I was very apprehensive about the first dance input, personally I lack confidence doing activities which consider making a fool of myself in front of peers my own age. However just a few minutes into the dance input I decided to put all these feelings of fear aside as everyone was feeling the same and in the same situation. I realised I would need to be very enthusiastic especially if I was to do this with a class to keep them motivated and to allow them to learn and have fun. The children can sense a lack of confidence which would make them feel shy which would hinder their own learning experience. Therefore I completely came out of my shell for this input and loved it! I now understand it is much less foolish to act confident and enthusiastic than to remain shy as I learned something new myself during this input.
I do have a fair bit of experience with dance, however this was when I was much younger. I started dancing at the age of just 4. My first dancing experience was with ballet. I continued this weekly from the age of 4 up to the age of 14. I completed and passed exams, performed in shows. I realised I had a great enjoyment for ballet as this allowed me to have something which I see as important. As I enjoyed ballet very much I thought I would try new types of dancing including tap and jazz. Tap was an extremely difficult type of dancing to learn as it had different foot movements which I found very difficult to learn however with a great deal of practice and dedication I finally learned how it was done. I stopped dancing at the age of 14 through circumstances that could not be helped. Now looking back, I miss dance very much as this is something that took up a big part of my life and is something I would wish to take on again if I had the opportunity.
As I have not done dance for a while now I am a bit worried about teaching dance, learning dance for yourself and teaching it can be very different. I do feel that because I have some experience of dance I will find it very enjoyable to teach if I grasp the main concepts of what I must do I think eventually I will develop the confidence to teach dance. I would want to be very enthusiastic when teaching dance as I think it will be far more fun and easier to teach.
I feel I will face some challenges when it comes to teaching dance. I know as a child at school I was less confident in participating in certain actives. This may become an issue when teaching dance as not all children will want to dance in front of their peers or enjoy it. I feel I could find it difficult trying to make them become involved if they feel shy and unconfutable. Therefore, I feel a goal I could set to overcome this challenge is for me to act completely enthusiastic and teach a various range of dancing in different ways to accommodate all learners to ensure they enjoy the dancing learning experience. Creating a relaxed and fun atmosphere would help children feel much more confident. Another challenge I may face is stereotyping, Girls seem to be much more involved in dance than boys this may mean girls could be much more involved in the dancing than boys. A goal I would create would be to help children of all ages and gender explore a range of different types of dancing even those which are mainly focused on girls and help aid the understanding that all types of dancing can be fun for everyone and allow children to learn about different cultures though dance.
After reading the (Get Scotland dancing, A literature review, 2014) It reveals Scotland is a country which is far less involved in dance, this can come across as very disappointing. Dance can be a very important physically activity for our wellbeing and expression. Dance is a great way to for certain cultures to celebrate but it is also good for learning about a wide range of cultures. As well as being expressive dance is a very good way to exercise. It is good that dance is the fourth most common cultural activity adults participated in. As previously stated there is gender issues with dance, this is backed up by this review as it states 15% of women are likely to be involved in dance in comparison to 9% of men, this is a significant gap. Clackmannanshire the area in which I am from has a high participation in dance. 7% took part in dance as a sporting activity in the last 4 weeks and 12% took part in dance as a cultural activity in the last year (2012). Clackmannanshire is 5th on the list. This shows my area has a high participation in dance. This review also reveals primary 7 aged girls are very likely to participate in dance. 
