Early Child Development and Care

This article was downloaded by: [The University of Manchester Library]
On: 19 November 2014, At: 05:48

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954
Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
Early Child Development and Care

Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/gecd20
Dance education for young

children. A review of principles and
practice
a
Gillian Mary Williams
a
Roehampton Institute, Froebel College , London
Published online: 09 Jul 2006.
To cite this article: Gillian Mary Williams (1989) Dance education for young children. A
review of principles and practice, Early Child Development and Care, 47:1, 177-203, DOI:
10.1080/0300443890470111
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443890470111
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE
Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information
(the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor
& Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties
whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the
Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and
views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The
accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently
verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable
for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages,
and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in
connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content.
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/
page/terms-and-conditions
Early Child Development and Care, Vol. 47, pp. 177-203© 1989 Gordon and Breach Science Publishers, Inc.
Reprints available directly from the publisher Printed in Great Britain
Photocopying permitted by license only
Dance education for young children. A

review of principles and practice
Downloaded by [The University of Manchester Library] at 05:48 19 November 2014
GILLIAN MARY WILLIAMS

Roehampton Institute, Froebel College, London
(Received 22 February 1989)
A basic concept of education is one which seeks to provide every child with
opportunities for self-realization and the acquisition of appropriate knowedge to
develop potential in interesting and rewarding leisure as well as work. Dance is
experiential knowledge and this is one of its particular values in education. It calls into
play intellectual, physical and emotional activity with an equality of emphasis and a unit
of impulse. Sheer expenditure of personal energy is not sufficient: concepts must be
developed and reason, judgement and intellectual skills must be brought into play. The
discovery and recognition of the processes involved in creating a dance is of
importance. This article attempts to identify issues connected with the effective
encouragement of this process and highlights ways in which the knowledge of content
and principles of development and progression can best be presented.
Keywords: Dance education, young children, principles and practice
INTRODUCTION
"The Arts" said the Crowther Report in 1959 "are not the flowers but the roots of
education". The same view has been expressed strongly ever since. Painting, sculpture,
music, dance, crafts,—these are not frills to be indulged in if time is left over from the real
business of education; they are the business of education as much as reading, writing,
maths or science.
Education surveys from the D.E.S.—numbers 2, 11, 12, and 22, and reports from the
Schools Council (1978) and the Gulbenkian Reports on drama, music and dance (1976,
1980, 1982) all maintain the essential role that the arts should play in all levels of
education and yet the reluctant conclusion of every major report published in the last
50-60 years is that neither arts subjects nor arts teachers have ever been taken really
seriously and as a result, arts education remains a matter of only peripheral concern.
A basic concept of education is one which seeks to provide every child with
opportunities for self realisation and the acquisition of appropriate knowledge to develop
potential in interesting and rewarding leisure as well as work, and recognises the fact that
experiential knowledge is equally as valuable as book knowledge. Dance is experiential
knowledge and this is one of its particular values in education.
Arts education has many contexts, cultural, historical, social, artistic/aesthetic and
this fact gives it a central place in human experience and thus a central place in
education.
177
E.C.D-G
178 G.M.WILLIAMS
Dance education particularly however, is unique in that it calls into play the three
areas of intellectual, physical, and emotional activity with an equality of emphasis and a
unity of impulse. It is this second aspect that is so important since in many areas of the
curriculum it is one or other that is focussed upon, but in dance the intellectual aspects of
the activity are there, serving as a link between the feeling and the action itself. It is
unfortunate however that the practice in primary schools can be heavily criticised for
being unable to provide this link.
The children are motivated to undertake activity in a dance-like way, they are
encouraged to use their imagination to put themselves into various situations or

characters but the rigorous intellectual demands needed to achieve a high standard in
aesthetic or artistic understanding are not being made, as the evidence to be produced
will show.
Dance generally appears on the curriculum for the first years of schooling and it has
grown at a furious rate in the secondary school with " O " , "A", "C.S.E.," and
"G.C.S.E." examinations appearing to give it academic respectability within the last
decade. The problems however appear to be threefold.
For these early years of schooling the subject is looked upon as an activity "creative"
or "expressive" where children can improvise or experiment with their bodies as an
instrument of free expression. At a very early age it can be a justifiable activity to allow
the child to dance merely for its own release, where it can enjoy movement that is entirely
random but as soon as it becomes a learning situation then the child must be able to order
his activity. Very often teachers are content to allow outside agencies such as the B.B.C.
to dictate the content and development, if any, of this work and see themselves simply in
the role of minder while the activity is being undertaken. Certainly the B.B.C.
programmes can provide varied material and draw upon a range of music but the
problem is that few teachers have the training to use this material appropriately. Again,
the teachers who do take a more active role in the work very often use the story or
dramatic situation as a starting point or work towards the assembly or Christmas
performance and the final product becomes the all important goal. The development of
movement or dance and its understanding for its own sake is being ignored through a
lack of training and knowledge.
The second problem is that the work at the secondary level of education does not yet
seem to be able to clarify its position in terms of whether it is working for child as pure
performer, or creator or spectator or a combination of all three. Much dance work is
undertaken at high level of performance, but very often the creative aspect has been
undertaken by the teacher concerned or the activity has degenerated to little more than
routine type exercises and little opportunity is given to the children to understand the
processes being used, or for discussion and evaluation of the finished product.
Examination syllabi do in fact demand that the child does involve himself in the role of
performer, creator and appreciator, but then the criticism here is that only a very small
percentage of children undertake the range of dance examinations.
The most worrying problem however is in the work undertaken in the primary school
after the basic free work mentioned earlier. It is here that the lack of suitable teaching is
to be found, in terms of knowledge of content, development and progression. Sheer
expenditure of personal energy is not sufficient. Concepts must replace it and reason and
DANCE EDUCATION FOR YOUNG CHILDREN 179
judgement, intellectual skills must be brought into play. Any child can be taught to
invent some kind of actions for his body and arrange them in various ways, but this is not
to do with creating nor does it relate form to function. It may result in the product of a
dance but it is the discovery and recognition of the processes that is of importance. It is in
an attempt to identify the most effective ways of encouraging this and highlighting ways
in which the knowledge of content and principles of development and progression can
best be presented, that this piece of work is being undertaken.
PART 1. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING DANCE EDUCATION
The review of literature which follows is an attempt to establish the principles governing
dance education. The nature of dance itself will be initially discussed in all its particular
contexts, followed by a consideration of dance in education and later, a specific look at
dance education from the point of view of aesthetic experience and cognitive
development.
The Nature of Dance

