I would think that special education teachers have to “think outside of the box” or have to engage in creative problem solving more than Gen Ed teachers because their students don’t fit the traditional mold. However, I know that there is a strong emphasis on behaviorism and encouragement of “compliance” in many special education classrooms. I’m also curious how you have handled working with classes where compliance and behavior are more important to the classroom teacher than creativity.

Alisa’s response:

This is such a great inquiry! It is not a simple answer. The truth is, it is a tricky balance and because of the way the school environment is systematically organized, it is more often failing many children. Even within special education there are critical “misses” on really being open and child-centered about how to support all learning needs. I don’t want to be disrespectful about what I have witnessed. That being said some poor choices (perhaps out of frustration, lack of training/support, etc.) get made and nobody succeeds. It is vital to have a healthy loop of communication between teacher/s, parent, administration (as needed) and learner. The approach to behavior compliance definitely becomes a focal point in many classrooms and can be difficult to navigate. I have seen creative structures work when the teaching team (teacher, paras, and any other adults in the space) have a clear and consistent way of supporting a student, especially in their most difficult moments. Student success in special education IS  unique and I believe the path to success (behavioral or otherwise) can be designed in ways that both create individual success AND have a connection or an equitable pathway that is similar to general education expectations. 

Circling back to the tricky part… it just isn’t a one-size-fits-all, and in an inclusive classroom setting, this may get blurry. 

As a dance teaching artist, I have used the opportunity to present a curriculum that is as engaging as possible to my learners. When I see things start to fall apart, again it is case by case, I really try to not let that student get lost in the room.  I try not to let the behavior affect the goals. Perhaps the curriculum allowed that student that disengaged to work through a behavior in a way that couldn’t happen in a non-dance class moment. Keeping that student and others safe is a priority, but I have definitely seen adults try to restrict a student from moving and vocalizing in the way that they may need to at that moment. I am certain that some would push back on this response and call it unsafe, etc., etc. Sometimes it may be. Our levels of comfort will vary from situation to situation. I worked with a classroom once where the student was in a destructive mode and throwing furniture. There was a very serious protocol to follow where one teacher and security remained with the student while the rest of the class was taken out of the room. The doors were secured so he couldn’t leave. He was raging with anger, frustration, hormones, anxiety and probably lots more. This same kid was amazing in dance class. He was a wheelchair user, mostly non verbal. Brilliant mover and inventor. 

I remember feeling kind of horrified by the way the situation was dealt with. I also really trusted these teachers and knew they cared for the kids in this program. 

I think there are ways to  learn about social behavioral “norms” AND be flexible on the pathway of how they are adapted and learned.  I would be happy to discuss further with you.

And if so, do you incorporate them into the current ideas you are investigating? Also, how do you know when you are finished investigating?

Rossana’s response:

Yes, when I am thinking about my inquiry around Family Dance there are always new aspects and new questions arising. It is such a rich and interesting topic, so there are lots of things to think about. 

When exploring Family Dance, I always think about how dance and movement can support parent-child bonding and how this kind of experience helps parents to understand more about child development. Some aspects of my inquiry are: what’s the best curriculum? How to organize the movement explorations?  How to engage more parents into these experiences? How to help them be comfortable dancing and playing with their children?

Last year, I got very interested in exploring Family Dance with parents and babies. I participated in a project in Brazil focused on the relationship between mothers, fathers and their babies (under 12 months) and how the use of dance, movement, touch, sounds and music could affect this interaction. With two other artists, we led a series of virtual family meetings, where we brought different elements to facilitate the parent-baby interaction. It was such a joy to watch how babies and parents received the information and process their responses to the stimuli. 

This year, new inquiries have been arising as I am co-teaching virtual Embodied Parent Education (EPE) to women recovering from substance abuse in a residential center in Oakland, CA. These classes are part of Luna’s Moving Parents and Children Together (MPACT) and they were developed to support parent’s understanding of their child’s psycho-social, physical and cognitive development in relationship to the Basic Neurocellular Patterns articulated by movement educator Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. 

So, as new experiences happen, new inquiries arise and it looks like there’s no end for this process. I think I will be always investigating.

What does it look or feel like? How does it work for you, especially in your work with young children? How do you balance emergent curriculum with structure and planning?

Rossana’s response:

I plan the classes in advance and I have a structure to help me guide the work. In a typical situation, my class includes a gathering, a warm-up (normally I use the Brain Dance adapted to the theme of the class), an exploration, improvisation, show and reflection and a closing circle. So that’s my basic structure, but I can make changes in the moment I am teaching based on what I see during the class. So I can change the order of the class and I open space for ideas, movements, and suggestions coming from the kids. So, emergent curriculum is a way to incorporate what emerges during the class coming from the students – their movements, ideas, and suggestions.

