This week’s dance session was about how dance can be integrated with other subjects. At first, I was unsure of how this would work effectively as dance is a very physical and expressive subject, so integrating any other subject in an educational yet creative way seemed unlikely. However, I was very much proved wrong when Zara introduced to us a maths sheet in which there were a set of mathematical problems. Upon solving them I realised the answered equated from a number from 1-10, corresponding to the 10 basic moves that was had developed last week. Each group was provided with a different set of mathematical equations and as such every group had a series of different answers, meaning our routines were different.
Math skills often occurred in the module such as making shapes with our bodies, having the dance routine being symmetrical and being able to count on beat with the music. This type of learning through dance encourages pupils to have freedom, be creative, feel inspired and enjoy themselves (CFE, n.d.)
Prior to this activity I was very sceptical of how any subject could be integrated into art. This has highlighted that I have still a lot to learn in terms of thinking out the box. A teacher’s job shouldn’t be limited to just teaching, it should stretch beyond that and allow children to learn in an environment that is rich in creativity and imagination. This will allow them to transfer skills they have learned in one subject and apply it in many other subjects. I understand that I need to think more creatively, as it is through activities such as today that children will be interested and eager to learn as it breaks the routine of sitting at desks and learning from workbooks. It allows children to work together, developing essential skills such as collaboration, teamwork and communication skills which can’t be gained from sitting at a desk.
In addition to integrating maths into dance we also explored the use of visual aids. For this, each group was provided with a picture of a Scottish landmark and as a group we were to come up with a dance move that we thought represented the landmark. We were given stimulus such as Glenfinnan Viaduct, which helped us think outside-of-the-box and to choreograph unique pieces. We all got the chance to choreograph a part of the performance which required a great deal of imagination and creativity. This was interesting as everyone had their own intake as to a dance move that would best represent the landmarks. However, in order to come to a consensus, we attempted to combine two moves together.
In music today, we looked at figure notes on the ‘Drake Music Scotland’ website. Figure notes is a system that simplifies how we read music and makes reading music easier for beginners. Each music note has a coloured symbol that matches. Stickers are put on the instrument to allow learners to play what they see. At the end of today’s session, I was able to play along to ‘Jingle Bells’. The figure notes allowed me to learn to play along to music really quickly as I was just matching the colours. Maths was also incorporated into this as we had to count how long we held the notes for.
I think this is a great tool to use in the future as it allows students to identify the notes in an easier way. This would be a good way to introduce music notes to the class before moving on to the more technical terms. This tool allows anyone to be able to play music, as if you can match, you will be able to play.
After today’s workshops, I was able to see how we can incorporate different subjects into the arts. Creativity features prominently in the Scottish Government’s policy. It is embedded in the values of Education Scotland and in the supporting literature and materials relating to Curriculum for Excellence (Creativity Across Learning 3-18, 2013). Incorporating the arts into different subjects can also make topics such as maths and english more engaging for young people.
References
Creativity Across Learning 3-18. (2013). [ebook] Scotland: Education Scotland, p.6. Available at: https://education.gov.scot/improvement/Documents/cre39-impact-report.pdf [Accessed 6 Dec. 2019].
Curriculum for Excellence: Expressive arts Experiences and outcomes. (n.d.). [ebook] Scotland: Education Scotland, pp.1,5. Available at: https://education.gov.scot/Documents/expressive-arts-eo.pdf [Accessed 11 Dec. 2019].