The activity of dance itself covers such a wide variety of action that it is difficult to make a
conceptual analysis sufficiently comprehensive to cover this wide range. The theoretical
literature of dance provides only limited help in clarifying this problem. Dance is
sometimes defined as any patterned, rhythmic movement in space and time. If however
an analysis such as this does not distinguish between a human and a non human activity,
then it is possible to use "dance" as a word wide enough to describe daffodils, waves or
bees. Even if dance is considered as an exclusively human activity one which is both
intentional and learned, then difficulties still arise with a definition as broad as the one
given above. Soldiers on Horse Guard Parade or the gardener sawing up a fallen tree
trunk are involved in patterned, rhythmic movement but are not considered to be
dancing.
If in an attempt at a conceptual analysis one turns to influential and traditional
theories of art then there are classifications that prove useful in taking considerations a
stage further, namely those of dance as imitation, dance as expression and dance as form.
Dance as imitation is dance about human characters as well as what they do and how
they suffer. In the present decade, with the growth in interest and opportunity to
improve technical ability, dance has found a movement means to portray real diversity
of character with wide ranging movement inventiveness in all styles of dance. This
however, is not the complete picture of the art itself. Dance as expression seeks to explore
the body's potential not only in terms of human character but in a whole gamut of ideas,
themes and concepts in order to create an expressive art form.
If dance is an imitation of nature or human action and passions or if dance is an
expression of emotion or an attempt to communicate ideas, then soldiers on parade or
the gardener sawing are not dancing. Dance as,form is more difficult since the parade and
the sawing share this characteristic. Form in itself therefore is not a sufficient condition
for the definition. If however these three theories are combined then dance might be
180 G.M.WILLIAMS
considered as action which creates form to express emotion, or action that is undertaken
for purely intrinsic reasons.
C.W. Beaumont writing in 1945 about Michel Fokine, the great Russian choreo-
grapher, stated that Fokine claimed that it was most important to create a new form for
every dance,
"the most expressive form possible."
This most expressive form, in the words of Rudolf Arnheim in 1954, produces
"the kind of stirring participation that distinguishes artistic experience from the detached
acceptance of information, (p.27)."
Rudolf von Laban (1948) who had profound influence on modern dance in the
twentieth century because of his systematic classification of movement, thought that the
expression of movement depended on several factors.
"space location, including shape and dynamic content" (p.44)
John Martin (1972) attempts a definition but does not actually commit himself to the
word "dance." He says
Movement in and out of itself is a medium for the transference of an aesthetic and emotional
concept from the consciousness of one individual to that of another, (p.19)
In this of course as in many others it can be assumed that the definition is applied to
dance as performance, dance which requires not only the participator but the spectator
too. For the art form this is indeed a necessity, for dance as education, the spectator is
sometimes an essential ingredient, but while the search for a global definition is still being
sought it seems appropriate to keep the idea of dance in its widest possible context.
Suzanne Langer, writing in 1953 identifies gesture as the basic abstraction whereby
the dance illusion is made and organised. She develops this further by clarifying that
dance gesture is not real gesture but virtual gesture. The body is of course real but the
emotion is illusory, therefore dance is actual movement but virtual expression. The
conception of a feeling disposes the dancer's body to symbolise it. Langer recognises that
dance is illusion brought about by virtual gestures which create, fill and organise this
illusion and which bring about the sense of freedom from gravity. This ingredient in the
dance illusion is as Langer says
a direct and forceful effect of rhythmicized gesture enhanced by the stretched posture...and
thereby produces a new body feeling in which every muscular tension registers itself as something
kinesthetically new, peculiar to the dance (p.55)
In Langer's terms therefore the definition might be stated as bodily action structured by
symbolic gesture enabling the kinesthetically aware human to create illusion.
In 1956, Valery, writing in an article on dance and the soul, begins by stating that
dance is not merely an exercise, an entertainment, an ornamental art, or sometimes a
social activity. The dance has always been cultivated and revered by those who
experienced a sense of mystery about the human body, its resources, its limits and its
sensibility. He suggests that because of this, dance is a fundamental art derived from life
itself,
action of the human body transposed into a world into a kind of space-time, which is no longer
quite the same as that of everyday life, (p.95)
We can see similarities here with the work of Langer. The "transposition" of Valery's
definition is achieved by the symbolic gesture and in the phrase "no longer quite the
same as that of everyday life" Valery quite clearly reflects the illusory factor within
Langer's definition. He develops this idea in suggesting that man perceived that he
possessed more vigour and suppleness, more articular and muscular possibilities than he
needed to satisfy the needs of his existence, and discovered that certain of these
movements, by their frequency, succession or range gave him pleasure. This pleasurable
use of the body over and above its necessary functional use seems to provide the key in the
search for this satisfactory analysis of the nature of dance. It also helps to clarify why the
sawing and parade marching do not possess the vital dance ingredients.
Hanna (1979) while attempting to collect many definitions of dance from the starting
point of dance as human behaviour, forms an abstraction of the concept of dance as
purposeful, intentionally rhythmically culturally patterned sequences of non verbal body

movements which are other than ordinary motor activities, the motion having inherent and
aesthetic value, (p.102)
Hanna clearly emphasises more than the pleasurable aspects, the value for her being in
both the need for intention and aesthetic qualities.
Man can use his body solely in order to successfully perform the indispensable and
important operations of life. Man however is a singular animal, he has the ability to
observe himself and his fellow men and in so doing he is able to put a value upon what he
does and he identifies this value with the importance he attaches to useless perceptions
and acts without vital physical consequences. He can therefore go far beyond the use of
his body to fulfil vital functioning, and it is in going beyond the necessary that man has
invented the art, the science and the philosophy and has found value in producing
objects, forms, actions and thoughts that are beyond just self preservation, he has made
something with aesthetic intention and in so doing, the pleasurable activities indulged in for
their own sake gradually become a kind of necessity so that ultimately, artistic creation
has gone beyond just the creative act into the need for creative opportunity.
In terms of dance this becomes a twofold development of, on the one hand, the
pleasure of indulging in expressive bodily activity purely for its own sake, and on the
other, the use and knowledge of bodily activity to create a dance work of art.
Reid (1983) argues that the feeling that is involved in this activity is cognitive, it is the
way in which man comes to know and understand the intrinsic significance of art works.
It is not that there is a "knowing" faculty and a "feeling" faculty, but rather that in the
understanding "it is the person who knows feelingly, or feelingly knows." Feeling and
cognizing are inseparable—one is intrinsic to the other. Thus, art, and by implication
dance, has a unique way of coming to know the world. It possesses additional insights
and allows one to view things in a new and unique way. As Reid suggests
Experiential knowing...whether, in the enjoyment of given, or presented art or in the making of

it—involves the whole person, actively feeling in body as well as mind...embodied mind. (pl2)
The answer to the question originally posed is still elusive. What is dance? It can only be
clarified seemingly by a number of statements that are complementary and overlapping,
they all have some contribution to make to the understanding of this fundamental art.
E.CD-
182 G.M.WILLIAMS
An exploration of space, shape and dynamics.

Bodily activity which is both unstable and regulated often spontaneous but equally
formed and planned giving movement an outward expressive direction and form in
space.
Sensations of time and energy which respond to one another and are possessed by and
communicative of rhythmic excitement.
Symbolic gesture of the body which in its use creates illusion.
Bodily activity that derives from the functional useful activity but is fashioned and
shaped to break away from the functional so that it eventually reaches the state of
opposition to it.
Pleasure in bodily activity for its own sake.
Action which is developed, trained and perfected.
These attempts at an analysis of the nature of this area of movement however are not
sufficient since it is clear that dance, however wide its definitions, has in addition, three
main contexts within which it has developed. The oldest context is of ritual and religion, for
birth, marriage, death or in propitiation of forces beyond man's conscious control. The
second context of dance is in its social context where group values are reinforced and
where social cohesion is increased. As Adshead (1981) states, it is perhaps this form of
dance, because of its easy accessibility to most people that seems least academically
respectable, as an area of study, to the average person who is not able to perceive its
continuing importance for man. The third context is that of theatre where the emphasis
and focus is on the dance work presented as an art form and where in the latter half of the
twentieth century, the two main forms that have predominated are classical ballet and
modern dance.
For the purposes of this investigation however, further clarification is needed as to the
nature of the dance to be focused upon, for dance in education is of a slightly different order
from the three contexts identified above since it possesses characteristics of all three.
Dance in education must be seen as possessing a theoretical basis from which any
manifestation of dance could be approached. It implies that there must be a stage where
one can recognise a coherent theoretical structure which can be studied through a
rational articulate process. If this is the case then dance in education can be recognised as
a "discipline" with all the attendant features that this implies. An eductional discipline
must contain knowledge worth acquiring, knowledge which cannot be equated with any
other form of knowledge, which contains its own sophisticated, abstract and complex
principles and procedures as well as non propositional elements such as skills and
attitudes. The problem of knowledge is at the heart of education and therefore if any area
of arts education such as dance, is to develop and flourish it must have a vital function in
terms of knowledge or knowing. Witkin, speaking at a conference in Wakefield in 1980
identified objective knowledge as using a word such as "chair" to symbolise an object.
He makes the point that whatever response the sound "chair" evokes in the listener, it
has nothing to do with what it refers to, so the connection between the symbol and what
it refers to is indirect. On the other hand, he says, there is another kind of symbolising in
which the response is the very meaning or referent of the symbol. What is being
symbolised is a stream of sensuous events, and for Witkin, this too is knowledge. An
"intelligence of feeling" a mode of knowledge that relates to the sensuous, subjective

