Difference as a Creative and Critical Force in Teacher Education: Reflective Partners Teaching in and out of the Wheelchair

ABSTRACT

This study reflects on a research and development project between two dance practitioners, one of them a wheelchair user, working together to develop pedagogical design within teacher education at a university in Norway. The aim of the authors is to encourage student teachers toward becoming inclusive and brave teachers who define diversity among pupils as a value. They argue that as dance is opened up for a diversity of different bodies, dance as an art form gains more relevance as it reflects a surrounding society characterized by rich diversity. When teaching together, the two partners have tried to develop a pedagogical design where their view on difference as a creative and critical force in dance pedagogy is a central value. In this, the fact that they are planning and working together has turned out to be central. As they benefit from the difference and different perspectives of one another, they change and deepen their work as coteachers. In this article the authors use their reflective logs focused on their joint teaching to reflect on this still ongoing research and development project from the perspective of formative, reflective practitioner research.