Dance as a Language of Learning and a Source of Embodied Knowledge
Richard, Marc
The current status of dance in Ontario schools is tenuous at best. Perhaps this reflects the status of dance in the consciousness of the general public. My Masters research (Richard, 2009) indicates that generalist teachers see dance as yet another add-on to an already overburdened curriculum; thus, they fail to see the incredible potential for dance as a language and form of embodied learning. Generalist teachers don't see themselves as artists, let alone dancers, and therefore don't feel comfortable teaching dance (Richard, 2009). For the most part, generalist teachers (and I believe the general public) have a very narrow view of what dance education entails: the teacher stands at the front and demonstrates a dance (e.g. the Macarena), which the students learn and repeat. In this teacher-directed model of dance instruction there is little room for the development of living skills (personal, interpersonal, critical and creative thinking), as oudined in the recendy revised Ontario grades 1-8 health and physical education curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2010). Most of the stakeholders in education have very little knowledge of creative dance, defined by Sue Stinson (1998) as "an art form that is based on natural movement rather than movement of a particular style as one might see in tap dance or ballet" (p. 2). In creative dance experiences the students create dances and the teacher's role is not to teach dances or technique but to facilitate learning and creation.
Making visible the many profound moments of bodily learning within a creative dance setting might help to broaden definitions of education and learning. Cancienne
and Snowber (2009) recognize dance as a unique site for learning about ourselves, and our world: "Dance allows a relationship to develop between the outer world and our bodies...our bodies experience things first, via our physical interaction with the world; therefore, there are kinds of data that our bodies experience before our minds" (p. 188). This includes such things as the sensation of touch, the feel of air on our skin as we move through space, as well as physical interactions with objects and other people.
For many generalist teachers, creative dance education remains an enigma; these teachers look to the 'real' dancers for some idea of what creative dance is and how to teach it. But for studio-trained dancers, creative dance is equally elusive because they have had very few experiences as dance students where they were allowed to create. Joyce (1973) recognizes that "many good dancers fail at creative dance teaching because they are not sure of the goal. They are used to physical goals such as teaching the class to do a combination of steps" (p. 12). Koff (2000) differentiates between dance education and dance training, the former being focused on "the development of self-expression and interpretation through motion with self-knowledge as its aim" and the latter on "mastery and fixture performance".
In many Ontario schools where dance education is actually occurring, it is very often a replication of teacher-directed studio dance training (i.e. jazz dance, ballroom dance, video-inspired dances such as Britney Spears routines). Reggio Emilia educators, Cavazzoni, Pini, Porani, and Renieri (2007), seem to recognize the dichotomy between the world of dance studios and creative dance when they ask, "Is
a body something to train, or to listen to and know? Is it a competitive body with abilities to conquer or a body rich in cognitive, emotional, and expressive potentialities?" (p. 4). These Italian educators recognize dance and movement as a way of knowing and naming the world, and as one of the many languages of learning. Making the Learning Visible in Creative Dance Education
What is the learning that happens in creative dance in an elementary school setting? This research project investigated the learning for both teachers and students in four elementary school settings in Ontario. Four generalist classroom teachers who were also experienced in teaching creative dance (as outlined in the documents) were videotaped and photographed while teaching creative dance classes. Afterwards, these teachers were interviewed while watching the video documentation. From these interviews, the researchers observations, field notes, and photographs, moments of perceived learning were proposed via pedagogical documentation panels. The words and pictures of students and teachers were placed on panels and these were used to provoke further dialogue in the form of one-on-one interviews, and small group or whole class discussions. All of the interviews and specific moments from the video documentation were transcribed, and along with the photographs and students' work samples, comprised a data collection. The overall findings suggest that in creative dance classes students are learning to develop an awareness of their dancing self, an intersubjectivity as they engage in collaborative creative processes and discover the interconnectedness of dance as a language of learning. Teachers are learning about their unique role as a facilitator in creative dance classes and developing an ability to
witness thinking bodies.
The Students are Learning to Think with their Bodies
Creative dance provokes students to use their bodies for thinking and for solving problems. As grade five teacher Brooke explained, "The depth of their thinking after having the movement experiences is way more than any other subject I've seen...I think there is something about embodying it first that gives them deeper thinking." As another teacher, Alorani, began her work with her grade three class, she advised them they would be thinking in new ways - they would be showing rather than telling. She initiated an activity with the grade three students in which they were working with a partner to suspend two thin bamboo poles between their two index fingers.