world. For him the educational function of the arts must be bound up with their
symbolising function that brings order to the sensuous world. This "intelligence of feeling"
that Witkin identifies has then to do with the perceptions. It must be bound up with
perceiving the relatedness of events and the order in events. In terms of arts education this is clearly
advocating the development of a feeling response through effective use and development of the
language of any of the art forms and that it is only through the arts that this intelligence of
feeling can be achieved. Hirst (1980) in response to this idea argues strongly that
although education through the arts does extend our feelings and also produces
structured feeling, it is not the arts alone that are needed to do the structuring and
ordering. The arts are only one of the means but not uniquely the means. He does
however concede that the arts produce particular patterns of feeling and awareness;
aesthetic feeling which is a particular form of patterned feeling, patterned in relation to
aesthetic objects, feelings produced by the flow of lines or the balance of shapes. Hirst's
argument is therefore that the arts constitute a distinct area of experience and feeling, a
distinct area where there is a pattern of experience, but that they do not provide, as
Witkin suggests the "intelligence of feeling." Witkin appears concerned with the strength
of the arts curriculum in the giving of sensuous expressive experience; Hirst is concerned
about the cognitive, intellectual operation that is necessry for there to be a feeling
response. However, they do agree on the point that what is important in terms of arts
education is that these aesthetic feelings have to be learned and cultivated through
aesthetic experience and that there has to be an effective use of the language for aesthetic
response so that not only is arts education for aesthetic enjoyment but for aesthetic
understanding.
The writer supports the Hirst argument for a cognitive, intellectual operation and in
taking this view down into the primary school implies that the arts educator, in this case
the primary class teacher, has to help the child to take an analytical approach, both to
the practical and personal dance experience and to the external manifestations of the art
form. Thus dance in education must justify itself as an educational discipline which can
provide the necessary characteristics.
Pring (1976) argues a definition of disciplines as simply, well organised areas of study
and suggests four characteristics within a disciplined activity, namely:
Central organising concepts.
Principles of procedure which are appropriate to the activity in question.
Criteria of success which arise from notions of excellence in a sphere.
Groups of problems and interests which provide the disciplining framework of
enquiry.
Dance in education clearly does possess these characteristics but for reasons of limited
time given to the area in teacher training, and for the apparant inability of those dance
teachers, theorists and educators who do exist, to clarify the issues with sufficient
academic rigour, then dance in education remains rather a shadowy area of the school
curriculum. It is sometimes accorded status in a creative arts programme, but more
frequently, it is undertaken as a token gesture within a physical education programme
where it competes for time with gymnastics, games and swimming. Consequently it is not
184 G.M.WILLIAMS
given its due recognition as a valuable and highly organised learning activity.
Later in this study the intention is to look generally at the practice of dance in the
primary school in the current decade and to attempt to identify the main problems that
appear to be the reason for its meagre appearance and development, but the focus now
turns to look at dance in education from two specific stances, the aesthetic and the
cognitive.
Dance and Aesthetic Experience

Experiences can be judged aesthetically if we take a detached attitude towards them, if

we evaluate them as experiences and therefore judge them according to their own
standards. When looking at a dance, we may not be aware of the specific purpose of the
choreographer, but while we are looking at it we discover pleasurable feelings which are
aroused and satisfied by what we see. The dance has in fact met the needs and demands
of our aesthetic judgement.
Pure aesthetic experience really only exists for those who are free to enjoy the
sensations of mere perceptions, but with experience one becomes aware of relationships
between objects, events and ideas and of their values. This experience allows other
judgements to appear and the viewer of the dance begins to develop an emerging
relational consciousness. The instinctive and elemental feeling is raised to one of
intelligence and understanding and the dance is then able to be viewed with aesthetic
criteria. This is not to deny that a dance cannot be viewed with immediate pleasure
without the intervention of more rational processes, simply that aesthetic experience
contains important intellectual elements essential for dance appreciation. The pleasure
comes from selecting the dance and watching the changing patterns of the bodies in the
space. The rational consciouness is then able to identify the dynamic and rhythmic
qualities that the bodies possess. It is able to discern the contrast and variation between
gestures; it can recognise the climaxes and highlights; it can grasp the significance of the
deepening relationships between the dancers as the bodies are involved in the skilful and
expressive movement. It is the blending of all these that gives a satisfying aesthetic
experience. Thus in presenting dance as an art experience, one must associate feeling and
movement and at the same time be able to select the significant phase of the motor
response for artisitic expression.
To feel in dance as one does in direct experience would result in impulsive,
disorganised and too realistic movement. In the art form of dance, experience and
emotion are clarified by selection, by a conscious awareness of the appropriate bodily,
dynamic, spatial and relational qualities of movement that will convey the significance
of the dance idea.
If one now turns to look at the child in terms of developing its aesthetic and artistic
achievements and experience it is possible in the primary age range to identify three
basic stages. According to standard sources, notably Lovell Murray (1963) and Davies
(1969) Stage One is elemental and highly sensory. Its pleasure in moving is for the sheer
joy of the sensation. Davies states that in a young child some of the first things to be
noticed are the
spontaneous outbreaks of rhythmic activity, the waving, beating and shaking of arms.
The typical body movement that will be manifested is large, free and untrained
activity where the execution demands little or no formal preparation. There is no need
for the teacher to instruct the child, the child possesses the skill to move but the shape and
form of this movement is determined by the unrestrained rhythmical functioning of the
body rather than by any rational planning. The child is involved in action, but it is
unaware action, it is waiting for experience. It has a need to observe in order to gather
experience which can be stored and transformed for later use. The child has no
awareness of any formal technique for moving its body because the need for the
technique has not been sensed. Like Davies, Lovell Murray observed a high degree of
dynamic vitality and exuberance and noted that this is not "channelled into unity and
organisation." Thus the expressive quality is present and there is a rhythmic activity but
the movement is serving as a release for physical and emotional energy rather than as a
conscious expression of feeling.
Stage Two is characterised by a beginning of security in the movement element, there is
an attempt at unity and organisation for permanency. Lovell Murray suggests that the
abandonment of movement shown by the very young child becomes modified as it
gradually becomes aware of cause and effect. As feeling and experience deepen there is
an enrichment of action which is accompanied by the necessary associated reasoning and
thinking, and because of this conscious modification, a sense of values begins to develop.
The large and expansive motor responses of Stage One are likely to be supplanted by
new urges demanding new expression. This new and yet untried use of the body begins to
need new controls for bodily discipline and guidance by the teacher as a result of which
the child gains an increased general body technique and skilfulness and there can be
discerned in the child's activity, a spirit of inventiveness. The result of this more
disciplined and subjective approach to dance results in more expressive movement and
the child begins to display an interest in the control of movement and the seeking of
organisation for its own sake. The pleasure the child experiences is now not just the sheer
pleasure of indulging in movement for its own sake but in the pleasure of sensing unity in
its movement forms. Opportunities are needed for the children to assimilate movement
patterns so that as Davies says
an inner enrichment takes place which itself aids expression
Stage Three is characterised by the development of the technique necessary. Not

technique for the sake of doing it but for an understanding of how the body should be
used to avoid the undisciplined abandonment of the earlier years. As the Gulbenkian
report of 1982 states,
a higher level of skill acquisition is desirable and a more structured approach will not kill
spontaneity but will increase the power of expression by widening the vocabulary of movement.
The child is beginning to positively incorporate earlier experiences into the new, and
as Lovell Murray notes, these experiences begin to undergo a process of refinement as the
aesthetic nature of the material begins to communicate itself to the child, who has now
developed the capacity to select and formulate meanings. Stage One sees the child sensing
and developing this into the thinking of stage two. Stage Two concerns itself with allowing
186 G.M.WILLIAMS
the thinking to become knowing and once this has been achieved then the ability to will
has arrived and in Stage Three the child can organise his movement in order to give form
to his meaning.
There are some important factors for the teacher to understand with regard to this
development. Each stage produces dances that are characteristic of that stage and
organically related to it, and for this reason it would be inappropriate to try to compare
dances of say stage one with those of stage three. The nature of the organic development
of each stage requires that any dance product from any stage can be appreciated only as
it is understood in relation to the conditions pertaining within that developmental stage.
A second factor here is that at all three stages the processes involved are creative in
themselves, since each stage is evolving its own form at its own level. Lovell Murray
reminds us that it is important for the teacher to recognise that unless each stage is
allowed to develop normally into the next one then the dance work that is produced may
well be characterised by superficiality and even more worrying, the child may become
discouraged by his achievements since they are not related to either his physical and
emotional development or to his understanding. These three stages must be considered
as a gradually accelerating and accumulating process which is contributing to the
growing and developing aesthetic judgement of the child.
The problems facing the teacher within this process of fostering the creative and
aesthetic is to build the necessary background for progression and to provide ample
opportunity for spontaneous response. The development of the child's skill must keep
pace with the growing and inquiring intellect.
The growth of aesthetic experience therefore is seen from dancing for the sheer joy of
the movement, through the stages of seeking for shape and form and the acquiring of the
necessary techniques to give a framework or foundation for this, to dance as the
expression and communication of sensory experience, emotion and creative
imagination, all of which must be subjected to intellectual ordering.
If the primary teacher is to foster this ability of the child to blend the aesthetic
experience with the intellectual ordering processes, then the teacher must also be aware
of the cognitive processes that are developing in parallel to this aesthetic unfolding, to
identify where the child is, in order that the teaching learning process is a successful one.
What the writer now seeks to do is to show the similarities between these three stages and
those that have been postulated in terms of the cognitive process generally and in so
doing, to identify the significance of the links for the teacher of dance in the primary
school.
Dance and Cognitive Development

