Book
The mind in motion: An examination of children's cognition within the creative process in dance
01 Jan 2007
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine children's cognition within the creative process in dance. Through this study I examined the primary question: What is the nature of children's thinking during the creative process in dance? Research sub questions included: Are there specific thinking strategies or cognitive processes that can be identified from the children's experiences? Have these cognitive processes, or their role in the creative process ion dance, been identified elsewhere in the literature of cognitive psychology, creativity research or educational psychology? And what are the implications of these connections, if any, for dance in education? This site for this study was a public elementary school in Montgomery County Pennsylvania, where I conducted an artist in residence program in the spring of 2005. Data on children's thinking were gathered from the "core group" of the residency. The "core group" consisted of sixteen fifth grade students who had ten daily classes with me of 40 minutes duration. During the classes the sixteen students divided into four groups to create dances for performance at the concluding assembly of the school residency. The data analyzed from this study consisted of the children's daily self-reflective journal entries, videotapes of the choreographic process, and transcriptions of interviews with the choreographic groups and individual participants. I analyzed the data for emergent categories relating to the creative process. Both the inquiry and the data analysis were guided by a qualitative research approach in the tradition of phenomenography. Conclusions review how the findings of this study address ways of thinking and models of the creative process previously identified by educational and cognitive psychologists. While the findings align with several major theories, I conclude that none adequately describe the entirety of the creative process in children's dance. A graphic depiction of the creative process as seen in this study is presented in simple and expanded forms. The study conclusions characterize the cognitive process within dance creation as involving a core of cognitive strategies for making and organizing movement, affected by four influences: the pedagogical, aesthetic, emotional and social. Implications for curriculum integration and further research are described.
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Details
- Title
- The mind in motion: An examination of children's cognition within the creative process in dance
- Creators
- Miriam Giguere
- Resource Type
- Book
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Performing Arts
- Identifiers
- 991020542602104721