Student teachers' attitudes towards teaching creative dance in elementary school

Given the benefits of creative dance in children's development, its absence, or near absence, in the elementary school curriculum is a cause for concern. The purpose of this inquiry was to identify student teachers' attitudes towards teaching creative dance and to investigate whether participation in creative dance workshops could change their attitudes. One hundred and twenty-four student teachers completed pre- and post-workshop surveys designed to examine attitudes towards creative dance. Ten of these student teachers also participated in a focus group interview. Findings indicated that prior to participating in the workshops, student teachers did not feel comfortable teaching creative dance due to physical concems, a lack of practical ideas for integrating creative dance into their teaching, and an inadequate understanding of what creative dance is. To alleviate this discomfort they stated that they needed resources, practical ideas, and exposure to creative dance. Consequently, the workshops were designed to meet these needs. Following the workshops, student teachers reported thattheyfeltmore confidentand comfortable teaching creative dance and that they intended to integrate creative dance into their teaching practices. They attributed these changes to having a greater understanding of creative dance, gaining a higher level of comfort as a result of the workshops, recognizing the physical and therapeutic benefits ofcreative dance, and realizing howeasy it is to integrate creative dance into the curriculum. The study showed that teacher educators can change student teachers' attitudes towards teaching creative dance by identifying student concems regarding creative dance, and then designing workshops addressing these concems. Moreover, the findings support the notion that giving creative dance a greater role in teacher education would enable future teachers to feel more confident teaching it and result in more children being exposed to school programs emphasizing creativity, problem solving, and aesthetic expression.