DANZ QUARTERLY No 4 June 2006
A focus on dance in schools
Innovative and succesful learning through dance!
Tania Kopytko
There is great dance diversity in New Zealand, which creates a rich tapestry of movement to enjoy, explore, perform and learn.
For our Tangata Whenua, the varied dance and movement forms (involving haka, waiata, and martial art disciplines such as taiaha) are vitally important to the expression of the group and also the self within the group, from iwi through to hapu. It is core to rituals such as powhiri and it is also an important facet of modern Maoridom, expressed through the various kapa haka celebrations and competitions, graduations and other special events.
Our Pacific Island populations also have rich dance traditions of great variety, which flourish in New Zealand. Those dance traditions are also changing and growing rapidly here, due to the different influences of their new homeland.
Other cultures in New Zealand also have strong dance traditions including cultures of Asian, African, Arabic, Latin or European origin. Some of these are strong, others are growing or quietly exist. These dance traditions can be seen at festivals and celebrations, and they also represent potent vehicles and contexts for learning and education. In addition we have the European dance forms including contemporary, creative and ballet.
The popularity of dance is certainly increasing and spans all age groups and cultures, for example, large hip hop and cultural events. There has been a huge increase in male interest and attendance at social dance classes across the country, thanks to programmes such as “Dancing with the Stars”.
Dance is now in the school Arts Curriculum and it continues to sit in the Physical Education curriculum. In physical education, dance is still a potent and effective force for health and exercise which is also fun and challenging. Dance happens in schools in a myriad of other ways – school musicals and concerts, stage challenges, Polyfests and international cultural or dance days and after school hip hop clubs. Dance is enjoyed across the cultures, by both boys and girls.
Within the arts curriculum, dance can combine with any theme from cultural, environment to science and maths. Because it uses kinaesthetic learning as its base, it is proving a very effective tool for motivating certain groups such as boys reluctant to engage in learning, students with attention span or learning difficulties and migrant students still grasping the NZ culture and language. Dance encourages team work, negotiation and decision making skills, creativity, leadership, organisational skills and meeting challenges. Dance is hugely meaningful for that percentage of our population for whom kinaesthetic learning is a preferred and natural medium. Those students feel encouraged and motivated to engage in learning by first experiencing positive learning through the kinaesthetic gateway.
How can our cultural dance best be integrated in the school arts/dance curriculum, particularly when not all our school teachers have skills in the great variety of dance and movement styles existing in our Society? What are the effects when it is integrated in school learning?
Patrice O’Brien, National Dance Facilitator for Dance Education, says the easiest way is to use unit standards to assess students for performances such as Polyfest, because most Polyfest performance groups are large and mixed with some students who are in dance classes and some who are not. By using unit standards “tutors of performance groups do not have to spend time justifying whether students are to gain achieve, merit or excellence. If the right unit standards are chosen, students can gain a lot more credits, which more accurately reflects the time that students spend preparing for competition”.
Emma Bishop, dance tutor at Aorere College in Papatoetoe, has followed Patrice’s recommendation with success – “Polyfest takes up a huge eight weeks of the students’ lives, they work each day after school and also on Saturdays. Not giving them something for that is so unfair”. Emma utilises different unit standards to enable the students to explore various aspects of the dance genres and practice. This may include talking about safe dance practice within the dance genre – from the physical environment to the body stance. The students write about where the dance tradition came from, if it is traditional or how it has modernised. The students cultural dance tutors explain what the dances mean, for example, the significance of certain hand gestures and movements. The students then provide this in written form, encouraging writing skills from students who come from strong oral traditions.
The students are assessed both by their cultural tutors for cultural
authenticity and accuracy, and by their school dance tutor for dance
perspectives. By working together with the cultural dance tutors, Emma is able to give credit for the achievements of the students. “I
have made the time to do this work because I believe the students
should be given credit”.
Emma has found that while many of her students of Pacific Islands
heritage can perform their dances, they often do not know
the history of the dance or the stories they are singing about. Researching and writing about the context of the dance gives
deeper meaning and understanding to the culture and the dance
forms, and is a great motivator for the students to enter the NCEA
unit standard process. This dance work interests and motivates the
students. It bridges the gaps between skills the students successfully
have and use, and skills yet to be learned. This year Emma had 250 students receive credits for their
performance work in Polyfest.
Lateral thinking has Emma trying new
approaches to enable the students to further extend their work
and explore authentic and innovative dance experiences within
cultural dance. “We also use the experience from cultural dance to
create choreography in NCEA level 1”. By putting in an application
to Creative Communities for a special dance residency, Emma hopes
to hire dance professionals experienced and expert in cultural and
contemporary dance, to work with the students to extend their
choreographic skills.
The work of Emma Bishop and other innovative
dance teachers like her, provide role models for how dance can be
developed and used as an effective learning tool.
This year DANZ received a special grant to conduct research
in school and community practice, in relation to dance in the
curriculum. Research has recently taken place in Manukau, Rotorua
and the Manawatu. South Island research will commence shortly. Results to date show that dance in education still suffers from being
a new arts subject and there is uneven development and support
across the country. In response DANZ is developing some support and development
strategies as part of this research.
Over the year the NSSAC -
Dance (National Secondary Schools Arts Coordinator – Dance)
web site, managed by NSSAC DANZ Coordinator Lyne Pringle, will develop a list of community tutors in various dance forms, who
are available to tutor in schools in various regions. This information
can be accessed through the TKI or DANZ websites. At the same
time DANZ will be developing needed resources, information and
training to support this aspect of dance in schools. DANZ will plan
a series of training workshops and forums in the regions to discuss
the variety of issues relating to dance in schools – from promotion
of dance services, to recommended fee scales based on experience.
The Arts Online web site dance section, managed by National
Dance Facilitator Suzanne Renner, has excellent material for school
dance teachers or those contracted to schools, to use as resources
for lesson planning and teaching.
The future of dance in New Zealand, in education and the
wider context, looks exciting - interest is growing rapidly in all
dance styles and our participation in dance is increasing. Dance
is proving its worth as a strong educational tool. Provided links
can be made between genres and styles, experts and schools, greater understanding of dance styles will develop and people will
be able to work together to support and enjoy all dance forms. The potential for growth in participation, audience support, well
informed involvement and development of exciting and diverse
performance seasons is waiting to be tapped.
NSSAC website http://dance.artscoordinators.org.nz
Arts Online website http://arts.unitec.ac.nz/
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