Critics of Piaget, such as Cowan (1978) have pointed out errors or limitations which are
relevant to cognitive development in general but it is possible that Piaget's work can
make significant contribution to the understanding of teachers of dance in the primary
school. Children have a different system for understanding reality than do adults and
they think differently at different stages of development. As Stinson (1985) points out,
Assimilation is the tendency to organise processes into coherent systems, seeing them in
relation rather than in isolation, while Accommodation, the modification of schemes of
knowing to adapt to external reality, are found in all activities. If we are to consider
dance as education then learning in dance is of great significance. We must provide
opportunity for repetition, practice and "making it your own" that is assimilation, but
also opportunities to accommodate, to meet new challenges and solve new problems.
It seems possible that a further use could be made of Piagetian terms to clarify the type
of stages of development that will be encountered in relation to dance during the primary
years.
Children at the approximate age of three years are aware that others may have a
different viewpoint but in this the pre-operational stage they do not think logically. The
teacher of dance therefore needs to both keep rules to an essential minimum and also be a
follower as much as a leader in determining the direction of the class. Piaget (1962) states
that comparing children to an outside standard is meaningless and therefore feedback
must be geared to the child. For example
"Good! A lovely stretched shape when you jumped Jane."
Repetition of a movement is done for pleasure and will often outlast even the teacher's
interest span and clearly because of this the child's dancing is more for expression than
communication. Additionally there is a limitation to the child's ability to imitate a
movement or a shape involving more than one part of the body. Even when the child can
produce two static shapes with any degree of accuracy he cannot remember the pathway
between them and equally he will be unable to change the order of a sequence. It is only
at the end of this stage that through the processes of trial and error the child can
experiment with movement to solve the problems. This concept of things is more
constant and less private if the teacher of dance has been able to provide experiences
which will expand the meaning of the symbols (the words) involved. Werner and
Kaplan (1964) found evidence that not only do all symbols develop from concrete action
but that many words retain their
intimate linkage to or fusion with organismic bodily activity
Without the appropriate bodily feeling and internal gesture a word does not have its full
range of meaning. The bringing in of a feather to involve the children in the concept of
floating should no longer be necessary at the end of this stage. The symbol of the word
"floating" is established and the movement experienced and partly understood. At the
end of this pre-operational stage too, the children have no need to "become" the object,
but should have the structures to move "like" the object.
The merging from the pre-operational stage to that of concrete operations now allows the
child to ask questions and exchange information. Learning about dance can therefore
move towards the inclusion of much more cognitive content. Solving problems and
evaluating solutions should become a significant part of the dance lesson because at this
stage the child can begin to look at himself and evaluate his work in relation to concrete
goals. He can also be aware of what his peers can see of his work and can therefore co-
operate. The dance teacher can now give the child the problem but will ensure that the
choice of solutions is carefully limited and will also be at hand to give needed assistance to
the process. For instance, as North (1964) stated, children are now able to see more than
one aspect of a situation at a time but they will still need outside direction to manipulate
these.
188 G.M.WILLIAMS
As this stage develops, as Piagetian research indicates, the child also develops spatial
perspective which allows him to both reproduce and anticipate images. At the pre-
operational stage children might remember two distinct, simple body shapes, but not
have a memory for the journey in between. Now they can sense how to get down from
one to the other; they can select a floor pattern and anticipate where in the room they will
arrive. This stage also allows them to manipulate and rearrange their patterns of
movement, but this must be guided by the teacher who although able to present the
problem verbally must also present it in non abstract terms. Thus the problem would not
be to
"Find a way of changing your pattern"

but rather
"Can your pattern be done if you run?"
or
"Try making your pattern move very quickly."
At the end of this stage therefore they are able to select to create. It is clear too that the
children are able to cope better with what is real, therefore it is the material of movement
that they can best handle, and as Stinson suggests, although imagery will obviously be
neded to be used by the teacher, it will need to be carefully chosen so that it relates to
what the children know and have experienced.
The third stage in the progression is that offormal operations where the child is now able
to solve the problem not by looking at, or by experiencing and experimenting, but by
first thinking of the possibilities. As Silvers (1978) suggests, the goal of the educator in the
arts is not for the child to take on the teacher's reality but to create their own. However in
the dance class this can lead to the routine like dances that are produced by logical
thought. Twice to the right or left, then in different directions or with a jump or turn.
This might solve the task but it will not produce the artistic choreography. The teacher
now has to introduce concepts such as "unity" or "contrast" and the children must be
encouraged to begin to think critically. However this stage is not likely to be achieved
until the beginning of adolescence and therefore in terms of the primary school teacher
can really only be considered in terms of ultimate achievement.
What has been discussed here is a development of cognitive skills related to the child's
achievements and therefore the nature of the teacher's presentation of material in dance
education. The important point to remember is that the teacher needs to merge this
knowledge of the cognitive processes with knowledge of the creative aesthetic
development of the child throughout the primary school. Creative dance classes need to
be continuous and not develop simply as the means of acquiring dance patterns or dance
technique at the upper end of the primary school but a continuing care should be shown
for the creative, aesthetic and cognitive development of the child as a total process
throughout its education.
If this general discussion on aesthetic and cognitive development can be ordered and
processed then it now becomes possible to attempt to identify the aims and objectives of
dance in primary education.
PART II THE AIMS AND PRACTICE OF DANCE EDUCATION
Having identified the principles governing dance education in the primary school, there
is a threefold intention in this section. The first is to identify the aims and objectives of
dance education in the primary school in relation to the child as creator, performer and
spectator. The second will be to review current literature in order to identify general
criteria for effective teaching and to select from these specific criteria which may be of use
in an experimental situation. The third intention is to give consideration to the present
practice of the teaching of dance in the primary school and to identify the problems
affecting this practice.
The Aims of Dance Education

