7.9: Teaching Triad- Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Curriculum: Curriculum is what is taught, sequenced for age appropriateness including age, level, and ability. Usually at a dance studio, a curriculum sequence should be provided. Teaching for K-12, CSD and recreational programs, many times there is no existing curriculum, and teachers must design their own.
Instruction: Instruction is how it is taught. If a dance instructor is unable to communicate the material effectively, dancers cannot learn. It doesn’t matter if the teacher was an amazing accomplished professional dancer! That doesn’t always make for a great teacher. Teaching axels to 5-year-old beginners is not “helping” them to dance. Teaching a rand de jambe, on the other hand, would be an appropriate preparation for an axel. The level/ability of dancers shapes the curriculum design.
Assessment: Assessment is how well it was taught and learned. Perhaps it is the semester-end showcase, recital, or dance concert that is the assessment. Maybe it is a grading rubric checklist of achievements or proficiencies (see Table 7.1) before advancing to the next level. No matter what, there needs to be some sort of big picture end goal before lesson planning. And, the teacher and the students all must be aware of the assessment to anchor the learnings for holistic educational knowledge. Allowing students to see their expectations for each semester, or session, or month, for example, invites co-agency in the classroom (CAST, 2022; Stiggins, 2014; McWherter, 2021). Performance-readiness in dance classwork can be conducted through formative, iterative, and summative assessment. By assessing your students, you determine if you’re doing a good job. By assessing your dance students, you determine if your student has reached an acceptable level of achievement in the style of dance you’re leading, and if so, are they ready to move on?
Three components are required for good assessment practices in dance education: Classes and skills to be taught should be:
- Visioned / Mapped / Reflected
- Planned / Implemented
- Practiced /Executed / Presented
These three components need clear learning targets. According to Stiggins (2014), “[a]ssessment for learning begins when teachers share achievement targets with students, presenting those expectations in student-friendly language accompanied by examples of exemplary student work” (Stiggins, 2014, para. 1). Table 7.1. Example of a Turns & Technique Level 1 Rubric for student distribution for co-agency and self-assessment of progress.
| Turns & Technique Level I |
|---|
| Checklist #1: For the month of: September |
| Pas de Bourée preps from 4th |
| Pas de Bourée passé balance |
| Pas de Bourrée pirouette from fourth |
| Pirouettes right and left from 5th (quarter turns) |
| Jazz Walks |
| Jazz Turns from 2nd |
| Chainé turn preps (progressive) in parallel 1st |
| Piqué passé balance |
| Piqué turn preps |
| Chassé right and left |
| Single Tucks |
| Grand Battement |
| Stags |
How to Teach Dance?
There are several ways to teach dance effectively. One methodology is to employ backward design (ASCD, 2019). Backward Dance Design -- Begin with the end in mind. Reverse the whole process of how you develop your curriculum and instruction methods… by having the assessment in mind first. Your students need to “get it”. It’s your job to get them to get it. It’s not their job to copy what you do (for visual learners only) or read your mind (no one can do that)! Put your Teaching Triad to work… but Backwards!
- Identify specific 3 Objectives. What do you want your students to achieve?
- Identify 3 methods of Assessment (how will you KNOW your students “got it”?)
- Lastly, identify 3 methods of Instruction.
- Another system for teaching is to use direct or indirect teaching. There is the direct teaching approach and the indirect method, as well as a hodge-podge of mish mash disorganized pedagogies of dancers who think they can teach just because they can dance with skill. Being a good dancer DOES NOT always make a great dance educator.
Directed Teaching
- Fact Based Learning and Memorization
- Teacher Guided Skill Building and Choreography (standard in most dance classrooms – though can be repetitive, boring, uneventful)
- Technique/Technical Emphasis
Indirect Teaching
- Inquiry-based approach DOES NOT REPLACE direct teaching, but can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your teaching style.
- Guided Discovery/Creative Movement Exploration/Prompts/Dance “Tasks”
- Improvisation/Experimentation
- Query/Reflection Questions
- Peer Review
- Mind Mapping/Brainstorming
Vary Instructional Strategies
- Settings: Outside – hail, snow, nature study
- In the theatre (familiarization tour)
- Hallway - tour jeté
- Groupings: Break up cliques
- Teacher identify students needs/strengths
- Appoint leaders
- Appoint unlikely leadership, too
Approach:
- Ballet – partnered taffy plié – lifting from the waist when your partner bends down, and pushing shoulders down when they try to stand straight from their plié.
- Choreography found in artwork – bring art books and have students create interpreted movement from their self-selected artwork.
- Seasonal dance vocabulary review – Ask students to recall vocabulary, say it for auditory learners; teacher writes each word on the mirror with dry erase marker for visual learners, then students choreograph with vocabulary for the tactile and spatial intelligentsia!
- Students lead popcorn warm-up!
(Antoniomen. (2023, May 15). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foto_de_clase_de_danza_1.jpg)
Reflection Questions – The Efficacy of a Dance Lesson is a Two-Way Street
Since the learning targets in a dance class should be highly focused, specific, short-term goals that are shared with students at the beginning, throughout, and reviewed at the end of a lesson (McWherter, 2021), the learning plan should be developed using Bloom’s revised taxonomy (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001). This will provide a scaffolded way to increase rigor in the dance classroom that does not alienate beginning dancers and ensures instructional alignment with student learning outcomes (Armstrong, 2019).
Your students should be asking:
- Why did my teacher have us do this exercise?
- How does this lesson relate to what we did last week?
YOU should be asking yourself:
- What is missing/What did I leave out? (partnered grand battement - Miss Debi always leaves out ‘right of way’ the first time)
- What did they learn by that?
- Was today an effective lesson?
Ask Questions About Yourself: Does my Curriculum and Instruction …
- Have a logical sequence?
- Speak to a multi-level class?
- Accommodate different rates of learning?
- Use verbal, kinesthetic, tactile and auditory approaches to support all learning styles?
- Make sure these questions and efforts appear in your final Lesson Plan and Teaching Practicum.