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Integrating Dance Into Elementary Classrooms to Improve Students Learning Skills and to Develop All Aspects of Life

Dayna Bergeson

It is easy to imagine that our lives are a giant puzzle. Each piece represents

something important, something taught in life. One such piece is education. Education is

one of the most powerful weapons we have; we could change the world. It is important

that we are properly trained and know how to use our weapon in order to be successful.

Education stems from what we are taught in the classroom and prepares us for the future.

Implementing skills that can help children learn and grow to their full potential is an

important part of education. The best way to provide sufficient skills in developing

children is through the arts. We need to train students to be able to cope with a constantly

changing world and to be able to handle any situation that is ahead of them. The arts are a

positive way to teach children how to be expressive and how to gain confidence in their

abilities. Principals, teachers, and parents need to realize the difference arts in education

can make in a child’s life. It is crucial that elementary teachers begin now to make the

arts part of daily curriculum.

There are many ways that the arts can expand literacy and develop all aspects of

the mind, body, and spirit. The arts can also have a major affect on a student’s cognitive,

physical, and emotional learning. It is amazing the difference that is seen when children

have the arts integrated into their education. Research has shown that children respond

positively to dance and music in the classroom. Test scores are higher, retention is

increased, there is an increased quality of life, more creativity, and they are able to recall

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details and explain concepts to others. There is no other way that children would respond

so well. Through curriculum involving different forms of art, the teacher has the power to

change the student’s life for the best.

Instilling fundamental principles of learning through the arts at a young age will

help the students now and in the future. By finding out how their body, mind, and spirit

work, students will grasp the concept of life and gain ideas of what life is all about. With

the fun that learning can be through the arts, children will find joy in education and will

have positive attitudes towards learning. They will work hard and be successful in

whatever they pursue.

The purpose of my paper is to further explore the effects that dance in education

can have in elementary classrooms and to study how teachers can make the most of their

teaching by implementing the arts into daily lessons. The focus will be on dance and

music in education and what it can do to a child’s mind.

DEVELOPING THE MINDLearning Through Arts. Children’s minds are one of the most amazing things.

Looking at firsthand experiences, it is easy to see the way students think and the ways

that children grow and learn. Learning that all students possess different minds, you can

see how all students learn, remember, perform, and understand in completely diverse

ways. By incorporating the arts into education, children will be able to learn all of these

different aspects of learning in the same way and will be able to adapt to learning by

other means. Through dance, students learn about the world around them and learn how

to express their knowledge of what they have been taught. The arts are a major part of

human cognition. Dance becomes a way of viewing the world and communicating what

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is significant in their lives. Joy comes from the process of creating the journey that the

student takes through the process of learning. Much of what is said in the arts cannot be

said in another way. The students gain a sense of what it is like to express them selves

and show how they feel. (Gibb, 1983)

By involving the arts in such a meaningful way, it has shown that students

thinking development increases and they are able to recall more detail and sequences than

before. Students are also able to teach and explain what they have learned when the arts

are incorporated. Statistics have shown that students are more motivated, follow

directions better, work harder, try to do their best, and attendance increases. As a result,

test scores are much higher and they develop a good attitude. By improving their skills

and their learning process, students are able to make connections between ideas and

thoughts learned. (Lee, 1993)

Cognitive Skills. Cognitive learning is fundamental in order for a child’s brain to

function. It is proven that these skills contribute to our continued existence and our

survival. If you look back at any culture, you see that arts were always involved. That is

because the arts are the best way to tap into all areas of the brain and to help shape the

skills we need. Children’s activities such as singing, drawing, and dancing are all natural

forms of art that engage the senses and wire the brain. This leads to successful learning.

By engaging all areas of the brain, children start to develop essential thinking tools such

as pattern development, mental representations, symbolism, and observations.

