high quality cultural experiences early in life and dance can enhance this opportunity. People often question why dance is apart of the school curriculum. Through this literacy I have understood the understanding that along with the links to PE, dance also allows the young students to combine physical literacy and experimentation. It allows creativity to another subject within their school life and develops self knowledge and social skills. The website states that within primary schools, less time is currently spent on dance in comparison to art or drama. This has drawn me into further investigation as to why perhaps dance is not overly promoted within primary schools as this should technically guide students learning and development in the subject as they move on into secondary school.
As I have previously mentioned my link with fitness and general activity, I wanted to find out more about how dance is perceived as a sport. If it is or not valued as a way of keeping fit and healthy and what could change peoples views of its perception. As many theories have described it as a way of physical activity to students, I was able to find research to back up why dance ( a form of physical activity) is beneficial to students development,
The CDC (Centres for disease control and prevention) outline that the benefits of physical activity to young adults can help in reducing the risks of depression, anxiety and promotes psychological well being. It can also reduce the risk of developing obesity and chronic diseases. Linking this in with dance in education, I find it interesting that some students to not believe dance is a form of physical activity. I suppose by finding these statistics helps me in wanting to push the art as a good way of keeping fit and healthy. Another prime example of this would be the world wide phemoninum that is Zumba. Being apart of most health clubs fitness programmes its highlighting a fun way to exercise, and i suppose i am trying to express the same within education, Dance is fun! Looking on the physical activity side, the CDC show the percentages in participation in 2013;
Percentage of High School Students Participating in Physical Activity and Physical Education, by Sex, 20133
| Type of Activity | Females | Males |
|---|---|---|
| Physically active at least 60 minutes/daya | 17.7% | 36.6% |
| Attended physical education classes dailyb | 24.0% | 34.9 |
If dance is regarded more within schools as an added way for students to exercise rather than waft around like a fairy, I firmly believe that more students would want to participate,
As I begin to narrow down my options for my inquiry, I feel more focused on how dance can be expressed though the school curriculum as a positive subject which can help individuals learning. Motivation and engagement are key to this and from my findings, it also highlights the importance of the teacher and student relationship, how this is key to success and building up the triangle of needs. The impact on dance in student learning within the classroom and curriculum can lead to the potential to further the prevalence of dance in public and private education. The way in which educators choose to instruct the subject can also have a huge impact on the individuals learning.
I have more reading and researching to do but feel this could go on forever, I would be most grateful for any feedback or ideas on my literature and how you could possibly see any areas which I could solely focus on.
References
Hoffman E (1998) The right to be human a biography of Abraham Maslow, Jeremy P Tarcher Inc
Khon (1993)
Phil Schlecy (1994)
Khon (1995)
Kenrick (2010) Goal driven cognition & Fun
Maslow, A H (1943) - A Theory of human motivation
Maslow, A H (1954) Motivation and personality
Judith Lynne Hanna - Partnering dance and education
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