Learning to Use Dance as a Language to Understand Other Disciplines of Learning
This theme represents all the learning that is taking place in creative dance classes that is not specifically just about learning in dance but also learning in other subject areas such as drama, science, math, language, geography, and health. This represents the learning through the dance portion of the curriculum, i.e. what students are learning about other subjects through creative dance. The first time I witnessed this was with Charlie, a four year-old kindergarten student experimenting with his scarf. Charlie was focused on throwing his scarf in the air and watching it descend. Initially, he was scrunching the scarf into a ball, throwing it up, and watching it fall. Next, his experimentation was different - he had a new theory, perhaps inspired by the concept of soft, which they were exploring in that days lesson. He laid out the scarf
very carefully and specifically on the ground and threw it up from two corners. This time the scarf seemed to suspend in the air and then gently float down. He watched this action very intently. His teacher, Emily, recognized, "He did the same thing yesterday, but today it was more sophisticated, it had to be spread out in a certain way." I showed Charlie a picture of himself as I interviewed him.
Dance as a Language of Learning
Dance is a language of learning with a vocabulary based on the elements of dance, and students can become literate in dance as a language. Because the language of dance is embodied knowledge, it allows the students to express their knowledge about many subjects through their bodies. As a language of learning, dance does seem to connect, as Stinson (1998) suggests, to the mind, body, and spirit. The grade six students certainly recognized it as a "unique way of learning," that "didn't really feel like learning" because it was also "fun." Body movement and thinking with the body allows students to develop and connect knowledge in many subject areas, but also to their lives, because the first site of learning was their body. For the very young students, these interconnections (e.g. Charlie and his scarf) are discovered, naturally, through play-based experiences. For older students, creative dance allows them to re-connect their original playbased movement learning with other subjects in even more complex ways, e.g. the grade six students' interpretations of poems.
The results of this study suggest that it is possible for students to know dance as another important language of learning in our schools. Students used their thinking body in dance to make connections to many other curriculum areas. In order for this
type of interconnection to take place however, dance needs time on the curricular timetable, and this requires teachers (and all the stakeholders in education) to value dance and the body as a site of learning. We must reposition dance not as an add-on to the day but as an essential embodied form of learning about self, other, and the world.
舞蹈可以作为学习和获得知识的一种来源方式
理查德；马克
安大略省舞蹈学校的现状是不容乐观的。也许这也反映出了公众潜意识里对舞蹈的看法及状态。我于2009年的一个研究表明，一些具备各种才能的（即所谓的通才）老师，他们认为，在学生课程已经负担过重的情况下，舞蹈的地位很尴尬。因此，他们看不到舞蹈可以作为一个促进学习和获得知识的渠道之一，让人们可以在轻松愉快的氛围中，取得进步。那些通才老师不认为自己是艺术家，更不用说是一个舞者，因此他们对舞蹈课程是有偏见的(理查德，2009) 。在大多数情况下，这些所谓的通才老师并不知道舞蹈真正意味着什么，他们简单认为，老师站在前面，演示下舞蹈动作，然后学生学习和反复练习。在这个舞蹈指导里，老师几乎没有体现出生活技能方面的知识 (比如：人际、批判性和创造性思维等) 。大多数人都不是很了解创造性舞蹈，苏史汀森(1998)将创造性舞蹈定义为一种艺术形式，它是基于自然的运动，而不是一个特定的运动风格，比如：踢踏舞或者芭蕾舞”。在创造性舞蹈教学与体验中，主要是学生创造舞蹈，教师的角色不是教舞蹈，而是促进学生的学习和创造。
