The objective of this study is to define the concept and values of dance as part of arts education and to present systematic education standards. First, to explore the concept and values of dance as part of arts education, the authors analyzed the local and international dance education standards, such as the cases in the U.S. the U.K. and Australia. Second, to set the direction for developing dance education standards, the scope and levels of standards were suggested, which was also reflected in the high-impact interviews carried out subsequently.
The high-impact interviews conducted with dance education specialists, dance professors and teachers were explained in details, and the requests made during the interviews with regard to education standards were reflected in the analysis process. In addition, through the intensive work by the council of experts and researchers, we were able to look into the structure/system of dance education standards, level of expectation for each standard item, plan for implementing dance education standards, and etc.
Through the aforementioned process, the following dance education standards were presented:Dance education standards aim at the enlightenment of dance literacy. Here, literacy means the overall ability to read, write and comprehend/understand. Dance literacy means the integrated ability to understand the overall aspects of dance and present them in various ways. That is, to improve the comprehensive ability to speak, write, see and read through the course of experiencing, exploring and expanding the domain of dance as the objective of dance education standards.
In light of this, dance literacy enables the learners to understand symbols and meanings in various dance movements and create movements of their own as a means to express themselves. In addition, it can be viewed as a concept of overall "understanding of dance," which is to analyze, understand, appreciate and criticize the meaning of dance.
Dance education standards are classified into the areas of production-execution and creation as well as response-appreciation and communication. Here, execution (dancing) touches upon the physical perception, coordination, understanding of movement elements, learning of performance principles and etc. Creation (making dance) is related to creating or composing movements, understanding expressional or creative principles, and etc. Appreciation (reading dance) encompasses the observation, analysis, interpretation, understanding of dance and etc. Communication (sharing dance) means the interchange, combination, sharing with other areas, understanding of social and cultural implications and the link to local society, and etc.
Such areas of dance education standards lead to an in-depth course development based on the content and methods of the study. In other words, through a 3-step process of experience/understanding, study/discovery and extension/application, dance literacy can be obtained, which is the ultimate goal of dance education as part of arts and culture education:Here, experience/understanding is a step to experience movements through senses and cognitive understanding. Study/discovery is about experiencing, making comparisons of and analyzing various movements by further developing the first step of experience/understanding. Extension/application refers to executing dance education standards in connection and combination with other fields and other forms of arts by further developing the second step of study/discovery.
Through this process, dance education standards for the educational systems of elementary and middle schools were presented, respectively. Moreover, based on the 3-step process, the levels of expectation were been suggested in consideration of the connection and links between different areas, courses and educational systems.