Searching for Dialogue in Dance Education: A Teacher's Story

Abstract

In this article, based on my dissertation, “A Dream Journey to the Unknown: Searching for Dialogue in Dance Education” (2003), I will describe several qualities, or themes, related to dialogue. These ideas may facilitate dialogue in dance education and bear significance for reflecting the nature of dialogical education more generally. In addition, my intent is to uncover the personal nature of my search for dialogue. Before describing the themes, I briefly outline the research process.The process began in 1997 when I was invited to take part in an art education project that was situated in an elementary school in Helsinki, Finland. I was aware that I was about to turn back to something that I thought I had already left behind. I had recently completed another study concerning my own dance teaching practice (1996). I had joined the so-called teacher research movement with a desire to understand the dynamics of the teaching and learning situation in the context of dance from an experiential point of view.