通过舞蹈，我们可以获得很多更深刻的体验，有助于拓宽教育和学习的视野。Cancienne 和Snowber(2009)认为舞蹈的一个独特的功能就是了解我们自己和我们周围的世界:“舞蹈将外部世界与我们身体联系在一起。首先，我们的身体通过舞蹈体验，可以与世界互动, 这包括诸如触摸的感觉，跳舞时，空气轻抚我们皮肤的感觉，我们穿过空间的约束，与他人交互沟通。
对于那些所谓的通才老师来说，创造性的舞蹈教育仍然是一个迷，他们把握不到舞蹈的真谛，认为舞蹈就是简单的教，以及如何教。但对于那些只知道在舞
蹈室练习的舞者来说，创意舞蹈是难以捉摸的，因为他们对于舞蹈也不是有真切的体会。乔伊斯（1973）认为“很多好的舞者，在创造性舞蹈教学方面，失败的原因就是因为他们不确定教的目的。考夫对舞蹈教育和舞蹈培训做了一个区分，前者注重”通过运动来自我表达，以自我认知为目的，后者则以掌握技能为目标。
安大略的许多学校在舞蹈教育方面，其模式经营经常是对老师所教授的复制和不断练习，例如爵士舞，舞厅跳舞等。而来自与意大利的学者，Cavazzoni ，Porano 和Renieri 则认为，舞蹈似乎是认知世界的一个渠道，“是一个身体训练的的东西，或听或感受，知道吗？是身体与世界的沟通，是认知、情感、和富有表现力的潜力。这些是意大利教育者对舞蹈有独特的认识。”
创造性舞蹈教育中学习的可见性
创造性舞蹈教育中，学的是什么呢？本研究条查了安大略省四个小学的教师和学生的互动学习。还组织了所谓的通才老师的舞蹈教学，进行一个对比分析，教学过程会进行录像和拍照。之后对这些老师进行采访，并保存为视频文档，在这些访谈中，研究者会观察，做笔记和拍照。对学生和老师采访的笔记记录和图片，会被用于引发进一步的一对一访谈对话，以及小组或全班谈论。所有的访谈资料都会被记录成视频和文件，并连同照片等。总体的研究结果表明，创造性舞蹈课程，学生学习舞蹈的目标发展为认识自我，他们参与合作创新的过程，并发现更多的新的舞蹈形式和动作。将舞蹈作为一种学习的渠道。老师们也了解他们在创造性舞蹈教学中的独特角色，即作为一个引导者，引导学生的学习的创造，开发学生的舞蹈方面的知识和能力。
学生们正在学习用身体来思考
创造性舞蹈可以引发学生用他们的身体来思考和解决问题。作为五年级教师，布鲁克解释说，“他们的思维经过舞蹈学习后变的更有深度，这比任何学科的效果都更加好……我认为，是舞蹈开发了他们的能力，体现在它首先让他们对外界的事物有更深的思考。”作为另一个老师，艾罗妮在开始她的三年级舞蹈教学工作中，她建议学生们要以新的方式来思考。这是学生自发的一种思考行为，而不是被告知要这样思考。
学习使用舞蹈作为一种语言来理解其他学科知识的学习
这个主题的意思是说，创造性学习并不只是舞蹈学习中的一个特有形式，也存在于其他学科领域，如：戏剧、科学、数学、语言、地理、和健康保健等。这只是表示创造性教学是舞蹈学习的部分课程，即学生们也可以通过创意舞蹈的学习来获得其他科目的知识，我第一次亲眼看到的实例是，一个四岁的幼儿园学生，查理，尝试把他的围巾抛到空中，然后观察她的下落。最初，他把围巾缩紧成一团扔，然后看着它下落。接下来他做了个新的尝试。他有一个新理论，或许灵感来自于漂浮的概念，他把围巾非常仔细的专门摊在地上扔，这次围巾似乎挂起在空中，然后轻轻地飘。他看着这个做动作非常的专心，老师艾美丽发现了他昨天也做了同样的事情，但今天它是更复杂，查理学会了新的方式进行实验。
这项研究的结果表明，对学生来说，是有可能让学生理解舞蹈的另一个重要的作用。那就是可以让学生通过舞蹈来锻炼他们的思维，通过思维的扩展后，连接到其他课程领域，获得其他学科领域的知识。为了促使这种知识互连得发生，需要进行一定时间的舞蹈课程学习，这就要求教师和学生们要真正认识到舞蹈的价值，以及将身体的舞蹈动作作为认识世界的一种方式。我们必须重新定位舞蹈，而不是将其作为一个附加的课程，而是作为认识自我和认识世界的一个重要形式。
Dance as a Language of Learning and a Source of Embodied Knowledge
Richard, Marc
The current status of dance in Ontario schools is tenuous at best. Perhaps this reflects the status of dance in the consciousness of the general public. My Masters research (Richard, 2009) indicates that generalist teachers see dance as yet another add-on to an already overburdened curriculum; thus, they fail to see the incredible potential for dance as a language and form of embodied learning. Generalist teachers don't see themselves as artists, let alone dancers, and therefore don't feel comfortable teaching dance (Richard, 2009). For the most part, generalist teachers (and I believe the general public) have a very narrow view of what dance education entails: the teacher stands at the front and demonstrates a dance (e.g. the Macarena), which the students learn and repeat. In this teacher-directed model of dance instruction there is little room for the development of living skills (personal, interpersonal, critical and creative thinking), as oudined in the recendy revised Ontario grades 1-8 health and physical education curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2010). Most of the stakeholders in education have very little knowledge of creative dance, defined by Sue Stinson (1998) as "an art form that is based on natural movement rather than movement of a particular style as one might see in tap dance or ballet" (p. 2). In creative dance experiences the students create dances and the teacher's role is not to teach dances or technique but to facilitate learning and creation.
