Dance as a Transdisciplinary, Concept Driven Subject<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhilst we can often make connections to transdisciplinary units of inquiry through topics, when we start to make these connections from a concept-driven perspective, our students gain a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of their learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The learning experience March Past of the Kitchen Utensils<\/a> has strong transdisciplinary links to maths through the concepts of form and pattern. You can use this learning experience when your youngest inquirers are exploring ABA patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the lower primary, you can strike strong transdisciplinary connections to rhythm, pattern and form, as well as more obvious connections to inquiry into the biosphere, environmental change and habitats with learning experiences like Exploring Habitats Through<\/a> Movement And Dance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf your upper primary students are studying the key concepts of change and timelines or the related concepts of materials in fashion, you can consider connecting to those units through learning experiences like How Dance And Fashion Change Over Place And Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe creativity that comes with transdisciplinary learning \u2013 how you can connect to the units whilst maintaining integrity in the subject area, can be one of the biggest joys of teaching in an IB school. It sure is for me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.toddleapp.com\/learn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Blog-graphic_v2-1024x610.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStudent Agency and Dance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nCentral to inquiry learning in the PYP is student agency. Students who have agency in their learning are motivated and experience greater levels of intrinsic reward. They work because they want to, not because of an external reward or punishment system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Performing Arts, this can be through students creating their own learning experiences, through providing opportunities for students to develop and extend on the learning experiences to provoke their learning. For example, in the learning experience, Creating A Language Of Choreography<\/a>, student agency is promoted at every step. Students are encouraged to be owners of their own learning with question prompts like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n- Which song will you move to? <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How will you move? <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- How will you record your movement so someone else can learn your choreography? <\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
For a student who isn\u2019t used to being given agency in their learning, this would be too much to start with and need greater scaffolding. You can\u2019t ask students to think outside the box until they know what the box is like! So always allow students to guide their learning, but recognise where they are at, and adapt your lessons accordingly. For students who are comfortable with planning their own learning, I am often humbled into totally changing my planned learning experiences and rewriting them with the students or facilitating students to rewrite them myself. Teaching is a great balancing act of what I think my students should learn, what the state standards think the students should learn, and what the students want to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n
In the lower primary, you can strike strong transdisciplinary connections to rhythm, pattern and form, as well as more obvious connections to inquiry into the biosphere, environmental change and habitats with learning experiences like Exploring Habitats Through<\/a> Movement And Dance<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your upper primary students are studying the key concepts of change and timelines or the related concepts of materials in fashion, you can consider connecting to those units through learning experiences like How Dance And Fashion Change Over Place And Time<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The creativity that comes with transdisciplinary learning \u2013 how you can connect to the units whilst maintaining integrity in the subject area, can be one of the biggest joys of teaching in an IB school. It sure is for me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Central to inquiry learning in the PYP is student agency. Students who have agency in their learning are motivated and experience greater levels of intrinsic reward. They work because they want to, not because of an external reward or punishment system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Performing Arts, this can be through students creating their own learning experiences, through providing opportunities for students to develop and extend on the learning experiences to provoke their learning. For example, in the learning experience, Creating A Language Of Choreography<\/a>, student agency is promoted at every step. Students are encouraged to be owners of their own learning with question prompts like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a student who isn\u2019t used to being given agency in their learning, this would be too much to start with and need greater scaffolding. You can\u2019t ask students to think outside the box until they know what the box is like! So always allow students to guide their learning, but recognise where they are at, and adapt your lessons accordingly. For students who are comfortable with planning their own learning, I am often humbled into totally changing my planned learning experiences and rewriting them with the students or facilitating students to rewrite them myself. Teaching is a great balancing act of what I think my students should learn, what the state standards think the students should learn, and what the students want to learn.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nStudent Agency and Dance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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