Through these areas, both subtle and complex forms of thinking are produced that

transcend all areas of human engagement. These thinking processes become a collection

of skills and thoughts that student’s start to use naturally. (Sousa, 2006)

“Is it simply that smart people are drawn to ‘do’ art — to study and perform music, dance, drama — or does early arts training cause changes in the brain that enhance other important aspects of cognition?” –(Beth Baker, 2012)

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Physical and Emotional Improvement. Dance can be a positive way of helping

children grow both emotionally and physically. Baker quotes an associate professor at the

Massachusetts College of Art who talks about how much of an influence having an

emotional attachment can have. He says that when there is a strong emotional connection,

it is more likely to take hold. (Baker, 2012, pg. 3) If students have some sort of emotion

connected to what they are learning, they will make a connection whether it is a self or a

world connection that will aid them in retaining the information. By using emotional

connection there is an improved quality of life, better performance, and more creativity.

Along with emotional improvements, the arts can help with the children’s

physical body. Since dance is very active, it will help the children stay physical while

having fun. As a child I started dance when I was 3 and it became something I loved. Not

wanting to miss out on all the fun activities or all the new material we learned, I went

everyday. It is said that more physical activity leads to increased blood transport and

oxygen, which in turn leads to better cognitive performance. Engaging the whole body as

well as the mind through the arts can ensure that children increase both physically and

emotionally. (Sousa, 2006)

DEVELOPING THE BODYBroaden the mind. Dance has the power to expand our imaginations, increase

our level of confidence, stretch our understanding, and to cultivate our souls. By

incorporating dance into schools, students will be able to add more to their education and

not just have high-test scores, but to also be well rounded. With the constantly changing

world, students need to learn to be flexible and have open minds. They need to know how

to let their body and their mind work in harmony together. Sara Gibbs states the idea that

skills can always be updated, that is not the hard part, the hard part is having a personality

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that is capable of adapting to new ideas and situations. Instead of focusing on being

successful in a skill area, we need to focus on being a successful human being. Gibb

starts out her article discussing why dance in education is effective and what she says

should be taken to the heart. She states:

“In today’s fast-paced, high technology society, our education systems are being bombarded with ever increasing challenges and demands. One challenge is to produce well rounded, thinking students who can cope with a constantly changing society. Educators often try to meet the challenge by calling for higher test scores, thereby reducing the education process to teaching and learning only what can be measured on standardized tests. Yet, we all know that such emphasis will not ensure education in human sensitivity nor in the processes of creative problem solving. Dance is an ideal vehicle to achieve such educational ends. In fact, now, more than ever before, dance approached and taught as an art form needs to become an integral part of our educational system” (Gibb, 1983).

Contributes to the whole person. Dance has the ability to combine all aspects of

physical, emotional, mental, social, and spiritual parts of the human being. It can aid all

the areas of learning, not just the skills. Learning these aspects can be

beneficial throughout the student’s life, making them as successful as

possible. David Rockefeller, Jr. stated, “Dance is surely a most extraordinary

fusion of thinking, doing, and feeling. If we are concerned about the health of

a child’s mind, body, and spirit, then how can we ignore the educational force

of an art from which addresses all three at once” (Gibb, 2012). We cannot ignore the

needs of the human, especially in developing these important attributes and skills that

will influence the person’s whole life. (Gibb, 2012) The emphasis is put on having higher

test scores and on making sure students meet the expectations for the tests. That is not the

way it should be at all. Sure, tests are an important part of education, but there is much

more meaning behind being book smart. You won’t be able to read a book to handle

“Dance is a means to an end, not an

end in itself.”-(Sara

Gibb,1983)

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every situation of your life; you need balance. Dance brings the balance in children’s

lives.

Expression. Movement is one of the first means of expression and learning. Each new movement gives children more information about the capabilities of their bodies. As they learn how their bodies work, they are also learning how their feelings work. They are experiencing feelings and situations that they never have before. Through dance, children are able to understand and develop self-control in reaction to anger, fear, and joy. Children can always feel successful with their expressions and begin to appreciate the differences that each individual possesses. Through dance they gain creative expression with what they want to portray. They begin to tell stories with their movements and share with others what they want. (Lutz, 2000)

