The 2015-2016 academic year will mark the first implementation of statewide standards for middle school dance and the first time the dance Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) have expanded beyond high school. As your quest to share the arts with more students continues, you will want to look into the new standards with enthusiasm and a discerning eye.
The TEKS affect dance education by articulating what students must learn. Students who learn the middle school dance TEKS will be one step closer to being productive, curious, knowledgeable adults who can work collaboratively with others. Instruction aligned with the dance TEKS includes independent discovery, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and cooperative learning. Learning dance technique is about the independent discovery of mentally making muscles move in a different way. Choreography involves problem solving which requires high levels of thinking. Group projects involving research on history and culture increase collaborative learning skills.
The purpose of dance education is "to broadly educate all students in dance as an art form in all its facets—to teach students to know about dance and to use the artistic processes inherent in dance. This purpose distinguishes educational dance from all other types of dance instruction. Teachers of K‐12 dance are to inspire students to inquire into dance as art and acquire artistic skills in creating, performing, and responding." (McCutchen, 2006). Educational dance is for all children. It broadly educates and embraces all aspects of dance that have educational value. It increases aesthetic education and affects the total education of a child.
"The mantra of educational dance is INSPIRE, INQUIRE and ACQUIRE!"
The middle school years present students with many challenges. Students experience rapidly changing bodies and social relationships, along with new academic demands. The study of dance and dancers may help students explore aspects of body image and gain confidence in daily life. Teachers at the middle school level should be aware of and sensitive to these developments and base curricular decisions on the developmental needs of their students. In addition, dance education helps adolescents reach an understanding of how people come to identify themselves later in adult life, as dancers along with whatever other roles they will eventually fill.
How the TEKS affect dance
- Independent discovery
- Problem-solving
- Thinking
- Collaborating
The purpose of dance education
- Inspire
- Inquire
- Acquire
The study of dance may help adolescents to have confidence in the face of:
- Rapidly changing bodies
- Rapidly changing social relationships
- New academic demands
McCutchen, B. 2006. Teaching Dance as Art in Education. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.