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Dance Education

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"My love of dance has shaped my life, I hope to share this joy with every student. Everyone has a body, everyone can dance."

Educational Philosophy:

 

It is my belief that education should nurture intrinsic curiosity, value students’ cultures and teach creative, critical thinking, personal awareness, health, history, science, math, literacy, conflict resolution, respect, and communication skills. All of these ideals should be reflected in a teacher’s instruction, a methodology and a learning environment that reflects these crucial aspects of creating a social, democratic, critically conscious, caring society.

 

The values of appreciation, respect, care, inspiration, consideration, honesty, love, and creativity, will be present in every lesson and interaction with the students. These values will be approached in an honest, clear way with space for spontaneity.

 

I believe I can help to create a more caring, social, democratic, critically conscious society through teaching children dance. Appreciation, respect, care, consideration, honesty, love, and creativity are all values that every person should have no matter his/her occupation. I know not all of my students will become dancers, but values and lessons taught in dance will allow them to be better communicators, community members, and citizens of society. I will teach students to honestly and integrally take care of their physical, emotional, and spiritual selves, while simultaneously teaching them confliction resolution skills, appreciation, respect, honesty, and care through collaborative activities.

 

Dance education is more than teaching students about movement and composition; it is about helping students discover who they are and how their unique self contributes to society. 

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Below are ten of my core values are comprehensively outlined. Though they are placed in descending order, these values hold equal weight. They are more like blocks of a rubrics cube that constantly shift to make new patterns rather than a pyramid with one ruling above the others.

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Core Educational Values 

Appreciation​

  • Positively acknowledge one’s own uniqueness and individuality as well as other’s uniqueness and individuality

  • Appreciate the work someone has done in a positive light

  • Appreciation of the body and what it is capable of

 

Respect​

  • Respect for one’s self and other’s

  • Respect for the community, as an abstract classroom environment and the interpersonal relationships within the studio. (It is my intention that this value is then transferred into all environments the student is a part of.)

 

Care

  • Care for one’s self, each other, our community

  • Thoughtfulness of the work created and the work done

  • Thoughtfulness of and for each other

  • As a teacher, nurturing students; allowing myself to be a mentor

 

Inspiration​

  • To be one’s best self

  • Be who they are and express it through dance

  • Positive energy

  • For the teacher to inspire learning, a love of dance, a love for the community built

Love 

  • Care, respect, appreciation, thoughtfulness, consideration

  • Love of DANCE! 

Consideration

  • Take things into account

  • Consider each other’s differences / walk in the “other’s” shoes

  • As a teacher consider the best way to approach instruction and material, by informing myself about the students

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Honesty​

  • Dignified truthfulness from both the teacher and student

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Creativity​

  • Options, choices, invention

  • Allowing time to create

  • Nurturing individualism

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Clarity

  • To be sure

  • Clear expectations

  • Effective communication on behalf of both the teacher and student

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Spontaneity

            (This value is more directly aligned with instruction.)​

  • Impromptu reactions

  • Being on the ball / ready and willing to change plans when the opportunity arises 

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Joy 

  • The joy of dance for everyone! 
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