by admin | Feb 15, 2015 | Blog, Learn To Dance
“The 6 Defining Characteristics of Holistic Dance Education” By Julianna Hane, Guest Blogger Feb. 15, 2015 We live in a society where is it not uncommon for people to blame others for their problems. Dumping responsibility onto other people and playing the victim are all the new gimmicks for getting out of Dodge. Unfortunately, these quick-fix solutions not only harm others, but they eventually harm the individual. People who play the victim are susceptible to brainwashing, because they do not value thinking for themselves and making their own choices. So what’s a dance educator to do? How do we solve this problem? We as teachers can value students’ voices and show them how to think for themselves. We can demand that students take responsibility for their own thoughts and actions through democratic teaching. What is democratic pedagogy? It is a teaching philosophy that empowers students to think and speak for themselves while also being considerate of others. John Dewey believed in treating every student as morally equal, capable of forming intelligent opinions, and most effective when collaborating with others (MacMath, 2008).* But won’t the kids get out of control? While some might argue that allowing students to make choices for themselves is a passive approach to education, this philosophy is everything but. The teacher needs to structure the lesson so students get a say in aspects of their learning, but in way that is productive for everyone. By guiding students to make choices relevant to the class context, students take responsibility. In other words, they own it. What will the...