Dance allows children to structure feeling, thought, and motion all at once. They use their imaginations through their movements and then begin to use their imagination to read, write, and interpret the work. Through this, there are multiple meanings and varied repetitions. Students understand that everyone has personal meaning and everyone has personal expression. With the natural tendency to move, dance incorporated in schools will help children foster this inclination and to find out exactly how their body works. (Loren, 1998)

Memorization. Lutz talks about the experience she had with children learning about different cultures when dance was involved. Students who participated in this study for a year learned about unfamiliar cultures as they became confident in their body movements and their own identities. Student’s responded positively to dance. Children enjoy participating in the arts, which is one of the arts greatest strengths. The student’s

excitement level increased, they came to school everyday ready to learn more, and discussions came about. All of the excitement and anticipation makes material learned easier for the children to remember. Lutz says it was interesting to see the questions students asked and the interest they had in the different cultures. They definitely were more intrigued with the use of dance and seemed to retain the information better than ever. Students who had trouble recalling letters of the alphabet seemed to easily recall information they had learned about the cultures through dance. Dance can be an effective way of helping children with memorization. (Lutz, 2000)

“Dance is a way for children to know themselves and to see connection with the rest of the world.” –(Tamara Lutz, 2000)

Figure 3: retrieved from www.google.com

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CONTRADICTIONS

Parents. There are many parents out there who set poor examples for their children. Much of what parents say and do has an astonishing affect on their children. If a parent doesn’t care about education, neither will the kids. If the parent complains about school, so will the student. Many parents didn’t complete their own education and some don’t see it as a necessity in life. They are more concerned with their personal needs and what they feel is most important for their child. Birch said it perfectly when he said,

“We don’t pay any attention in schools to getting kids to learn how to use their bodies choreographically…now we have decided in our wisdom that this is less important than sentential calculus for some reason, because we are all going to have more opportunity to do sentential calculus than we’ll ever have to dance” (Birch, 2000).

Parents don’t realize how important the arts are with the development of their child. Without the arts, the child will never learn all the intelligences. Dance involves all 4 of the abilities related to the intelligences; memory, analysis, creativity, and practicality. All of these areas must be promoted in order for students to show their skills. With parent’s negative attitudes towards the arts in education, children don’t get the training they need. (Birch, 2000)

Funding. It is said that one of the biggest reasons that students aren’t receiving the proper amount of arts is because it costs so much and takes away a lot of the funding. Parents, teachers, and even administrators complain about the cost that providing the arts takes. My dad always told me that everything worthwhile takes effort and hard work. If these adults actually cared about the students needs, then they would do anything in their power to make the arts a part of their daily curriculum.

Something interesting about this scenario is the number of adults who feel the arts are necessary for children, yet they complain about the money when it really comes down to it. A study done in 2006 showed that 93% of Americans strongly backed the arts in education. The results are as follows:

86 percent agree that arts education improves a child’s attitudes toward school

Quote 4:“When learning occurs through movement, the learning appears to last longer, and dance can be used to assist that learning.”

-(Wilma D. Kuhlman,2008)

Figure 4: My 1 year-old cousin Brody

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83 percent believe arts education teaches children to communicate effectively with others

79 percent say that incorporating the arts into learning is the first step in addressing what’s missing in public education

79 percent believe it’s important to get personally involved in improving arts education (Baker, 2012)

If this study reflects how Americans are really feeling, then funding would not be an issue.

Support. Although there are many that support music in schools and say they want to fix the problem, no one actually does anything about it. According to a study from 2003, more than 90 percent of Americans consider music part of a well-rounded education and

feel that it should be part of regular curriculum. About 80 percent say that music education should be mandated for every student. A big issue is the fact that people are saying things but there is no action. Something needs to be done. People need to realize that they can make a difference. Every person can help. Everyday examples need to be used and then the arts will become something normal for the children. By using examples daily, children’s thinking will be impacted through the arts and especially through visuals.

