Teaching Dance as Art in Education

Teaching Dance as Art in Education fosters an understanding of dance as arts education and defines the dance specialist’s roles and responsibilities, including how the national arts initiatives and student-centered inquiry affect the teaching of dance. It explains how to advance student growth in the areas most critical to teaching dance: the physical, mental, artistic, and social.

Content is delineated through four cornerstones of dance as art in education:

• Dancing and performing
  
• Creating and composing
  
• Knowing history, culture, and context
  
• Analyzing and critiquing

These cornerstones are subsequently integrated into the K-12 Dance Cornerstone Curriculum Framework, which enables dance specialists to develop substantive and sequential dance experiences for students as they progress from kindergarten through grade 12. The framework distills all the skills and concepts that dance specialists need, including developmental expectations for different ages.

Teaching Dance as Art in Education also presents a new instructional approach, the Eight-Step Plan, that facilities integration of all four dance education cornerstones into each unit to make the lessons more coherent. Further, the many features in the textbook help dance specialists become aware of not only their unique roles and responsibilities when teaching educational dance but also how to develop an arts-oriented, professional teaching portfolio.

The following user-friendly features are interwoven throughout the book:

• Reflect and Respond: Case studies, or scenarios, invite the reader to consider an issue or situation and develop a response.
  
• Questions to Ponder: Thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter help readers extend and apply chapter concepts.
  
• Rich Resources: Suggested resources, such as books, videos, and Web sites, supplement the topics covered in the chapter.
  
• Notebook or Portfolio: Practical exercises to complete, record, and compile into an arts-oriented teaching portfolio are useful for future job interviews.
  
• Inspirational Quotes: Selected quotes from famous dancers, choreographers, and teachers support the topics covered.

Teaching Dance as Art in Education reveals how to meet the National Standards in Dance Education without being driven by them, and it goes one step further—it marries dance with arts education in a way that makes teaching educational dance clear and distinct.

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Thinking About Dance Education

Part I. Why—Understanding Dance as Arts Education
Chapter 1. Viewing Educational Dance From an Arts Education Perspective
What Is an Arts Education Perspective?
What Are the Defining Characteristics of Educational Dance?
What Drives an Arts Education Perspective?

Chapter 2. Examining How National Arts Initiatives Affect Dance
National Dance Content and Achievement Standards
The “Nation’s Report Card” in Dance
Other Initiatives That Affect Dance Education
Need for Arts Alliances
Advocacy

Chapter 3. Adopting Your Roles and Responsibilities for Teaching
Why Become a Dance Specialist?
Examining K-12 Teaching Roles and Responsibilities
Preparing to Teach Dance as Art in K-12

Chapter 4. Emphasizing Aspects of Student-Centered Learning
Taking a Child-Centered Perspective
Kinesthetic–Motor Development (Moving and Learning)
Aesthetic–Artistic Development
Cognitive–Intellectual Development (Thinking, Perceiving, and Processing)
Psychological–Social Development (Feeling and Interacting)
Teaching the Whole Child

Chapter 5. Identifying the Cornerstones of Dance as Art in Education
Four Cornerstones
Pivotal Role of Inquiry
Overview of the Dance Cornerstone Curriculum Framework
How the Cornerstones Lay the Foundation for Accountability

Part II. What—Clarifying the Content of K-12 Educational Dance (The Cornerstones)
Chapter 6. Dancing and Performing: Cornerstone 1
Relation to National Standards and Beyond
Overview of This Cornerstone
Artful Use of the Dance Elements
Vocabulary Systems Used in Dance
Dance Technique and Skill Development
Dance Cornerstone Curriculum (DCC) Framework

Chapter 7. Creating and Composing: Cornerstone 2
Relation to National Standards and Beyond
Overview of This Cornerstone
Creative Process and Products
Creative Dance for Children
Choreography
Dance Cornerstone Curriculum (DCC) Framework

Chapter 8. Knowing History, Culture, and Context: Cornerstone 3
Relation to National Standards and Beyond
Overview of This Cornerstone
Dance Across Cultures: Cultural Diversity
Dance Through Time: Dance History
Preservation and Documentation
Dance Cornerstone Curriculum (DCC) Framework

Chapter 9. Analyzing and Critiquing: Cornerstone 4
Relation to National Standards and Beyond
Overview of This Cornerstone
Aesthetic Valuing
Critical Thinking and Processing
Dance Criticism
Dance Cornerstone Curriculum (DCC) Framework

Part III. How—Presenting Dance as Art in Education
Chapter 10. Constructing Artistic Bridges to Other Disciplines
Relation to National Standards and Beyond
Dance’s Role Across the Curriculum
Different Models for Integrating the Arts in Education
Teaching Other Academics Through Dance
Collaborating Across the Arts

Chapter 11. Creating and Maintaining an Effective Arts Learning Environment
Creating a Positive Arts Environment
Managing Arts Instruction: The Precursor to Artistic Expression
Scheduling
About Facilities
Survive and Thrive

Chapter 12. Investigating the Arts Savvy Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Triad
Curriculum Content
Instruction
Assessment
Integrating the Triad

Chapter 13. Integrating the Cornerstones to Create Units of Study in Dance
Relating the Cornerstones
Teaching by Integrating the Cornerstones
Using the Eight-Step Plan to Maximize Artistic Results
Varying an Eight-Step Lesson

Chapter 14. Creating a Unit of Study Using an Arts Education Perspective
Creating an Integrated Unit of Study
Sample Unit: Examining a Work by David Parsons
Building Your Own Unit of Study Around a Choreographic Work
Building Your Own Unit of Study Around a Style

Chapter 15. Reflecting on Teaching
Ethical Dimension of Teaching
Relational Teaching
School Renewal
Reflective Practitioner

Chapter 16. Developing an Arts-Oriented Teaching Portfolio
Preparing a Perspectives Notebook
Preparing Your Professional Teaching Portfolio
Closing Statement

Appendix A: Reference Lists of Concepts
Appendix B: Forms, Checklists, Sample Items, and Articles
Appendix C: Professional Organizations and National Initiatives
Glossary
References
Index
About the Author