If you can talk you can sing, if you can walk you can dance Zimbabwean proverb
I’d like to set up a study where kids spend even a few minutes dancing in school every day, really dancing with their hearts in it. We could track easily quantifiable measures like attendance, behavior issues, detentions, fights. We could also track how kids treat each other, readiness to pay attention, assignments turned in, quality of thinking.
The National Dance Education Organization provides a comprehensive description of the benefits of dance for many aspects of life and learning. After reading it, I can’t believe we don’t include dancing in our daily life of schools.
I’m thinking about instances where teachers have this kind of non-competitive expressive movement for kids in their classrooms — for its own sake and also for the kids’ state of being.
Carrie Symons used to start each class with a few minutes of yoga. When I worked for The Galef Institute (Different Ways of Knowing), we taught teachers basic elements of dance and how to integrate movement–as well as music, visual arts and drama– into their curriculum. I know teachers who lead kids in a series of stretches at the midpoint in class. At DCISFairmont, they simulated Carnivale in the gym–kids paraded and danced with their teachers. We were joyous together.
If elementary kids danced throughout their early school years, maybe they wouldn’t be too self conscious to continue dancing in class when they hit secondary school. I believe that dance has been part of human communities forever—there must be a reason for that. We probably should find a way to keep it going
I guess I’m still on this theme of how our bodies are connected to thinking and learning. After dancing tonight, I felt complete calm and joy. We had so much fun. I want kids to feel this in school. Ready to receive learning. Ready to take actions.