Miriam Torzillo - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Miriam Torzillo

The International Journal of Arts Education, 2013

Dance is part of mandatory primary arts curricula in Queensland, Australia. Yet despite an extens... more Dance is part of mandatory primary arts curricula in Queensland, Australia. Yet despite an extensive body of literature supporting its contribution to education and its appeal to young people, the teaching of dance by generalist classroom teachers is minimal, if at all. This has been attributed to teachers’ resistance to teaching dance, possibly due to lack of experience and understanding of the value of this art form. Nonetheless, there are some schools in Queensland where teachers actively teach dance to their students. This presentation describes a case study in two Queensland primary schools where dance is taught. It explores teachers' and students' experiences of dance. Teachers in this study tended to draw upon their experiences of dance as a creative process gained during their professional development days, and their developments were strengthened by the encouragement and validation of a critical friend or mentor. Students found their expression through dance to be pleasurable and fulfilling. They commended its collaborative nature, the element of choice, and the relative freedom creating dance gave them "to be" in their bodies. Findings suggest that rather than learning more content, dance professional development for teachers should be hands-on experiences of creating dance in a collaborative setting. Research into what actually happens in dance classrooms is needed in order to "give voice" to teachers who have developed professional practice knowledge in dance, and can therefore provide images of what is possible in dance education.

The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Educational Studies, 2018

In Australia, dance and the arts in general are under threat from the pressure of high-stakes tes... more In Australia, dance and the arts in general are under threat from the pressure of high-stakes testing and a focus on literacy and numeracy. Many schools and school districts are mandating prescriptive models of teacher-directed pedagogy and putting emphasis on digital technologies. In this context, dance education could provide an alternative space for learning. Creative dance is based on collaborative, physical, and creative problem-solving. It is an opportunity for children to learn together, unmediated by digital tools or the teacher’s direction. A multiple embedded case study exploring teacher and student experiences of dance in the primary classroom used diverse sources of data to build a picture of the impact of teaching and learning in dance. The paradox of increasing digital connectivity between citizens is that it increases physical distance and understanding. Dance could have a role to play in bridging that gap

In Australia, Dance education in primary schools has long been relegated to the edges of schoolin... more In Australia, Dance education in primary schools has long been relegated to the edges of schooling, outside the recognized remit of education. It has been considered marginal to formal schooling and not worthy of assessment; its products mainly useful for entertainment (Bresler, 1993). If it existed at all, it was usually found within Physical Education (Stephens, 2010); sometimes outsourced to private providers; and almost always consisting of teacher directed and skills based lessons in social dance. Dance education taught according to the intent of the Curriculum, involving making and responding to dance was rarer indeed. Despite this, some teachers taught dance. In Queensland Australia, following the implementation of a National Arts Curriculum, some music specialists had been directed to also teach dance and drama as part of their programs. This directive inspired a research project to explore the impacts of this directive on teachers and the experience of students in their cla...

The paper outlines strategies generalist teachers can employ to overcome barriers to teaching dan... more The paper outlines strategies generalist teachers can employ to overcome barriers to teaching dance in primary school classrooms. The strategies draw on the literature related to dance education and the findings of a study exploring primary school teacher and student experiences of dance in Queensland, Australia.

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Educational Studies, 2018

In Australia, dance and the Arts in general are under threat from the pressure of high-stakes tes... more In Australia, dance and the Arts in general are under threat from the pressure of high-stakes testing and a focus on literacy and numeracy. Many schools and school districts are mandating prescriptive models of teacher-directed pedagogy and putting emphasis on digital technologies. In this context, dance education could provide an alternative space for learning. Creative dance is based on collaborative, physical and creative problem solving. It is an opportunity for children to learn together, unmediated by digital tools or the teacher's direction. A multiple embedded case study exploring teacher and student experiences of dance in the primary classroom used diverse sources of data to build a picture of the impact of teaching and learning in dance. The paradox of increasing digital connectivity between citizens is an increase in physical distance and understanding. Dance could have a role to play in bridging that gap.