The aims of many areas of educational study, dance among them, have often been
expressed in well meant and high sounding language, but this rhetoric has rarely been
accompanied by any analysis or by the putting forward of a range of objectives by which
these aims may be accomplished. However it does appear to be necessary to begin a
consideration of what is being attempted here by looking at the subject from a wide
perspective.
Professor David Aspin (1987) suggested that education is more a matter of content
rather than form. He also suggested that having an open mind means closing it upon
something and therefore it seems possible that both form and content could be the widest
starting point to view the aims of dance education. A set of purposes within which
intention and context are also crucial.
Education must be conceived of as designed to secure the passing on of certain
knowledge, practices, customs and ideals, and also the transmission of attitudes and skills
which make possible the challenging of such values. This process involves the
development of a differentiated understanding of experience which is possible only
through an initiation into the various modes of thought and feeling within any particular
experience.
John Martin (1965) does not in fact identify aims as such but suggests that the broad
processes by which dance education is approached must be fourfold. It must deal first
with leading the child to the discovery of the resources within him; it must then turn him
towards the use of these resources in terms that have value in his environment. Thirdly, it
must increase and develop his capacity to use those resources and finally it must lead him
to discover ways in which these resources can be used to evaluate not only his own work
but also the work of others. It seems that in this fourfold statement Martin has
encompassed in general terms the main aims of dance in education whether it be for the
three year old or the eighteen year old. However in an attempt to become a little more
specific, if we now turn to the Schools Council Project in 1975 we find identified there
seventy two aims all concerned with primary education. From within this list the writer
has identified five which seem to have a particular bearing on this attempt to formulate
aims for dance education.
The child should be able to communicate hisfeeling through art forms such as painting,
music, drama and movement.
190 G.M. WILLIAMS
The child should be developing his inventiveness and creativity in some fields, for example,
painting, music and movement.
The child should have a range of movement skills.
The child should be beginning to understand aesthetic experiences and should be able to talk
about them, for example looking at pictures, or plays or dances.
The child should be developing the ability to make reasonedjudgements and choices based
on the interpretation and evaluation of relevant information.
The first four of these selected aims seem to be able to contribute to an important
classification, namely that of fostering the development of the child as creator, performer
and spectator of dance, through emphasis on these first four aims the teacher should be
able to foster the artistic growth of the child in its role as the maker and performer of
dance and additionally to foster the growing awareness in the older child of aesthetic
characteristics within both its own dances and within the dance of its contempories and
in the professional dance theatre. Although these aims are still broad, they do not seem to
fall into the trap of high flown rhetoric suggested earlier.
The child as creator implies that the child should be guided to be able to make its own
dances. The desire to make one's own statement in whatever form, is an observable
human attribute. Reid (1983) states that good education in the arts
should certainly give children opportunities to discover through their own experiments with
materials.
It is only when a child is allowed to create its own dances that the observer, the teacher,
can evaluate the developmental stages in that child's dance and evaluate the cognitive
understanding.
In inventing a new pattern, form or idea, in rearranging already established objects or
patterns, in integrating a new factor into an already established organisation, then dance
provides broad horizons for the child as maker or creator. Children are working
intensely as problem solvers when they are making a dance with its processes of
experimenting with movement ideas, of choosing what fits best or what is superfluous or
unsuitable. They discover through exploration the body's capabilities in releasing and
controlling energy, in travelling through space, in forming static and moving shapes,
and in cooperating and synchronising with other children and with outside factors such
as rhythmic patterns, words or music accompaniment, in order to achieve an
aesthetically satisfying resolution. Discovery of potential developments should follow
and the ensuing product is the movement sequence or little dance. As children become
more mature, the phrases of the sequence acquire more dance like qualities arising from
a clear point of departure, proceeding and arriving at a point of completion and the
children showing understanding of rhythmic flow and design, texture and balance, all
principles of artistic form that characterise good dance composition.
The child as performer is perhaps a more dangerous aim if not fully understood.
Teachers sometimes directly instruct to achieve a standard of performance acceptable to
expectations of a preconceived model. Dance is a performing art but it is erroneously
considered that the degree of technical skill must be reasonably high before children can
be engaged in the art form of the subject. However the child as performer is more than the
ability of the child to pick up steps, patterns and rhythms in a set sequence. It is to do with
the ability to bring out the expressive content of a dance phrase, and it is this that is
valuable in contributing to the education of the child. Performance has to do with an
understanding of the processes involved in that act, an awareness of the body in action,
the knowledge and understanding of which is gained through the dance experience. The
danger is apparent when performing in a meaningful way becomes identified with bodily
technique where emphasis is biased towards simply putting the body in the right position
rather than on an awareness of the interrelationship of parts of the body and on the
mastery and understanding of the necessary dynamic and spatial qualities involved in
achieving this. Teachers must be prepared to accept what emerges when involved in
improvising, inventing, discovering and selecting by the children.
This does not mean however that one should settle for anything, but one should work
toward the kind of excellence which particular children can achieve. This latter
approach demands that the teacher prepares appropriately and presents the material in
a qualitative way focusing attention on aspects such as weight distribution, or the
rhythmical nature of a phrase. In this way the children will not only increase their
movement vocabularies but may also achieve better control and flexibility, strength and
balance and may learn to move with greater ease, freedom and security. Then they will
gain the satisfaction of meeting the challenges offered to them and be able to note their
own improvement. Children desire quality, and when they decide to perform, this calls
for practice, perfecting sequences of movement and working for appropriate transitions.
The child as spectator has to do with building up knowledge of artistic and aesthetic
discrimination. Swanwick (1982) maintained that too little attention was paid to the
work of others and that for effective teaching of the arts to take place, children must be
given the opportunity to
form, perform and be in the audience.
It has to do with response to the dance both from the analytical and enjoyment point of
view. The observation of technical aspects of bodily action, dynamics and space, the
form and development of the composition as an integrated whole with an awareness of
the relationships between dances, but equally the sense of magic that the performance
brings, the feeling of excitement, or uplift at the spectacle provided. Purposeful
observation is built up in the early years by looking at other children's efforts in the dance
lesson in order for the teacher to draw attention to the interesting aspects of each dance
and give suggestions for improving mastery and achieving clarity. It is important for the
child that he learns why a particular movement phrase is better co-ordinated, more
inventive, or a more accurate solution to the problem set by the teacher. Such learning
comes through observation, discussion and evaluation and through the sharing of
movement experiences. It is then developed by giving the children opportunities to
watch high quality professional performances of a range of dance styles. Ethnic, folk,
contemporary, ballet, jazz, the intention is that children should see dance which has high
artistic merit. It does not need to be work choreographed specially for children, provided
192 G.M.WILLIAMS
it engages the child's potential in a vital and exciting way. Previous opportunities to talk
about their own dances will be linked with the kinesthetic response to the spectacle and
the children's comments and reactions although naive should be encouraged and
accepted as honest perceptions.
It is the fusion of these three aspects of creating, performing and spectating that must be
seen as an essential part of the aim for the dance teacher in education.
The main concern or broad aim therefore is the study of dance. Not the emphasis on
dance education as acquisition of technical skill, rather the study of the subject as a whole
using dance experiences as the basis, so that the child understands the value of dance as a
special way of experiencing aesthetic pleasure. However even this identification might
be accused of being too vague unless one now returns to the last of the five selected aims
from the Schools Council list, namely, the development of the ability to make reasoned
judgements and choices based on the interpretation and evaluation of relevant information.
It is this final aim that gives us some clear insight into the analysis needed to
accomplish the previous list of four. It is this final aim that identified the need for the form
and content referred to by Professor Aspin, and, in addition, it hints at the clarity of
intention and context that is crucial for the development not only of dance but of any
area of the curriculum.
Since we are looking at the development of dance, then we need to be aware that from
the ages of three to eight years, it is imperative that children have the freedom to explore
movement, to experiment, manipulate and improvise in a spontaneous and creative
fashion and to experience many ways of moving and dancing. The child should begin to
be increasingly aware of the demands that each way of dancing makes upon his body and
how movement can be used to enhance the expressiveness of the body as well as just for the
delight and release of dancing in his own way. If they are going to solve movement
problems, they need some knowledge of the components of human movement,
comprehension of its special features and the ability to give verbal description as well as
active demonstration. It becomes clear that the teachers and children have a need for
some system of classification for bodily activity so that dynamic, spatial and relational
aspects are introduced in a logical and significant way and that this knowledge is not
only part of the child's bodily vocabulary but also part of his verbal language. It is not
sufficient to suggest that the child makes a shape but the teacher and the child need to
know that there are four main possibilities, a narrow pin, a wide wall, an enclosing ball
and a twisting screw, and that each one has its own movement characteristics.
The teacher can identify the area of exploration and state the problem to be solved
and the choices that can be made; channelling the boundaries and limiting the choices
will allow the child to apply himself productively. The child then explores, discovers,
decides and solves the problem to the best of his ability.
At the top end of the primary age range, the interest in a multiplicity of activities that
makes continuous practice of any one of them unappealing and often ineffective for the
younger child, is replaced by an increasing desire to learn how, to practise, to become
more proficient in activities that earlier were performed merely for the sake of doing
them. At this age the choices need to be much greater. Children can still proceed at their
own pace but anything within the problem that seems right or legitimate to use must
now be justified. The activity loses its value if the dance is random, performed with no
concentration or involvement in it. The children should now be encouraged to consider

their purposes and be able to explain them if necessary and to set their own problems.
Across the whole primary stage then it is clear that the children need to be given the
time to perfect the movement skills necessary to make their bodies do what they require.
They become secure in movement as they have opportunities to understand it and to
analyse it in terms of how to invent with it, how it feels and how it looks, and as this
happens they are acquiring and fashioning their own individual vocabulary of
movement. They are developing, inventing and controlling movement and
simultaneously thinking, sensing, responding, feeling and enquiring about movement.
They are moving in, through and with dimensions of space, they are moving with
varying degrees of speed and intensity, they are moving to control and change at will.
This will only happen however if the role of the teacher is an effective one. If the teacher:
a) enjoys movement and presents endless, progressive, varied and satisfying
opportunities for the children which are geared to their interests, motivation and sensory
perception
b) allows children to find their own ways of moving and does not try to superimpose
their own form or system of technique or patterns of dictated movement on children who
have not yet acquired the skills or attitudes or understanding for this
c) is not in a hurry to get involved in the product before the children have acquired a
repertoire of movement, can respond rhythmically and have an awareness of space and a
degree of control in the flow of communication.
d) can plan ways in which the dance can emerge naturally from movement discovery,
or rhythmic response rather than dancing out stories before the child has the sensory
experiences with which he can respond
Having identified the need for the child as creator, performer and spectator and the
need for teachers to be aware of their role, then it finally becomes possible to spell out
with more clarity a range of aims and objectives for the development of dance in primary
education.
To understand and experience dance as an art form by focusing attention on the child
as;
Creator
To guide the child in the making of its own dances
To give opportunity to explore movement
To give opportunity to gain an understanding of the components of human movement
To give opportunity for the child to acquire and fashion its own vocabulary of
movement
To give opportunity for the child to acquire an understanding of the principles of
artistic form that characterise good dance composition.
Performer
To help the child to develop the ability to bring out the expressive content of a dance
phrase
To give opportunity for practice and improvement of the child's own dances
194 G.M.WILLIAMS
To guide the child in developing an awareness of the body in dance action

