Dance education has many benefits for student learning, as observed by pedagogical theorists. This discourse has led to the value of dance education as its own unique subject, in the last half of the twentieth-century and first decades of the twenty-first century. Primary sources, in the form of curriculum documents and Ministry Reports evidence the influence of changing ideas and socio-economic trends on the teaching strategies and subject matter emphasised for teacher use. These changes are coexistent with policy shifts at the federal and provincial levels in the second half of the twentieth- century, in regards to the Multiculturalism Act of 1988 and changes in the Immigration Act of 1967. The observable shifts in approach to the value of dance education shows the increasing emphasis on holistic education practices in Ontario. This is used to mediate the growing differentiated learning needs of the twenty-first century student.
Theoretical Perspectives of Dance Education
The topic of dance education involves various theoretical perspectives regarding the purpose for and implementation of dance. Due to the numerous authours who discuss arts education in a broad sense when referring to dance education, both the terms of arts education and dance education will be used interchangeably. Each authour raises a series of prominent theoretical ideas. These ideas include: dance education’s struggle to become a necessary component of the curriculum; the chronology of dance education’s theoretical perspectives, different dance-class structures and purposes; and diverse scientific and psychological justifications for dance education. These ideas will illustrate the multitude of theoretical perspectives in existence and how theorists advocate a greater role for dance education in curriculum. Overall, each theoretical perspective legitimizes dance as a necessary component of the K-12 curriculum and does so by addressing dance education’s role in North American schools through various lens’.
——— Read Full Text Below ———
