Dancing Toward Each Other: Dance in the Primary School Classroom

In Australia, dance and the arts in general are under threat from the pressure of high-stakes testing and a focus on literacy and numeracy. Many schools and school districts are mandating prescriptive models of teacher-directed pedagogy and putting emphasis on digital technologies. In this context, dance education could provide an alternative space for learning. Creative dance is based on collaborative, physical, and creative problem-solving. It is an opportunity for children to learn together, unmediated by digital tools or the teacher’s direction. A multiple embedded case study exploring teacher and student experiences of dance in the primary classroom used diverse sources of data to build a picture of the impact of teaching and learning in dance. The paradox of increasing digital connectivity between citizens is that it increases physical distance and understanding. Dance could have a role to play in bridging that gap.