Always being on your toes: elementary school dance teachers’ perceptions of inclusion and their roles in creating inclusive dance education environments

ABSTRACT

Teachers are key players in creating inclusive dance education environments. Guided by a conceptual framework of relational ethics, this qualitative study explored the perceptions and practices of four elementary school dance teachers teaching in public schools in two large school districts in Western Canada. Data collection involved interviews, observation, and researcher field notes. Thematic analysis guided data analysis procedures. Analysis revealed six themes connected to teacher perceptions: (a) valuing uniqueness; (b) establishing supportive relationships; (c) becoming pedagogically aware; (d) regarding children’s needs; (e) teaching students about responsibility; and (f) having high expectations. Dance teachers valued inclusion and dance as a means for enabling student movement exploration and discovery of their unique style and ability. By acknowledging and respecting difference, the practice of accommodating diverse learning needs contributed to the learning of all students.

KEYWORDS:

• Elementary school dance
• inclusive education
• dance teachers

Acknowledgements

I appreciate the opportunity that I was given to learn from each of the teachers who participated in this study. My observation and conversations with each of these teachers encouraged me to reflect on my teaching and I hope my findings will be helpful for other teachers reading this paper. I thank my supervisor, Dr Linda Laidlaw and committee members, Dr Pirkko Markula, and Dr Doug Gleddie for their contributions to the development of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Michelle R. Zitomer recently completed her PhD in education at the University of Alberta. This paper is one of three papers comprising her dissertation on creating inclusive dance education environments in elementary schools. Michelle completed an undergraduate degree in dance with teaching certification at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and a Master’s degree in adapted physical activity at McGill University. She has been teaching dance for over 10 years to children starting at 3 years of age in various in- and after-school settings in which she had opportunity to practise inclusion of children with diverse abilities.

Additional information

Funding

My PhD programme during which this research took place has been generously supported by the Joseph Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.