Improving student–student interactions in early childhood classrooms using inclusive dance activities

ABSTRACT

The social and functional diversity of public educational centres requires continuous assessment of the school organisation and searching for effective methods that generate new forms of communication between students. This case study aimed to evaluate an inclusive dance programme involving group activities included four public early childhood education centres in Spain from the public network where the Barenboim-Said Public Foundation (BSPF) implemented the Children’s Musical Education Project. The methodology used was based on a group interview and the formation of four discussion groups of a total of 15 preschool teachers and four BSPF specialists. The results correspond to the analysis and categorisation of the data collected and recorded in notebooks by teachers during fieldwork. These provide information on external and internal factors that improve student – student interactions and cooperative skills in the classroom and establish an ideal framework for using approaches involving physical contact, movement, and music by preschool teachers.

KEYWORDS:

• Inclusive dance
• inclusive education
• movement and music
• early childhood education
• teacher training
• cooperative learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Llorens and Díaz (2018) and Llorens (2019) provided additional information on these topics.

2. These data complement the results of a previous study (Llorens and Díaz 2018).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Juan Bautista Llorens Gómez

Juan Bautista Llorens Gómez holds a PhD in Education and Social Communication, a postgraduate degree in Music and Dance in Education from the Mozarteum University of Salzburg, and a graduate degree in Ancient Musical Instruments (baroque violin) from the Royal Superior Conservatory of Madrid (Real Conservatorio de Música de Madrid). He currently teaches music in a secondary school.

Dolores Madrid Vivar

Dolores Madrid Vivar holds a PhD in Psychopedagogy from the University of Malaga. She is academic secretary of the Faculty of Education Sciences of the University of Malaga and full professor at the Department of Didactics and School Planning. Principal investigator of the HUM-205 Research Group ‘Childhood Education and Teacher Training’ and member of the Board of Directors of the Association for Creativity (ASOCREA). Her research focuses on Childhood Education, teacher training, school planning and creativity.

Ana María Díaz Olaya

Ana María Díaz Olaya holds a PhD in History and Music Sciences from the University of Malaga. She is a full professor at the Department of Didactics of Languages, Arts and Sports of the School of Education Sciences of the University of Malaga, and also an investigator from the Research and Innovation in Music and Music Education Group. Her research focuses on educational dance, historical dance, music history, and music teaching.