To help the child to gain bodily mastery and understanding of dynamic, spatial and
relational qualities
To help the child to achieve control and flexibility, strength and balance in the
performance of dance
Spectator
To give opportunity for the observation, discussion and evaluation of dance
movement
To help the child to develop understanding of the form and development of a dance
composition
To give opportunity to observe good quality professional dance performance
To help the child to appreciate the many forms of dance styles which have evolved
from common human movement sources
To develop in the child a discriminating awareness of dance as an art form
With these fifteen objectives it now becomes possible to identify five main issues for
consideration in the effective teaching of dance.
acquisition of a movement language
expressive skills
ability to make dances
appreciation of performance
aesthetic understanding
What it now becomes necessary to do is to examine selected research on primary

education in an attempt to identify general issues for effective teaching that seem to have a
bearing upon the five dance issues listed here.
Effective teaching
Since every teaching situation and every teacher differs, it would appear to be very
difficult to define any one set of criteria for effective teaching. Teaching is such a complex
activity that it would seem to defy the possibility of close analysis. However a survey of
attempts in recent years indicates that the characteristics displayed by a good, and
synonymous with that, an effective teacher are fairly universally recognised.
Elizabeth Perrott (1982) quotes the research of three such surveys, Ryan (1960),
Flanders (1970) and Rosenshine and Furst (1973) and lists their combined observable
indicators of effective classroom teaching.
Ryan
1 Teacher is warm and understanding
2 Teacher is organised and businesslike
3 Teacher is stimulating and imaginative
Flanders
1 Teacher asks questions
2 Teacher accepts pupils' feelings
3 Teacher acknowledges pupils' ideas
4 Teacher praises and encourages pupils
Rosenshine and Furst

1 Teacher is enthusiastic
2 Teacher is businesslike
3 Teacher is clear when presenting instructural content
4 Teacher uses a variety of instructional material and procedures
5 Teacher provides opportunities for pupils to learn the instructional content
These characteristics seem to indicate that the effective teacher is one who is able to
demonstrate the ability to bring about intended learning goals, — the two critical
dimensions of effective teaching being seen as intended learning goals and the
achievement of these in intended learning outcomes.

Smith (1969) again quoted in Perrott (1982) suggested that a teacher should be
prepared in four areas of knowledge:
1 Command of theoretical knowledge about learning and human behaviour
2 Display of attitudes that foster learning and genuine human relationships
3 Control of technical skills of teaching that facilitate pupils' learning
4 Command of knowledge in the subject matter to be taught
Kyriacou (1986) has a similar classification when he identifies his three main elements
involved in teaching competence. He suggests firstly that subject knowledge is important,
the teacher needs a reasonable degree of expertise if subject credibility is to be
established. The child should not expect the teacher to know everything but the teacher
should be able to establish a respect for the knowledge with which he is dealing.
Secondly, he lists the importance of the teacher's interest in and enthusiasm for his subject
but he warns that this enthusiasm must be shared and not simply demonstrated.
Teachers' enthusiasm alone is not sufficient but the children must be able to see that the
teacher is interested in what they have to say, and that the teacher can show delight in
the good work that the child produces as well as helpful concern for those who are
experiencing difficulty. Kyriacou's third element in teacher competence is the ability to
set up effective learning experiences. If work presented is consistently mis-matched, too
difficult, or too easy, or if the teacher is seen to be unable to prepare the children properly
or adequately for what they see as required, then frustration and discouragement can set
in.
A brief comparison will show that the work of Kyriacou and Smith, also contains all
the characteristics defined by the three surveys previously quoted, but as yet there is no
provision for a detailed guide on what a teacher actually does when teaching, the
planning, the implementation and the evaluation that is required.
Teaching skills which support the planning function for example would include:
diagnosing pupils' needs
setting goals and objectives
determining appropriate learning activities related to the objectives
Teaching skills for implementation would involve:

presenting
explaining
listening
introducing
196 G.M.WILLIAMS
demonstrating
questioning
reinforcing and refocusing
while evaluation would require the teacher to be able to

specify the learning objectives to be evaluated
describe the information needed to make the evaluation
obtain, record and analyse the information
form judgements about this information
In this final section on evaluation would also be a concern with the quality of feedback
that an effective teacher would give. Helpful and constructive feedback during the
lesson, to pupils having difficulties and ensuring that those finding the work easy are
extended, will enhance the pupils' perception of the teacher's competence in teaching.
Effective teaching cannot of course only be studied in terms of what the teacher is
doing, it must also focus upon what the child is doing and learning. Research undertaken
by Good and Brophy (1980), Tomlinson (1981), Haertel et al. (1983) and How (1984)
differ in the various frameworks they use but nevertheless it would appear that there are
three main aspects of children's learning which are crucial in any consideration of
effective teaching.
The child must be attending to any learning experience provided
The child must be receptive to the learning experience. In other words he must be well
motivated and have a willingness to respond to the experience
The learning experience must be appropriate for the learning to take place. Account
must be taken of the child's knowledge and understanding at the point of introduction
of the learning experience
Kyriacou (1986) however suggests that there is a pedagogical level of analysis that
concerns the attempt to describe the craft of teaching in a way that is of value to teachers.
The emphasis has been to describe effective teaching in ways which relate to the
professional needs and concerns of teachers and tends to rely on commonsense
acceptability for its validity rather than an explicit derivation from research findings. He
focuses mainly on the content and presentation of the lesson, classroom management and
discipline with pupils.
This approach is similar to the one adopted by the H.M.I, study of 1982 on
probationary teachers, when they grouped together over twenty attributes under five
main headings.
1 The quality of teacher-pupil relationships and class management
2 The quality of planning and preparation of work
3 The quality of teaching processes and the match of task to pupils' ability
4 The quality of language used in the classroom
5 The quality of questioning techniques
and these five areas reflect clearly many of the central issues already raised concerning
effective teaching.
In summarising their findings the inspectorate identify the following characteristics as
being associated with good practice and therefore effective teaching. Pupil participation,
interest and involvement, good organisation with a balance and variety of activities and
efficient use of materials and equipment, good relationships, characterised by a shared
sense of purpose and mutual respect are all identified.
Productive and lively discussion, usually associated with appropriately varied
questioning techniques and good planning and preparation and a choice of content
appropriate to the ages and abilities of the children were also considered to be essential
issues in the search for criteria for effectiveness.
To strengthen these statements in their report on the qualities of "good teachers"
(H.M.I.1985/1986) they state:
Good teachers need a variety of approaches and patterns of working and theflexibilityto call on
several different strategies within the space of one lesson. Sound planning and skilful management
are needed to blend class, group and individual work to provide a wide range of learning activities,
to observe, to solve problems, to offer explanations and to apply skills and ideas.
This last statement certainly emphasises the need for the learning experience offered to
be intellectually and pedagogically sound in fostering the desired educational outcomes.
The experiences should be tailored to the needs of the children as they exist at present.
The effective teacher will be monitoring the feedback from the children by considering
their interest or lack of it and their motivation, thus setting up a continuing examination
of the match between the experience provided and the needs of the children, and
allowing them a more active say and some control over the learning that takes place.
Kyricou acknowledges that there is much of value in this approach but criticises it for
failing to provide a basis for understanding from which the advice offered can be
interpreted and used.
Taking into account all this evidence from an examination of the relevant literature, it
appears that most concern expressed by the researchers was directed towards two
particular areas:
General Teaching Skills—the management of the class and the activities
Content Specific Teaching Skills—the appropriateness of the content, method of structure

of the learning activities for the desired educational
outcomes
both of which are particularly relevant to the craft involved in the teaching of dance.
Within these two main areas, the researchers' concern was further directed towards a
number of more specific factors which would contribute to effective teaching. These were
skills which would apply in all circumstances of teacher/child interaction whatever the
nature of the curriculum area. The nature of the dance lesson and the teacher/c/axr
relationship, indicated the need for a certain selection to be made from within this
complete range that would be of particular help in enabling a suitable evaluation to be
undertaken. Therefore the following list of six was selected by the writer as a reflection of
those criteria which most obviously and helpfully pertained to the needs of observing,
evaluating and analysing the dance lesson.
198 G.M.WILLIAMS
1 intention in setting goals and objectives that match children's abilities

2 function in diagnosing the children's needs
3 skills in facilitating learning through questioning techniques
4 skills in reinforcing and refocusing through feedback
5 the need for thorough understanding of the knowledge within any curriculum
discipline
6 need for the tasks presented to children to provoke them into problem solving
activities
What now becomes necessary is to look at the practice of dance (see Williams 1988) in
primary schools at the present time in order to identify the main problems that are
affecting the teaching of dance, for despite the growing popularity of dance as an art
form, and dance as part of the multi-cultural community, dance itself has only a small
and not much commented upon place in the school curriculum.
The Practice of Dance in the Primary School

