Dance Education
Curriculum guideline
Lecture
Discussion
Reading presentations
Structured Improvisation/Learn by doing
Guided exploration
Observation/Feedback/Reflection
1. Theoretical: Contemporary issues and ideas confronting dance in secondary education
- Gender in dance
- Inclusion of people with differing abilities
- Indigenous First Peoples' principles of learning including acknowledgement and understanding of the residential schools experience
- Heteronormativity
- Multicultural dance (India: Dandiya, Israel: Mayim, New Zealand: Haka, Canada: Red Sky Contemporary Indigenous)
- Observing Dance: subjective response, predetermined criteria, artist's intentions
2. Theoretical: Pedagogy
- Peer teaching, direct teaching, co teaching, facilitating structured improvisation
- Implementing curriculum development: movement concepts unit design
- Assessment strategies (rubrics and criteria)
- Forms of feedback
- Developmentally appropriate activity design
3. Practical: A conceptual approach to the movement elements (space, time, force, body, movement).
- Reframing limitations in creative work: structured improvisations adapted to their students' needs and abilities
- Dynamics in movement applications:
- flow: free and bound
- energy:sudden and sustained
- weight: strong and light
- Composition and choreography
- Selected genres of dance: E.g. Swing/Jive, Contemporary, Ballroom, Hip-hop, etc.
- Introduction to fundamental movement patterns
4. Practical: Integration of British Columbia K-9 arts curriculum
- Holism - mind and body can work together when creating works of art
- Creative experiences involving the interplay between exploration, inquiry and purposeful choice
- Social connection through artistic exploration in creative movement experiences
- Creative expression as a means to explore and share one's identity within a community
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Discuss critically and advocate for dance in physical education settings based upon their developed understanding of contemporary issues that confront teachers,
- Plan, design, and facilitate successful creative movement experiences for their students,
- Demonstrate an understanding that human movement is a tool for expressive, artistic, creative movement,
- Demonstrate basic competence in teaching fundamental movement patterns,
- Create rubrics and assessment tools for evaluating dance in physical education settings,
- Articulate understanding of the movement elements in their developing work,
- Observe dance with a developed understanding of varied approaches (subjective, artist's intentions, predetermined criteria),
- Recognize the movement concepts learned in the course beyond educational settings, and
- Demonstrate basic understanding of the creative process as modelled in the B.C. Ministry of Education (K-9) Arts Education Curriculum.
Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation may include the following:
| Participation | 0-20% |
| Demonstration of conceptual understanding | 0-20% |
| Reading Presentation | 0-15% |
| Unit Plan Assignment | 0-20% |
| Small Group Final Dance Presentation | 0-20% |
| Critical Reflection | 0-15% |
| Total | 100 % |
Consult the Douglas College Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials. Students will require internet access to participate in this course. Example textbooks and materials may include:
Gilbert, A.G. (2015). Creative Dance for all Ages. SHAPE America. Reston, VA.
Enrolment in the Graduate Diploma in Physical and Health Education.