The International Journal of Assessment and Evaluation, 2016

In Australia, Dance is one subject in the National Arts Curriculum for early childhood and primar... more In Australia, Dance is one subject in the National Arts Curriculum for early childhood and primary education. In many schools, dance is taught for the minimum time necessary to satisfy the system requirements of a summative grade that can be included in midyear or yearly reports. A qualitative study of the nature of dance education in two primary schools, collected data from video, observation, interviews with teachers and focus group discussions with children showed evidence of holistic learning achieved through Dance. In this paper, data are researched to look for evidence of the meanings that teachers and children attach to assessment in the context of dance education. Following an examination of various definitions of assessment, this paper looks at the relationship between pedagogy and assessment in general and in relation to Dance education. Pedagogy and assessment in Dance education will be unpacked using a socio-kin-aesthetic perspective and drawing on literature and findings from this qualitative study, 're-packaged' to present an approach to assessing dance intended to be useful to generalist classroom teachers.

The International Journal of Arts Education

Journal of Playwork Practice

Children and childhood have been conceptualized in various ways over the years. One early concept... more Children and childhood have been conceptualized in various ways over the years. One early conceptualization of childhood was that of the child as evil, based on the concept of original sin, as children were a product of their parents’ intimacy. Within this construct, children are seen as destructive and driven by their own needs, pleasures and desires. Based on this construct, the adult is seen as the ‘good’ one; whose duty it is to keep the moral order, and instil obedience. Interactions between the child and the adult are unequal; the adult holds all the power and the child, who is considered a threat, is more or less powerless. The adult is always right and children should ‘speak only when spoken to’ with a strong need for discipline. ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ is an example of adults conceptualizing children as evil. Play, in this conceptualization, might be seen as problematic; an imposition on the adult world. Play is therefore restricted, adult-controlled and rule-bound, with little room for choice or initiative on the part of the child. This paper examines ten constructs of childhood (Sorin & Galloway, 2005), their relationship to adult constructs, and how play would be envisaged for each of these constructs. These constructs include: the child as innocent, the child as evil, the child as miniature adult, the child as adult-in-training, the noble/saviour child, the commodified child, the snowballing child, the out-of-control child, the child as victim and the agentic child.

The International Journal of Pedagogy and Curriculum, 2015

Dance is included as one of five subjects within the new Australian National Arts Curriculum. Lea... more Dance is included as one of five subjects within the new Australian National Arts Curriculum. Learning in the Arts in general is based on collaborative, creative, inquiry-based processes. In contrast, in recent years in Queensland, Australia, there has been a move away from student-centred, cooperative or inquiry-based learning and towards teacher-centred, direct-instruction and explicit teaching. In my experience, as a researcher and dance educator, I have encountered a variety of pedagogies being used to teach dance. This paper considers the question “Which pedagogic framework best supports teachers to implement dance in their classrooms?

The International Journal of Arts Education, 2014

LEARNing Landscapes

Dance education is rarely taught in Australian primary schools. A National Arts curriculum was pu... more Dance education is rarely taught in Australian primary schools. A National Arts curriculum was published online in 2014, and ready for implementation the following year. Therefore schools and teachers will be looking for models and frameworks that will help them implement the arts, including dance. The author experienced the work of the community-based dance company Dance Exchange during a summer institute in 2013. For a teacher of dance in a relatively isolated regional town, taking part in the summer institute was a rare opportunity to nourish creative inspiration and a reminder of the importance of the collaborative creative process and the embodied experience within Dance Education.

Arts-based Teaching, Learning and Research by Miriam Torzillo

International Journal of Arts Education, 2018

Standardised curricula and the movement away from practical, hands-on learning has permeated Aust... more Standardised curricula and the movement away from practical, hands-on learning has permeated Australian education over the past few years. The Arts have become even more marginalized, and Arts areas such as dance are almost non-existent. In their places, we see the domination of static, desk-bound, technology-mediated, instructivist teaching and learning. The researchers aimed to create an antidote to this teaching model. This research examined student and teacher experiences of dance to develop an easy to follow, engaging program that can be implemented not only by specialist Arts teachers, but also by generalist classroom teachers. The Dance ANYway framework is based on a “socio-kin-aesthetic approach,” which integrates collaborative, embodied, and creative learning and teaching to provide teachers with easy-to-follow, practical strategies for integrating dance into the curriculum.
Available at https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/dance-anyway