Government reports have long spoken approvingly of the place of the arts in schools —
from the Haddow report of 1926 through Crowther 1959 and Newson 1963, right up to
Gulbenkian in 1982. However the Gulbenkian Report in 1980 which was concerned
with dance education and training in the United Kingdom, spoke of the generally
meagre and confused place occupied by dance (p.55)
The problems appear to be in the schools themselves.
One of the first problems is that of the attitude towards dance as an academic subject.
Reid (1983) writes that experience of art generally is cognitive, a kind of knowing, and
argues that since knowing and knowledge are generally prized in education then the
expectation would be that the experiential knowledge which art gives would also be
prized. However, as he suggests, the knowledge that schools are concerned with is that of
knowledge and understanding of concepts and facts which can be expressed clearly in
words or other symbols. These symbols can be examined, give results and bring credit to
child and school but the attention to the kind of knowing and understanding of the arts
which is required has been badly neglected. The Gulbenkian report identifies it as
"a national ignorance of the significance of dance" (p. 1)
and it is because of this ignorance that headteachers and staff who are concerned with
developing the curriculum very often do not see dance as a valid area for study. The
Gulbenkian report (1982) notes that the teachers' curriculum knowledge and
understanding influences not only the quality of children's learning but also the teachers'
curriculum values and priorities. Alexander (1984) puts forward three related
hypotheses:
what teachers do not adequately understand they are unlikely to teach well
what teachers do not value they are unlikely to teach well
what teachers do not understand they are unlikely to value
This diagnosis is worrying for dance since the focus on core subjects such as language,
maths and science, appears to suggest that arts subjects such as dance will have an even
less important and individual role within the curriculum. Reid, in his argument, makes a
strong plea that the education of all children should include some initiation into the
knowledge of and understanding of disciplines such as history and the sciences but
concludes that it is also right that they should be initiated into the special kind ofexperiential
knowing and understanding which the great tradition of the arts can offer.
The Gulbenkian survey showed that although 68% of primary schools reported that
"some dance" was taught, it was normally as part of the physical education programme
and had to compete with other areas such as gymnastics, games and swimming for a very
limited timetable allocation. The negative attitude to the subject is further illustrated by
the fact that some 70% of primary schools have a post of responsibility for music, but
only 13% have a teacher responsible for the development of dance. At the time of the
survey only 17% of British Primary schools had written guidelines for dance and there
was very little evidence to suggest that there was any contact with dance outside the
school situation and few extra curriculum dance activities other than time devoted to
folk and country dancing in some areas of the country.
A second problem is a concern regarding the specialist training needed in order to
allow for the effective teaching of dance. The professional studies courses offered as part
of primary B.Ed degree courses are in most cases and of necessity, of the "Introduction to
the basics" type. This, inevitably leads to the "superficiality," "lack of progression" and
"match" reported by H.M.I. (DES 1978a and 1982a) surveys. The H.M.I, diagnosis is
that professional knowledge in arts is insufficient for the task of even non specialist
primary teaching. (DES 1978a, 1982a, 1983a) The British Council of Physical
Education writing in 1980 also expressed concern about the inadequacy of the
preparation given to primary school teachers in the more global concept of physical
education, including dance and suggested that this inadequacy "will adversely affect the
quality of teaching." They further commented upon the fact that many teachers lack
knowledge and that consequently low standards of achievement are accepted.
Responsibility for the work of teachers of dance most often lies with the Physical
Education inspectorate, there are specialist inspectors of drama, art, music but not dance.
This of course is an historical outcome since dance has always been considered as part of
the Physical Education curriculum and has suffered accordingly. It is often one of the
factors that keeps boys away from dance since it is seen as taking time away from games
or gymnastics. It also tends to overstress its value to physical growth and therefore
understresses the aesthetic, and is in fact a contributory factor to make a third problem.
A fourth problem which limits the development of dance is that teachers generally
seem unable to clarify and formulate sufficiently acceptable and valid aims and therefore
are unable to develop viable progression in the dance curriculum. In the H.M.I, survey
of 1983 is included a deserved censure to teachers in this area of the work.
Too often a lack of clarity of thought and intention in relation to dance meant that the work
concentrated on physical activity and participation with insufficient attention to the artistic
experience and development of powers of expression.
It may seem a hard comment particularly in view of the problem of insufficient

training and knowledge previously raised here, but if dance is to flourish in the primary
200 G.M.WILLIAMS
school and serve as a strong foundation for development in secondary work then teachers
do need to pay attention to the formulation of clear aims and objectives within this area.
These then seem to be the four main problems when surveying the practice of dance in
the primary school; attitudes towards dance, training for teaching dance, the placing of
dance in a physical education programme and the lack of clarity in formulating aims and
objectives for dance.
It is possible that if the last problem were to be addressed with academic vigour then a
changing attitude towards the nature of dance as an acceptable, valid and "non extra"
area of the curriculum might be achieved. The extra specialist training needed for
primary B.Ed students is not quite so easily solved, since although a "specialist" input is
now being considered as a necessary part of the primary school, the average primary
teacher still needs to pay attention to the development of linguisitc, mathematical,
moral, humanitarian, scientific, musical, physical and aesthetic understanding with her
class and such breadth of knowledge, skills and experience is not achievable within the
four year B.Ed programme. However if teachers are to be encouraged to acquire a
degree of specialism in perhaps one or two areas in addition to the necessary width they
require, then a policy for a dance post of responsibility in every primary school is a goal
that should be aimed at by all those who value the special nature of the contribution that
dance makes to the aesthetic development of the child.
The third problem, the historical placing of dance in the physical education context, is
a difficult one to erase from practice. In training it is usually seen as part of the Physical
Education programme. In a study undertaken by the N.F.E.R. (1986) on the Initial
Training for Primary Teachers, research found that of twenty dance training courses
investigated, in not one of these did dance occur by itself. It was taught in eleven cases
within physical education programmes, in Jive cases within a human movement studies
programme, in three cases under the umbrella of expressive arts and in one case as a
component of both physical education and expressive arts. Additionally, in practical
ways within the school, it is linked with having to change clothes in order to participate,
and in using the hall where gymnastics are usually held, all helping to tie it to physical
education rather than acknowledging the aesthetic input. However as the Gulbenkian
report puts it:
A study of dance is incomplete without embracing its related arts and they in turn are assisted by
an understanding of dance (para.44)
thus if dance has to be linked with an area then obviously there are benefits if it is
linked with areas which have related and similar concepts, skills and attitudes but where
differences can be respected. Dance education is likely to flourish if the children and
teachers perceive of it within a whole arts experience, and therefore it would seem to be
helpful to encourage schools to adopt a policy towards their arts education, as well as
towards their scientific or humanities work.
The fourth problem, that of providing aims and objectives, is more difficult to address
since it really depends upon the three preceding problems being solved. A substantial
deficiency in curriculum knowledge effectively negates the primary teachers' ability to
make valid judgements about priorities within that curriculum area. She cannot
determine priorities, goals and structures of a curriculum area without recourse to a

depth of professional knowledge which would seem to be a basic pre-requisite for the
development of an area. Grouping subjects into areas such as "expressive arts" or
"creative studies" seems to allow for a more flexible approach and give greater scope but
this is an organisational solution and seems to ignore the fact that each "subject" area
still has its own concepts, skills and attitudes which need to be clearly understood by the
teacher. To engage in curriculum development a teacher's understanding of the
knowledge base of the curriculum must go deep. She needs sufficient depth of
understanding of the area of knowledge on which she draws, coupled with a keen
appreciation of what it is appropriate and desirable to do at given stages, to identify the

