Degree Name
Master of Arts
Document Type
Thesis
Date Created
12-1-2022
Department
College of Performing and Visual Arts, Theatre Arts and Dance, Theatre Arts and Dance Student Work
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to identify connections between what is learned in a dance classroom within public schools and the five components of a Social Emotional Learning Curriculum: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The research was designed to answer the following questions: Q1 Are the five components of SEL demonstrated regularly by dance students in compared to non-dance students? Q2 Can SEL be taught using a dance curriculum of movement exploration and dance scholarship? The researcher hoped to accomplish this goal by comparing the opinions of dance teachers and those of non-dance teachers, regarding whether dance students seem to develop SEL skills and perform in these areas more frequently than other student populations. Eighteen dance educators and eight non-dance educators were anonymously surveyed. Participants responded favorably, observing dance students demonstrate behaviors associated with Social Emotional Learning more frequently than their non-dancing peers. The results indicate dance education may play a positive role in the Social Emotional Learning of public-school students.
Keywords
social emotional learning: dance: dance education: public school: kinesthetic learning: movement education: dance in public school: student development: student comparison: teacher observation
Rights Statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Recommended Citation
Pachniak, Teresa, "Social Emotional Learning and Its Development Through Dance: Comparing the Opinions of Dance Educators and Non-dance Educators" (2022). Master's Theses. 263.
https://digscholarship.unco.edu/theses/263