Years ago, the Teaching Artist Journal published a piece on this topic, which was really helpful for me to understand the dance education professional development landscape in the United States. This week, I asked some of my dance education colleagues around the country, who teach students in preschool-12th grade, about their training and influences on their work. I am always curious where are the main dance education training programs as well as which books are essential to teaching artists. There were 16 responses to the survey. You too can take this quick survey as a self-assessment.

I asked the following questions: 

1. Which training programs, methodologies, and philosophies have informed your practice (check all that apply)?

__Luna Dance Institute

__Anne Green Gilbert/Creative Dance Center

__Virginia Tanner 

__DEL/Dance Education Laboratory

__NDI/National Dance Institute

__LCI/Lincoln Center Institute

__Kennedy Center

__Wolf Trap

__Other

2. Please list the ones you checked above, where you have participated in IN-PERSON workshops.

3. Please list the ones you checked above that have informed your work by reading books, articles, or online content.

4. What educational language has informed your work?

__Understanding by Design (UBD)

__Project Based Learning (PBL)

__emergent curriculum

__STEAM

__interdisciplinary

__arts integration

__21st century skills

__design thinking

__social-emotional learning

__multiple intelligences

__multimodal learning

__studio habits of mind

__Visual Thinking Strategies

__other

Question #1: Training Programs, Methodologies, and Philosophies

This list does indeed serve as an accurate marker of training programs in the United States right now – whether it be a workshop (mainly in the summer) or a mini workshop during an NDEO (National Dance Education Organization) conference. The Luna Dance Institute, Anne Green Gilbert, Liz Lerman/Dance Exchange (now called simply Dance Exchange), LCI, DEL, Kennedy Center – to name a few – are the mainstays for professional development in dance education. Based on the survey, I also want to add the work of Bill Evans and Don Halquist as well as training in Laban and Bartenieff work.

Question #2: In-Person Workshops

The majority of survey respondents have done some form of an in-person workshop. Those real-time conversations and explorations are invaluable, especially when you can learn from the originators of some of these ideas, including Patricia Reedy (Luna Dance Institute), Anne Green Gilbert (Creative Dance Center), and Jody Arnhold (DEL).

Question #3: Reading Material

Looking back at my 18 years of teaching, the dance education resources have greatly remained the same. I do know that Anne Green Gilbert recently released a newer version of her classic Creative Dance for All Ages, and I also know that Patricia Reedy will release a new version of Body, Mind, and Spirit in Action in fall/winter 2015. The other authors mentioned on the survey were Mary Joyce, Sheila Kogan, and Sarah Crowell of Destiny Arts Center. Feel free to reference my reading list from a lecture I gave at UC Berkeley for Cal CREATE:

Download CalCreatebooklistMarch2014

Anne Green Gilbert wrote a great blog post for me this year as well. Read it here.

Question #4: Educational Language 

Recently, there was a great piece on NPR about these very terms – social-emotional learning, grit, multiple intelligences, etc. The article found on the NPR website is very clear and succinct. I also really like this recent article on STEAM on edutopia.org. To find out more about the "21st century skills" language and the work of Tony Wagner at Harvard, check out this article. (All three pieces would be interesting to read and discuss in a college course or professional learning community….)

Between all of the survey respondents, essentially each topic did get marked. The other concept to add to the list is UDL (Universal Design for Learning).

Final Thoughts 

So, as we all head into another school year, what professional development opportunities can support and inspire your teaching practice? Check out the organizations and teachers listed above.

As for educational trends and concepts – such as Understanding by Design, Design Thinking, Studio Habits of Mind – many resources are available online as a starting off point. Edutopia.org is a fabulous website. If you teach at a school site, ask around with your colleagues. They are amazing resources and role models.

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