Making visible the many profound moments of bodily learning within a creative dance setting might help to broaden definitions of education and learning. Cancienne
and Snowber (2009) recognize dance as a unique site for learning about ourselves, and our world: "Dance allows a relationship to develop between the outer world and our bodies...our bodies experience things first, via our physical interaction with the world; therefore, there are kinds of data that our bodies experience before our minds" (p. 188). This includes such things as the sensation of touch, the feel of air on our skin as we move through space, as well as physical interactions with objects and other people.
For many generalist teachers, creative dance education remains an enigma; these teachers look to the 'real' dancers for some idea of what creative dance is and how to teach it. But for studio-trained dancers, creative dance is equally elusive because they have had very few experiences as dance students where they were allowed to create. Joyce (1973) recognizes that "many good dancers fail at creative dance teaching because they are not sure of the goal. They are used to physical goals such as teaching the class to do a combination of steps" (p. 12). Koff (2000) differentiates between dance education and dance training, the former being focused on "the development of self-expression and interpretation through motion with self-knowledge as its aim" and the latter on "mastery and fixture performance".
In many Ontario schools where dance education is actually occurring, it is very often a replication of teacher-directed studio dance training (i.e. jazz dance, ballroom dance, video-inspired dances such as Britney Spears routines). Reggio Emilia educators, Cavazzoni, Pini, Porani, and Renieri (2007), seem to recognize the dichotomy between the world of dance studios and creative dance when they ask, "Is
a body something to train, or to listen to and know? Is it a competitive body with abilities to conquer or a body rich in cognitive, emotional, and expressive potentialities?" (p. 4). These Italian educators recognize dance and movement as a way of knowing and naming the world, and as one of the many languages of learning. Making the Learning Visible in Creative Dance Education
What is the learning that happens in creative dance in an elementary school setting? This research project investigated the learning for both teachers and students in four elementary school settings in Ontario. Four generalist classroom teachers who were also experienced in teaching creative dance (as outlined in the documents) were videotaped and photographed while teaching creative dance classes. Afterwards, these teachers were interviewed while watching the video documentation. From these interviews, the researchers observations, field notes, and photographs, moments of perceived learning were proposed via pedagogical documentation panels. The words and pictures of students and teachers were placed on panels and these were used to provoke further dialogue in the form of one-on-one interviews, and small group or whole class discussions. All of the interviews and specific moments from the video documentation were transcribed, and along with the photographs and students' work samples, comprised a data collection. The overall findings suggest that in creative dance classes students are learning to develop an awareness of their dancing self, an intersubjectivity as they engage in collaborative creative processes and discover the interconnectedness of dance as a language of learning. Teachers are learning about their unique role as a facilitator in creative dance classes and developing an ability to
witness thinking bodies.
The Students are Learning to Think with their Bodies
Creative dance provokes students to use their bodies for thinking and for solving problems. As grade five teacher Brooke explained, "The depth of their thinking after having the movement experiences is way more than any other subject I've seen...I think there is something about embodying it first that gives them deeper thinking." As another teacher, Alorani, began her work with her grade three class, she advised them they would be thinking in new ways - they would be showing rather than telling. She initiated an activity with the grade three students in which they were working with a partner to suspend two thin bamboo poles between their two index fingers.
