‘C’mon PE (TE) it’s time to get changed for dance’
(Keyworth and Smith, 2003: 107).
A small-scale investigation into the challenges faced by the teacher in teaching dance activities as part of the Physical Education National Curriculum, and the impact of the teaching upon the response of pupils in relation to learning. Use literature; autobiography, personal reflection, questionnaire and observation data; and unit materials to support your responses to the following:
Some pupils are very good at reading the spaces in team sports, while others read music fluently. Some find mental calculations easy; some are good at constructing 3D objects; some express ideas elegantly through dance ...view middle of the document...
This has encouraged the increasing participation in dance, and encouraged students and parents alike to ask for dance classes to be incorporated as part of the academic school experience. However, the role of dance within school is still viewed negatively by a large range of people and not considered important within many schools. Exemplified by Colwell and Richardson (2002) who believe dance has existed prominently as an extracurricular activity or as a small portion of the broader language arts and physical education curricula. Throughout this assignment, a small-scale investigation will be undertaken to identify challenges faced by teachers in dance, and the impact of the teaching upon the response of the pupils. Numerous contentious issues will be addressed, such as the way dance is conceptualized, homophobia and the roles assigned to pupils based on gender and race stereotypes. Problems such as a teachers own inhibitions about dance, which has resulted in dance rarely being given a great deal of attention by some teachers (Harrison, 1995), and the differing views of dance within schools and the impact this has on the provision of equipment and space. Highlighted within the writings of Barth and Römer, who suggest that ‘not only are there many different children’s dance schools and facilities, but there are just as many different views on dance or ballet for children’ (2007:151).
‘Teaching would be much easier if we could teach in what we consider an ideal environment. Then, our planning and implementation would easily fall into place’ (Cone, 2012: 45). The problem is that this is rarely the case, especially when considering dance, and as a result it causes the teacher to adapt their own ideas to enable students learning to become meaningful, effective and safe. Now, the provision of dance education varies greatly from school to school (Smith and Pocknell, 2007). In practice dance is located within a variety of different curriculum areas: as part of PE, performing arts or as it’s own subject and is taught by teachers with a wide range of interests, skill level and experience. However, in practice dance can be a vulnerable area of the curriculum in many schools due to it not being considered part of the core curriculum and therefore often subject to budget cuts leading to minimal opportunities for children to participate in dance experiences (Cone, 2012). The National Association for Sport (2009) recommends that dance classes should contain the same number of children as the classrooms (e.g., 25children per class). Although, some schools and districts schedule two or three classes at one time (Cone, 2012). This means that one teacher might teach sixty plus pupils which will ultimately affect the overall learning experience, as well as putting extra strain onto the teacher. This lack of support within schools negatively impacts a pupils learning and achievement. This is highlighted by Cone (2012) who believes that the goals that can be...
