Dance
Subject
Association
DSA
Background
The DSA was formed in 2007 at the Dunedin TRCC (Teacher Refresher Course Committee) Conference, with an interim steering committee tasked with setting up a workable structure. At that time DANZ acted as an umbrella support and voice.
The DSA National Committee was established at the Wellington TRCC Conference 2009 and the DANZ role changed to a conduit for information.
National DSA Committee
The committee is elected by dance education teachers via the Dance Subject Assoc. meeting at the TRCC conference or other relevant event. The chair is elected by the Committee. The current 2011 chair is Gaylene Edmonds, who took over from Liz Melchior in Nov 2010.
Key stakeholders/clients
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Teachers – primary and secondary school teachers and school dance teachers
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Ministry of Education (MoE): They recognise all Subject Assoc. as the true representatives of a school subject so it is essential to have such a body.
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TRCC Refresher Courses (Teacher Refresher Course Committee) who organise subject conferences (MoE funded) http://www.trcc.org.nz/
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DANZ: The link to wider industry and education sector. DANZ acts as a support/conduit for DSA (passing on info, information releases through networks etc) and also, as the national service organisation for the dance industry, supports DSA advocacy e.g. for Scholarship Dance. http://www.danz.org.nz
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PPTA: They organise the annual Subject Assoc. conferences (which DSA must take part in) and advocate on behalf of SA in general. They require DSA input on issues. http://www.ppta.org.nz
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Other Subject Assoc - requests for information, joint advocacy http://www.ppta.org.nz/index.php/communities/subject-association
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Regional Dance Education hubs e.g. ADEN, We’lldance, Wai-dance, BOP dance etc
Regional Professional Development Hubs for Dance in Schools
There are independent associations, hubs or clusters set up by school teachers for professional development workshops, networking and resource sharing.
For example: ADEN http://www.adendance.co.nz/ We’lldance, Wai-dance, BOP dance www.bopdance.co.nz, see entries in the NZ Dance Directory [link] http://www.danz.org.nz/directory.php?section_id=10
Each hub runs differently and they are of varying sizes and strength due to capacity.
Hubs gather income from attendees to cover the cost of workshops e.g. annual membership, or event related fees. If you are starting a local hub or cluster please send your contact details to DANZ and DSA.
It is vital that there are strong links between professional development hubs and the national DSA body to ensure good communication on issues and that information can be shared.
For information on the activities of the professional development hubs and professional development training opportunities, link into networks such as the Dancenet service http://artsonline.tki.org.nz/Communities/Dancenet
or the DANZ E newsletter http://www.danz.org.nz/e-danz_signup.php
Arts OnLine, TKI or PPTA
DSA encourages all school teachers to undertake continued professional development so that they are able to confidently include a kinaesthetic/dance approach in their curriculum work, either through their own practice or by bringing in appropriately trained teachers. Listed below are training and networking opportunities that will aid teachers in this process.
Other Professional Development Opportunities:
Government supported training:
- TRCC Refresher Courses http://www.trcc.org.nz/
- NZQA Best Practice training, see Dancenet for information
- Independent Professional Development for dance educators: for example Unzipping Contemporary Dance, see Dancenet for information
http://artsonline.tki.org.nz/Communities/Dancenet
Other suggestions
The Royal New Zealand Ballet Dance Explorer Programme schools education programme. This is a well-developed, curriculum directed and specialist school’s programme related to the ballet company's repertoire and tours. It has excellent digital resources and teacher’s support material. Workshops are taught by professional artists focussed on school curriculum support. Contact RNZB Dance Explorer Programme http://www.nzballet.org.nz/dance-explorer and look for info on Dancenet.
Independent NZ dance companies often include school workshops as part of their NZ or regional tours e.g Footnote, Atamira, Java dance companies. See DANZ Dance Directories, dance net, DANZ E news and NZ Dancenews for company or touring information.