Learning to Use Dance as a Language to Understand Other Disciplines of Learning
This theme represents all the learning that is taking place in creative dance classes that is not specifically just about learning in dance but also learning in other subject areas such as drama, science, math, language, geography, and health. This represents the learning through the dance portion of the curriculum, i.e. what students are learning about other subjects through creative dance. The first time I witnessed this was with Charlie, a four year-old kindergarten student experimenting with his scarf. Charlie was focused on throwing his scarf in the air and watching it descend. Initially, he was scrunching the scarf into a ball, throwing it up, and watching it fall. Next, his experimentation was different - he had a new theory, perhaps inspired by the concept of soft, which they were exploring in that days lesson. He laid out the scarf
very carefully and specifically on the ground and threw it up from two corners. This time the scarf seemed to suspend in the air and then gently float down. He watched this action very intently. His teacher, Emily, recognized, "He did the same thing yesterday, but today it was more sophisticated, it had to be spread out in a certain way." I showed Charlie a picture of himself as I interviewed him.
Dance as a Language of Learning
Dance is a language of learning with a vocabulary based on the elements of dance, and students can become literate in dance as a language. Because the language of dance is embodied knowledge, it allows the students to express their knowledge about many subjects through their bodies. As a language of learning, dance does seem to connect, as Stinson (1998) suggests, to the mind, body, and spirit. The grade six students certainly recognized it as a "unique way of learning," that "didn't really feel like learning" because it was also "fun." Body movement and thinking with the body allows students to develop and connect knowledge in many subject areas, but also to their lives, because the first site of learning was their body. For the very young students, these interconnections (e.g. Charlie and his scarf) are discovered, naturally, through play-based experiences. For older students, creative dance allows them to re-connect their original playbased movement learning with other subjects in even more complex ways, e.g. the grade six students' interpretations of poems.
The results of this study suggest that it is possible for students to know dance as another important language of learning in our schools. Students used their thinking body in dance to make connections to many other curriculum areas. In order for this
