Culturally responsive dance pedagogy in the primary classroom

Dance has an important place in multicultural education and the development of culturally responsive pedagogy. Through dance, children can explore and express their own and others' cultures and share their stories in ways other than the spoken and written word. This paper presents a case study concerning a professional development programme in dance education for generalist primary teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. The process is discussed through the lens of five cultural concepts encompassing a Māori world view, demonstrating how they interweave to enhance teaching and learning in dance. Findings indicate that through a collaborative process that involves critical thinking, teaching from existing strengths and pedagogical knowledge and integrating dance into the classroom programme, there is an increased connectedness between teachers and their students, students and each other, and students and dance. This model provides a framework for teaching and learning dance within social and cultural contexts internationally. Keywords: dance educationculturally responsive pedagogyteacher professional developmentgeneralist primary teacher Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the two teachers, Kirsten and Rita, and their students, whose enthusiasm, honesty and willingness to take risks, made the project so enjoyable and successful. I would also like to thank my drama colleague Delia Baskerville whose wisdom, generosity of spirit and editorial advice were invaluable.