Independent local dance artists who work in schools. See DANZ LEOTC (all DANZ LEOTC dance artists/tutors have received training for the school environment and linking with the curriculum), Arts OnLine Artists in Schools (some degree of vetting). Arts OnLine also gives guidelines and MoE requirements for visiting artists (e.g. Police checks). Teachers also post queries on Dancenet and ask advice of DANZ.
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Primary purpose:
The voice for dance in schools. DSA represents the sector for advocacy.
Membership of DSA is open to all dance teachers in NZ schools, currently free.
Sign up by e mailing DANZ.
Contact Us
Dance Subject Association
Strength is being networked in, working together, spreading the word about the importance of dance in education, communicating about information, support, opportunities and successes, helping each other – we all have a part to play
Resources to Support Dance in Schools
TKI Ministry of Education , has full curriculum support material http://www.tki.org.nz/
Dancenet education related information service and resource sharing network with topic dialogues. All dance education questions are welcome - no question is too silly, it is surprising how easily a question can create a very useful blog exchange. A monthly roundup bulletin also supplied. Moderator: Patrice O’Brien
http://artsonline.tki.org.nz/Communities/Dancenet
Arts OnLine education website http://artsonline.tki.org.nz/Dance
funded by MoE, this has specific dance resource material for teachers and schools and also hosts Dancenet.
DANZ Website - Dance Industry information ranging from dance health and safety, codes of practice to resources, statistics on dance, career information, info on NZ companies, info on dance related things such as dance floors, links to other resources and sites. www.danz.org.nz. Go to various sections which have drop down menus for resources and information e.g. education, resources, news and events.
DANZ Quarterly dance industry magazine which has articles relating to education, profiles on dancers and companies and industry issues such as safe dance practice or producing - Join DANZ to receive the DANZ Quarterly as part of your membership privileges. Some back issue articles are found on the DANZ website http://www.danz.org.nz/danzq.php
DANZ E Newsletter - http://www.danz.org.nz/e-danz_signup.php
A monthly newsletter including dance education information with links - http://www.danz.org.nz/about_danz.php
DANZ LEOTC – school curriculum support through dance
(Learning Experiences Outside the Classroom). A MoE funded national programme run by DANZ, providing curriculum support for schools. The workshops can be in relation to the dance/arts or PE curriculum, be class topic specific, or support literacy and numeracy. In this programme dance is used as a tool for learning or as a kinaesthetic approach to learning.
DANZ has a large group of diverse, professional dance artists, trained to understand the school environment and curriculum. They run workshops in schools tailored to the schools request. The cost to the school is subsidised. DANZ has just started a new 2 year national contract with MoE with a change in focus allowing more flexibility. The major focus is on low decile and schools and on areas with low dance and dance in education support. The minor focus is on major urban and supported areas.
All workshops are supported by a teachers pack, containing a lesson plan, context information and other related resources. The workshop is aimed at students, but teachers who attend will find it is great professional development. They can ask the tutor questions after the workshop. DANZ also offers advice. Contact danz@danz.org.nz: Faye Jansen DANZ Education Facilitator 04 8019885. Some of our team of LEOTC tutors are: Piripi Christie, Brian Jones, Tanemahuta Gray, Jan Bolwell, Salena Govind, Java Dance Company, Atamira Dance Company. See the DANZ website for further information http://www.danz.org.nz/leotc.php
NZ DanceNews – Raewyn Whyte’s E mail information service sponsored by DANZ, national and International information. Free subscription. Link/join through the DANZ website and select your information by locality and categories of interest. http://www.danz.org.nz/nzdancenews.php
Peer to peer support , inter school support and buddy groups have been set up by some dance educators and school teachers across NZ as teachers own local initiatives and are proving very useful.
Dance Texts and Resources: Teachers share valuable information through Dancenet, also, explore links from DANZ to You Tube and other web sites, and search on Google and other search engines.
LAT (Limited Authority to Teach) Some private dance teachers have LAT certification to work in schools. See the NZ Teachers Council for more information http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/prof/lat.stm |