type of interconnection to take place however, dance needs time on the curricular timetable, and this requires teachers (and all the stakeholders in education) to value dance and the body as a site of learning. We must reposition dance not as an add-on to the day but as an essential embodied form of learning about self, other, and the world.
舞蹈可以作为学习和获得知识的一种来源方式
理查德；马克
安大略省舞蹈学校的现状是不容乐观的。也许这也反映出了公众潜意识里对舞蹈的看法及状态。我于2009年的一个研究表明，一些具备各种才能的（即所谓的通才）老师，他们认为，在学生课程已经负担过重的情况下，舞蹈的地位很尴尬。因此，他们看不到舞蹈可以作为一个促进学习和获得知识的渠道之一，让人们可以在轻松愉快的氛围中，取得进步。那些通才老师不认为自己是艺术家，更不用说是一个舞者，因此他们对舞蹈课程是有偏见的(理查德，2009) 。在大多数情况下，这些所谓的通才老师并不知道舞蹈真正意味着什么，他们简单认为，老师站在前面，演示下舞蹈动作，然后学生学习和反复练习。在这个舞蹈指导里，老师几乎没有体现出生活技能方面的知识 (比如：人际、批判性和创造性思维等) 。大多数人都不是很了解创造性舞蹈，苏史汀森(1998)将创造性舞蹈定义为一种艺术形式，它是基于自然的运动，而不是一个特定的运动风格，比如：踢踏舞或者芭蕾舞”。在创造性舞蹈教学与体验中，主要是学生创造舞蹈，教师的角色不是教舞蹈，而是促进学生的学习和创造。
通过舞蹈，我们可以获得很多更深刻的体验，有助于拓宽教育和学习的视野。Cancienne 和Snowber(2009)认为舞蹈的一个独特的功能就是了解我们自己和我们周围的世界:“舞蹈将外部世界与我们身体联系在一起。首先，我们的身体通过舞蹈体验，可以与世界互动, 这包括诸如触摸的感觉，跳舞时，空气轻抚我们皮肤的感觉，我们穿过空间的约束，与他人交互沟通。
对于那些所谓的通才老师来说，创造性的舞蹈教育仍然是一个迷，他们把握不到舞蹈的真谛，认为舞蹈就是简单的教，以及如何教。但对于那些只知道在舞
蹈室练习的舞者来说，创意舞蹈是难以捉摸的，因为他们对于舞蹈也不是有真切的体会。乔伊斯（1973）认为“很多好的舞者，在创造性舞蹈教学方面，失败的原因就是因为他们不确定教的目的。考夫对舞蹈教育和舞蹈培训做了一个区分，前者注重”通过运动来自我表达，以自我认知为目的，后者则以掌握技能为目标。
安大略的许多学校在舞蹈教育方面，其模式经营经常是对老师所教授的复制和不断练习，例如爵士舞，舞厅跳舞等。而来自与意大利的学者，Cavazzoni ，Porano 和Renieri 则认为，舞蹈似乎是认知世界的一个渠道，“是一个身体训练的的东西，或听或感受，知道吗？是身体与世界的沟通，是认知、情感、和富有表现力的潜力。这些是意大利教育者对舞蹈有独特的认识。”
创造性舞蹈教育中学习的可见性
创造性舞蹈教育中，学的是什么呢？本研究条查了安大略省四个小学的教师和学生的互动学习。还组织了所谓的通才老师的舞蹈教学，进行一个对比分析，教学过程会进行录像和拍照。之后对这些老师进行采访，并保存为视频文档，在这些访谈中，研究者会观察，做笔记和拍照。对学生和老师采访的笔记记录和图片，会被用于引发进一步的一对一访谈对话，以及小组或全班谈论。所有的访谈资料都会被记录成视频和文件，并连同照片等。总体的研究结果表明，创造性舞蹈课程，学生学习舞蹈的目标发展为认识自我，他们参与合作创新的过程，并发现更多的新的舞蹈形式和动作。将舞蹈作为一种学习的渠道。老师们也了解他们在创造性舞蹈教学中的独特角色，即作为一个引导者，引导学生的学习的创造，开发学生的舞蹈方面的知识和能力。
学生们正在学习用身体来思考
创造性舞蹈可以引发学生用他们的身体来思考和解决问题。作为五年级教师，布鲁克解释说，“他们的思维经过舞蹈学习后变的更有深度，这比任何学科的效果都更加好……我认为，是舞蹈开发了他们的能力，体现在它首先让他们对外界的事物有更深的思考。”作为另一个老师，艾罗妮在开始她的三年级舞蹈教学工作中，她建议学生们要以新的方式来思考。这是学生自发的一种思考行为，而不是被告知要这样思考。
学习使用舞蹈作为一种语言来理解其他学科知识的学习
这个主题的意思是说，创造性学习并不只是舞蹈学习中的一个特有形式，也存在于其他学科领域，如：戏剧、科学、数学、语言、地理、和健康保健等。这只是表示创造性教学是舞蹈学习的部分课程，即学生们也可以通过创意舞蹈的学习来获得其他科目的知识，我第一次亲眼看到的实例是，一个四岁的幼儿园学生，查理，尝试把他的围巾抛到空中，然后观察她的下落。最初，他把围巾缩紧成一团扔，然后看着它下落。接下来他做了个新的尝试。他有一个新理论，或许灵感来自于漂浮的概念，他把围巾非常仔细的专门摊在地上扔，这次围巾似乎挂起在空中，然后轻轻地飘。他看着这个做动作非常的专心，老师艾美丽发现了他昨天也做了同样的事情，但今天它是更复杂，查理学会了新的方式进行实验。
这项研究的结果表明，对学生来说，是有可能让学生理解舞蹈的另一个重要的作用。那就是可以让学生通过舞蹈来锻炼他们的思维，通过思维的扩展后，连接到其他课程领域，获得其他学科领域的知识。为了促使这种知识互连得发生，需要进行一定时间的舞蹈课程学习，这就要求教师和学生们要真正认识到舞蹈的价值，以及将身体的舞蹈动作作为认识世界的一种方式。我们必须重新定位舞蹈，而不是将其作为一个附加的课程，而是作为认识自我和认识世界的一个重要形式。