I have always believed that dance education and dance as an interdiscplinary subject is undervalued and neglected in our society. Recent readings not only support this belief further, but lay a case for the importance of movement and dance in education.
Chinese New Year offers a wonderful opportunity to incorporate some form of dance education into almost every socio-cultural school subject and creative dance class. As I prepare for tomorrow's kindergarten creative dance class, I realize just how many areas of discovery this topic can cover.
In my recent workshops with kindergartners I have explored 'academic' subjects through movement experiences (active learning). The lessons are 40 minutes long, and I see them once a week. I am amazed at how quickly they learn new concepts through movements. We have explored the water / weather cycle and the food chain. They can recall the lesson, the terminologies and concepts learnt, and relate the ideas back to me, verbally and through movement. I wonder whether they would be as competent to recall these modules, had the been sitting at a desk for 40 minutes (passive learning).
Movement experiences are very limited in the traditional learning environment. Why? Sir Ken Robinson, well-renowned educator and creativity expert links this idea of learning in public education to industrialisation. In this anime adapted from one of his lectures, he goes on to argue why the public education system should change. What do you think?
