Mindful pedagogy in dance: honoring the life of the child

Abstract

Recent Innovations in the field of early childhood education have prompted a re‐thinking of teaching and learning. Traditional notions of child development have been undergoing some radical changes and, as such, have resulted in a reviewing and re‐formulation of early years pedagogy. In Aotearoa New Zealand the field of early childhood education has reflected these changes primarily through the development of a new national early childhood curriculum based on bicultural values and beliefs. This paper traces the history and development of the curriculum document Te Whāriki, New Zealand’s first codified early childhood curriculum, which is seen as an empowering and holistic curriculum underpinned by principles and goals rather than being content driven. The ensuing discussion describes what this means for early years dance education, particularly at the level of pre‐service teacher education programs and the emerging issues and concerns that arise from a reconceptualization of curriculum this is open to interpretation. Central to the Conceptualization of Te Whāriki is the premise of the image of the competent and confident child. In support of this the paper examines the teaching and learning of dance in early childhood settings whereby opportunities are afforded for the provision of dance where children are acknowledged as active agents in directing their own learning. The paper concludes by positing a new vision for dance education in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as suggesting possible implications for dance Internationally.

Keywords:

• dance education
• early childhood education
• Te Whāriki
• empowerment

Notes

1. The name Aotearoa, which is the accepted Māori (the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) name for New Zealand, is the speculative name the Māori people called the land, when they first saw the coastline from their waka (canoes) around 1150, as something resembling a long white cloud or shimmering image in the distance (Orsman 1997). The Māori name Aotearoa came into use after the arrival of the Europeans (Lee 1999). However, the name Aotearoa was not commonly used internationally. Instead New Zealand became the recognized name of the country after the South Island was discovered in 1642 by a Dutchman Abel Tasman. The name New Zealand comes from the Dutch, meaning new land of the sea, or ‘Nieuw Zeeland’ given by Dutch geographers some time in the seventeenth Century (Richardson et al. 2005). More recently, with revitalized commitment to The Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi) and the aspirations of bi‐cultural partnership between Māori and Pākehā (European settlers or other), as well as the recognition of te reo Māori (the Māori language) as an official language alongside English, Aotearoa New Zealand has come into accepted usage as representative of the nation.