skills, concepts and attitudes she wishes the children to acquire, with sufficient precision
to engage in curriculum planning. This must demand a fairly detailed exploration of
aesthetic av/areness and expression, otherwise there may be no conceptual or skill
progression in the children's work. The primary school teacher needs sufficient dance
knowledge so that a progression of curricula experiences can be developed which is
matched to the children's abilities, and which the teacher can both defend and can
appraise for alternative possibilities.
If attention is not given to dance in this total way, if there is no concern for standards of
achievement, as well as carefully formulated progression, then dance will be relegated to
the category of an optional leisure time pursuit and be regarded as having no claim to a
place in the primary curriculum which is already crowded with areas of learning which
have been subjected to critical appraisal by philosophers, educators and teachers.
This paper has identified a needfor aims and objectives in dance which reflect the child as creator, performer and
spectator. Having reviewed the literature it has also identified general criteriafor effective teaching and from these
has compiled a more specific list for looking particularly at dance. Finally, in surveying the current practice of
dance in the primary school it has identified the main reasons for the inadequacy of the teaching of this subject
within the curriculum. Using the selected criteria to observe and evaluate early childhood and primary teachers in
the dance lesson situation would provide opportunity to understandfurther how a truly effective approach could be
initiated.
References
Adshead, J. (1981). The Study of Dance. London: Dance Books Ltd.
Alexander, R. (1984). Primary Teaching. London: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Alexander, R. (1984). Changein Teacher Education: context and provision since Robbins. London: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Ball, C.H. el at. (1971). Towards an Aesthetic Education. Washington: Music Educators National Conference.
Bennett, N. et al. (1984). The Quality of Pupil Learning Experiences. London: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Brearley, M. et al. (1970). Fundamentals in the First School. Oxford: Blackwell.
Broudy, H.S. (1972). Enlightened Cherishing. Illinois: University Press.
Cleave, S. & Sharp, C. (1986). The Arts: A Preparation to Teach. Slough: National Foundation for Educational
Research.
Copeland, R. (ed) & Cohen, M. (1983). What is Dance?: Readings in Theory and Criticism. Oxford University
Press.
Dean, J. (1983). Organising Learning in the Primary School Classroom. London: Croom Helm.
Delamont, S. (1976). Interaction in the Classroom. London: Methuen
Entwistle, N. (1985). New Directions in Educational Psychology: 1 Learning and Teaching. London: Falmer Press.
Furst, C. & Rockefeler, M. (1981). The Effective Dance Program in Physical Education New York: Parker
Publishing Company Incorporated.
Galton, M., Simon, B. and Croll, P. (1980). Inside the Primary Classroom. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
202 G.M.WILLIAMS
Galton, M. & Simon B. (1980). Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom. London: Routledge and Kegan
Paul.
Haselbach, B. (1971). Dance Education. London: Schott & Company.
H'Doubler, M. (1957). Dance: A Creative Art Experience. Winsconsin: University Press.
Hirst, P. (1974). Knowledge and the Curriculum. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Kerry, T. (1982). Effective Questioning. London: Macmillan Educational.
Kyriacou, C. (1986). Effective Teaching in Schools. Oxford: Blackwell.
Lovell Murray, R. (1975). Dance in Elementary Education a Programmefor Boys and Girls. New York: Harper and
Row.
Laban, R. (1948). Modern Eductional Dance. London: Macdonald and Evans.
Langer, S. (1953). Feeling and Form. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Lawton, D. et al. (1978). Theory and Practice of Curriculum Studies. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Martin, J. (1965). Introduction to the Dance. New York: Dance Horizons.
Nadel, M. & Miller, C. (ed) (1978). The Dance Experience: Readings in Dance Appreciation New York: Universe
Books.
North, M. (1964). A Simple Guide to Movement Teaching. London: Macdonald and Evans.
Parsons, M J . (1987). How we Understand Art: A Cognitive Developmental Account of Aesthetic Experience. Cambridge
University Press.
Perrott, E. (1982). Effective Teaching. London: Longmans.
Redfern, B. (1973). Concepts in Modern Educational Dancie. London: Dance Books Ltd.
Redfern, B. (1983). Dance, Art and Aesthetics. London: Dance Books Ltd.
Richards, C. (ed) (1982). New Directions in Primary Education. London: Falmer Press.
Robinson, K. (ed) (1982). The Arts and Higher Education. London: Society for research into Higher Education.
Ross, M. (1978). The Creative Arts. London: Heinemann Books.
Ross, M. (1986). Assessment in Arts Education. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Rowan, B. (1963). Learning Through Movement. Columbia: University Press.
Sheets Johnstone, M. (ed) (1984). Illuminating Dance: Philosophical Explorations. New York: Associated
University Presses.
Simon, B. and Willcocks, J. (ed) (1981). Research and Practice in the Primary Classroom London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul.
Stenhouse, L. (ed) (1980). Curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd.
Tickle, L. (ed) (1987). The Arts in Education: Some Research Studies. London: Croom Helm.
Valery, P. (1964). Philosophy of the Dance. Princeton University Press.
Wragg, E.C. (1984). Classroom Teaching Skills. London: Croom Helm.
Articles in Books
Aspin, D. "Assessment and Evaluation in the Arts" in Ross, M. (ed) (1981). The Aesthetic Imperative. Oxford:
Pergamon Press.
Smith, N.R. (1982). "The Visual Arts in Early Childhood Education: Development and the Creation of
Meaning" in Spodek, B. (ed) Handbook of Research in Early Childhood Education. New York: Free Press.
Articles in Journals
Best, D. & Reid, L.A. (1980). "Art and Aesthetics" British Journal of Aesthetics Vol.20 No.2.
Carr, D. (1984). "Dance Education, Skill and Behavioural Objectives" Journal of Aesthetic Education Vol.18
No.4.
Marland, M. (1985). "Dance and the School Curriculum" 2D Vol.4 No.3.
Peppiatt, A., Lamford, T. & Byers, A. "The Dance Companies and Education" 2D, Vol.4 No.2.
Reid, L.A. (1983). "Art Teaching and the Conceptual Understanding of Art". Bedford Way Papers. 14.
Russell, J. (1983). "Dance and the Child". 2D. Vol.3 No.l.
Stinson, S. (1985). "Piaget for Dance Educators". Dance Research Journal 17, 1.
Stevens, S. (1985). "An interview with Jaqueline Smith" 2D. Vol.5. No.l.
Reports
Assessment of Performance Unit (1983). Discussion Document on the Assessment of Aesthetic Development through
engagement in Creative and Performing Arts. London: A.P.U.
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1980). Dance Education and Training in Britain. London: Calouste
Gulbenkian Foundation.
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1982). The Arts in Schools. London: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
Department of Education and Science (1978). Primary Education in England. London: H.M.S.O.
Department of Education and Science (1980). A View of the Curriculum. London: H.M.S.O.
Department of Education and Science (1982). Education 5-9: an illustrative survey of 80 First Schools in England.
London: H.M.S.O.
Department of Education and Science (1985b). The Curriculum from 5-16. London: H.M.S.O.
Department of Education and Science (1985a). Better Schools. London: H.M.S.O.

Department of Education and Science (1985d). Good Teachers: A Paper London: H.M.S.O.
Conference Reports
Aesthetic Education and the Problems of Assessment and Evaluation (1979). Simpson, A. (ed). Manchester
Polytechnic.
Education with the Arts in Mind (1980). Collected Conference Papers Bretton Hall College, Wakefield.

Early Child Development and Care

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Early Child Development and Care

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

This article was downloaded by: [The University of Manchester Library]

On: 19 November 2014, At: 05:48

Early Child Development and Care

Dance education for young

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0300443890470111

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Dance education for young children. A

GILLIAN MARY WILLIAMS

Keywords: Dance education, young children, principles and practice

encouraged to use their imagination to put themselves into various situations or

PART 1. PRINCIPLES GOVERNING DANCE EDUCATION

The Nature of Dance

purposeful, intentionally rhythmically culturally patterned sequences of non verbal body

Experiential knowing...whether, in the enjoyment of given, or presented art or in the making of

An exploration of space, shape and dynamics.

"intelligence of feeling" a mode of knowledge that relates to the sensuous, subjective

Dance and Aesthetic Experience

Experiences can be judged aesthetically if we take a detached attitude towards them, if

an inner enrichment takes place which itself aids expression

Stage Three is characterised by the development of the technique necessary. Not

Dance and Cognitive Development

intimate linkage to or fusion with organismic bodily activity

"Find a way of changing your pattern"

PART II THE AIMS AND PRACTICE OF DANCE EDUCATION

affecting this practice.

The Aims of Dance Education

concentration or involvement in it. The children should now be encouraged to consider

To guide the child in developing an awareness of the body in dance action

What it now becomes necessary to do is to examine selected research on primary

Rosenshine and Furst

achievement of these in intended learning outcomes.

Teaching skills for implementation would involve:

while evaluation would require the teacher to be able to

(H.M.I.1985/1986) they state:

General Teaching Skills—the management of the class and the activities

Content Specific Teaching Skills—the appropriateness of the content, method of structure

1 intention in setting goals and objectives that match children's abilities

The Practice of Dance in the Primary School

It may seem a hard comment particularly in view of the problem of insufficient

determine priorities, goals and structures of a curriculum area without recourse to a

appreciation of what it is appropriate and desirable to do at given stages, to identify the

Department of Education and Science (1985a). Better Schools. London: H.M.S.O.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi