The concept of using a stimulus to inspire creativity is a resource that I will use as a teacher. Furthermore, I particularly found interesting the idea of exploring the types of response a stimulus can generate. By using a stimulus, dance is effectively and efficiently interwoven with the other key learning areas of the syllabus. As a teacher, I believe an integrated curriculum is important as it created a meaningful context for learning (Gibson & Ewing, 2011, p.19).
Furthermore, using a stimulus for dance is appealing to me as it guides my thinking when it comes to developing lesson plans. When faced with the open-ended task of teaching dance, I feel slightly lost as to where to start. Finding a quality stimulus guides not only the students, but myself as a teacher. Studies have shown that the key elements for generalist teachers to be able to teach dance is “confidence, experience and resources to be able to introduce their children to dance and to be able to integrate this with other subjects” (Russell-Bowie, 2013, p.228). The idea of using a stimulus fulfils these criteria for me, and builds my confidence to be able to teach dance.
Gibson, R., & Ewing, R. (2011). Transforming the curriculum through the arts (1st ed.). South Yarra, Vic: Palgrave Macmillan.
Russell-Bowie, D. (2013). What? Me? Teach dance? Background and confidence of primary preservice teachers in dance education across five countries. Research in Dance Education, 14(3), 216–232. https://doi.org/10.1080/14647893.2012.722614
EDUP3008 Creative Arts 3 