How to listen: An examination of ballroom dance as a teaching tool in public education

摘要

The United States public education system has conceptualized and implemented the industrial classroom for decades. Students sit in their own desk and do work on their own with limited help from others in strict time increments. They are required to follow specific instructions and are not allowed to talk while working. How often are students allowed to truly interact with their fellow classmates during the school day besides recess? As time passes, students become more disconnected not just to the physical body but mentally and within their community. Education systems are so preoccupied with keeping test scores up that the students' needs get lost in the isolation demanded by ideals of mass produced education based on quantifiable results and efficiency. Without a sense of being listened to, understood and supported, children's desire to learn weakens or disappears and this can lead to students dropping out of school and discontinuing learning altogether. I argue that introducing ballroom dance into the United States public education systems, as early as Kindergarten, can reestablish effective communication, compassion and sense of belonging among students through appropriate touch. Whether a person is leading or following in a ballroom style dance (waltz, swing, salsa, etc.), the physical, nonverbal exchange of ideas allows students to listen to each other and learn about each other in a safe and joyful way. While these concepts won't undo industrial education altogether, they will provide a model for deeper, broader and more interactive communication that is also enjoyable, and can maybe become the paradigm for learning across the national curriculum. Industrialization belongs within industry, not in classrooms full of impressionable minds seeking who they are as individuals and how they contribute to their community. Future generations are slowly losing the value of human connection and compassion and ballroom dance can help reestablish that value.