“I Did Not Know That the Children Loved Dancing… Until the Projector Came”: Constructions of Dance in School-age Educare (66248)

Session Information: Teaching Experiences, Pedagogy, Practice & Praxis
Session Chair: Marie-Helene Hebert

Saturday, January 7, 2023 (13:55)
Session: Session 4
Room: 317B
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation

All presentation times are UTC-10 (Pacific/Honolulu)

Internationally, there is a growing interest in School-Age Educare (eg. Fischer et al., 2014; Bae, 2019), and aesthetic aspects Even if dance as art is beneficial for human wellbeing (WHO, 2019) and can be understood as both a physical activity as well as an aesthetic expression (Gard, 2006; Mattsson and Larsson, 2021), there are few studies that examine dance in school-age educare. According to UNICEF (2019), dancing is one way for children to develop imagination, creativity, and social skills, and therefore this research project aims at critically examine conditions and prerequisites for how dance is constructed in School-Age Educare. Dance as aesthetic expression can be linked to femininity (Gard, 2003; Lindqvist, 2010, 2019; Pastorek Gripson, 2016; Risner, 2009; Stinson, 2001), this adds challenges in educational practice. This study shed light on discursive constructions made by school-age educators when they reason around dance in their education. The empirical material consists of six semi-structured interviews with educators in school-age educare. Mainly two discourses of how dance is constructed appears in the material. Firstly, dance as a fun-filled activity. Secondly, dance as an imitation of movement to digital tools. It is challenging for the educators to encourage the children while managing the risk that dance as a feminine activity is consolidated (Lindqvist, 2010, 2019; Pastorek Gripson, 2016; Stinson, 2005a , 2005b). In its current form, there is a shortcoming of possibilities for children’s' own creativity in dance. Furthermore, the educators lack the know-how to develop children’s dance skills beyond what they already know.

Authors:
Märtha Pastorek Gripson, University of Halmstad, Sweden
Torun Mattsson, University of Malmö, Sweden


About the Presenter(s)
Dr Märtha Pastorek Gripson is a University Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer at University of Halmstad in Sweden

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Posted by Clive Staples Lewis

Last updated: 2023-02-23 23:45:00