Let’s think about a concrete example: The theme of my class is the ocean water and the ocean animals. During the exploration, I’ll give some prompts encouraging kids to move like the water in the ocean in different ways – like a big wave at the beach, or a small one; water that is very calm or very fast, swirling, etc.  When kids are moving, I’ll name the movements I see and I can bring some of them to be explored by the whole group. 

In another moment, I’ll talk about ocean animals for them to explore – the fish, the starfish, the dolphin, the whale, etc. This is a perfect moment to ask kids what other animals we can think about and then explore their movements. The children always have good ideas, because they are fascinated by the animals and their movements. 

Another example happened with me in a class with 3 and 4 years old, when we were exploring heavy and light movements. To encourage kids to feel the light quality, I gave them scarves, so they could explore the light movements in many ways. But, to my surprise, they put the scarves on their head, they wrapped themselves up their waist, they made themselves look like they were wearing Superman capes. So, I allowed them to use the scarves in all the ways they want, because that was their curiosity at the moment. 

I hope I answered your question about emergent curriculum. Thanks for asking about it – it made me reflect on that subject.

Rossana’s response:

I think I have some secrets or suggestions to start dancing with children: 

The first one is making a plan/structure for the class: decide what’s the theme, what are the goals, define what you want to do in each section of the class and if you are going to use props/objects or not, etc. But be open to change and adapt your class based on what emerges in the moment coming from the kids. 

Don’t be discouraged if your children are not so engaged and able to explore what you bring to the class and want to do something a bit different. Some days you leave the class feeling great, because things worked well, and some days you feel sad and have doubts about your teaching capacity. It’s part of the game and we learn a lot with these challenging experiences.

It’s important to name what you see during the class. I like to name the students’ movements like: “I see John moving very slow”, “I see Karen jumping high”, “ I see Trisha shaking her head and arms”, and so on. Naming the movements is a way for kids to be seen and also helps them to learn to put words into their movements.

I always open my classes with a moment of gathering, when we talk about the theme for that class and I ask the kids questions so they have an opportunity to show what they already know, which they love.

At the end of class, we make a circle and I ask them what they learned in this class, or what was more fun or what was more challenging. If class was about light and heavy movements, for example, I will ask what they prefer: light or heavy. It’s a great way to get feedback from kids, which helps me in my reflection process. 

After the class, I take some time to reflect about it: what worked well, what didn’t work, new ideas for the next class, what kids said during the closing circle. It’s very helpful to guide my planning, make changes, and bring new ideas.

These are ideas I have been using in my classes over the years and they’ve helped me to connect and engage with kids. I hope they are useful for you. Thank you!!

Alisa’s response:

Emergent curriculum and inclusive practice have a nice partnership. Imagine you are teaching a preschool dance class and your goal is to learn different locomotor movements, but all of the children want to move as if  they are flying, just like the flying animal unit they just learned about! What a  great opportunity to integrate those ideas of what they already know and relate to, and let go of the locomotor-only focus. I think it is safe to say that the majority of us need a sketch or a plan before entering a teaching scenario. The beauty of that plan is that it may trigger a learner to take you (the teacher) down a whole other path of learning that you had not intended, but can have a really successful result. Teachers are also learners and even if the curriculum shifts down a different path, it is our job (as the teachers) to go on that journey, if possible. Perhaps that is the path to better inclusivity? The role of the teacher may shift and feel different but by allowing an idea to grow more fully through the lens of a learner seems like a successful outcome.  It is easy to feel uncomfortable with this idea but I highly encourage trying it out and see where it lands you.

Alisa’s response:

This is a really good question that I imagine many educators ask themselves (or perhaps should!). I feel a great responsibility with the word “inclusive” because it covers so many scenarios. By definition – not excluding any parties involved in something – we are being asked to think broadly about this word. I try to think about inclusivity as a word that reminds me about to keep my mind, words and actions welcoming, inquiring and compassionate. How do I know if this is working? I may not. I could also insert opportunities for learners to share their ideas, reflections and creative selves. Also, I try to pay attention to students that are struggling with engagement and REALLY try to learn names quickly because knowing someone’s name is a powerful tool for making connections. While no class is perfect, I find it helpful to look at where the success is (big or small) and keep building the idea of inclusion from there. I am interested in authentic teaching and learning and having open expectations. Teaching really young children is a great place to practice this.