International Journal of Education & the Arts

Citation: Rupnik, U., & Geršak, V. (2022). Dancing on Zoom: Introducing the principles of creative movement into distance learning in primary school. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 23(SI 1.5). Retrieved from http://doi.org/10.26209/ijea23si1.5

This paper presents a pilot study of creative movement workshops that enriched the school life of fourth graders at a primary school in Slovenia during the closure of educational institutions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project involved a dancer who met with students via the Zoom platform for four months, preparing, leading, and facilitating dance activities based on current curriculum content. Using qualitative analysis, we present the views of students, parents, a teacher and a dancer on the integration of arts to online teaching and learning. The creative movement workshops exhibited the importance of including opportunities for movement within online curriculum for students, as they spent most of their time sitting in front of screens. The workshops created opportunities for social interaction where other forms of online instruction otherwise reduced social contact. Finally, the movement and dance activities contributed to a better understanding of some learning content.