I also answered this question in EDCI 335 post during my undergrad and I would have to say that my response is very similar. Any experience I get to perform or do dance and art in any form. This aligns nicely with the pedagogy that High Tech High followed through their use of an exhibition which is resumed nicely in the following video.

Every time I had the opportunity to share my artistry or learning with an audience I felt motivated and inspired. This is still true and I still continue to dance.

Accordingly, I really value this statement from Bates, 2015, chapter 2.1 “All teaching is a mix of art and science. It is an art because any teacher or instructor is faced with numerous and constantly changing variables, which require rapid judgement and decision-making.” 

What made it memorable and worth writing about?

This experience of dance and performing was valuable because I always felt I was working towards a goal. Something that really came to light last dance performance for me was the importance of the process as well. This is talked about a lot in Education and teaching but less so in the arts. Often in dance, you work towards the final product and only showcase that but last year the studio I dance with showcased the learning along the way through a video montage. Thus valuing the journey and process of learning and much like in our classroom through surfaces like digital portfolios I believe this is also important. Yes an exhibition is important but documenting the steps to get there and talking about the successes and failures is even more meaningful. Dance in my experience has been about your learning.


My dance experience ranges from very structured to flexible classes and self-choregraphed dance sessions. I did very structured exam dance classes including RAD and ISTD syllabus work where you had to engage in an examination performance based on the syllabus which is a very similar model to Education and our curriculum and these experiences where also very memorable as I was working towards showing others and performing for them. In my opinion, this is very different from a test because there is no response from an audience. During dance exams or performances you get to see the examiner smiling and the audience engagement. It is really the performance aspect that makes this experience very memorable and the personalization that dance seems to have as no one does one move the exact same way even in a group dance.

Dance for me is a passion, but it is also a learning experience as no dance class is the same and throughout you learn various life skills. This ranges from confidence, independence, goal setting, creativity, teamwork, performance and time management to name a few. This Instagram post addresses many of the benefits I see in performing arts and education.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C19jU2ON_CM/

All in all, performing arts is at the heart of my pedagogy as a teacher now likely because of the positive learning experiences I had. I also value arts as they foster a sense of belonging for children and there are many benefits for inclusion and those of diverse abilities. Dance is a form of expression and this is well explained in the following video.