Children will learn better with the arts incorporated and with visuals used. Teachers use charts, graphs, and images to teach something new. It is the best way to capture aspects of experience that can’t be addressed through language. It is important that parents and teachers show their support and make sure that arts in education are a part of the students learning. (Donmoyer, 1995)

OTHER ASPECTS

Perfectionism. The arts help students learn the importance of working hard and setting high expectations for themselves. Kim discusses how the teachers need to be confident in themselves and have high expectations for their students in order for the students to do the same. With the arts there is something that makes expectations rise. Students strive for perfection. The idea of learning something in depth and sticking to it makes them want to do their best. An example would be if a child takes a math test and gets an 85 percent, they are satisfied with their work. If they go to a concert and play 85 percent of the notes right, they are disappointed. (Baker, 2012) This learned attitude of striving for perfection makes students work just as hard in their schooling as they do with the arts. It

Quote 5:“The paintbrush is mightier than the pen”- (Donmoyer, 1995)

Figure 5: retrieved from www.google.com

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is a practice that can be very beneficial. Also, many art groups or teams such as dance and choir require the participants to meet a certain GPA. With this learned aspect of hard work, students are much more successful in everything they do. (Kim, 2008)

Discovery. Education is not an accumulation of facts and skills; it is the path of discovery. School should be a place of growth and discovery and should nourish the student’s souls. Through lesson plans, students don’t grasp the emotion behind the work. Dance is a way to have productive self-activity. Therefore: self-discovery, self-realization, and social integration. John B. Harris stated:

“Real schooling is a discovery and real teachers are explorers. Discovery is always individual, almost always unpredictable, and often seemingly impractical: but while some discoveries are immediately useful in the world, all discoveries are more important steps toward understanding. Hence, even so-called impractical discoveries nourish the soul and give it zest to life” (Gibb, 1983).

Dance and movement lead directly to discovery while the mind and body work in harmony. School should not be based on facts and how much information a child learns. Instead, we need to focus on leading the children into discovery. We need more skillful activities and less preaching. Then, there is a nourishing sense of wholeness. Dance has the highest potentialities to aid the children in the path to discovery. (Gibb, 1983)

CONCLUSION

Arts in education have the power to do amazing things. There is no doubt that it is the best way to improve education. By integrating the arts into education, specifically dance and music, children will be able to develop their minds and their bodies, will gain skills necessary for success, and will be very well rounded. As an educator, it would be great to see students emerge as self-reliant individuals who can communicate and work cooperatively with any challenge that faces them. Schools should provide equal opportunities for all students to explore, discover, and develop abilities to give children the attitude and confidence to cope with anything. The arts then become an integral element rather than a tolerated appendage in the educational process. The puzzle piece of education completes the child’s life. We don’t want a missing piece.

Quote 6:“We are not concerned with training dancers or with producing skilled technical performance. We are concerned with education through movement, with fostering the child’s love of movement, and with giving scope for discovery, imagination, and intuition.”

-(Joan Russel,1980)

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REFERENCES

Baker, B. (2012, March 16). Arts education. CQ Researcher, 22, 253-276. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

Birch, J. R. (2000). Expanding literacy and integrating curricula through dance.Educational Forum, 64(3), 223-228.

Donmoyer, R. (1995). The arts as modes of learning and methods of teaching: A(borrowed and adapted) case for…Arts Education Policy Review, 96(5), 14.

Gibb, S. L. (1983). Dance-an integral element in education. Utah Journal of HealthPhysical Education, Recreation and Dance. Retrieved from www.google.com.

Kim, J., & Choy, D. (2008). Learning to toot your own horn: Preservice teachersIntegrating music into a childhood classroom. Journal of Research in ChildhoodEducation, 22(4), 405-406, Retrieved fromhttp://search.proquest.com/docviews/61976277?accountid=4488

Lee, M. A. (1993). Learning through the arts. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/62792738?accountid=4488

Loren, E. B. (1998). Developing dance literacy. Journal of Physical Education,Recreation & Dance, 69(7), 29-32.

Lutz, T. D., & Kuhlman, W.D. (2000). Learning about culture through dance in kindergarten classrooms. Early Childhood Education Journal, 28(1), 35-40.

Music Proficiency Packs (2007). Teaching Music, 14(4), 65.

Sousa, D. A. (2006). How the arts develop the young brain. School administrator, 63(11),26-31.

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