Dance Education in the Primary School in Scotland

For primary schools in Scotland, the national Curriculum for
Excellence (CfE) is organised into eight curriculum areas, one of which
is the Expressive Arts. In CfE the Expressive Arts covers Art & Design,
Dance, Drama and Music. Not only is dance located within the
Expressive Arts, with its own Experiences and Outcomes signalling
the artistic, expressive and creative possibilities of the art form, but
also dance can be delivered and enjoyed as part of Physical Education
(PE) aligning with the PE Significant Aspects of Learning situated in the
curriculum area of Health and Wellbeing.
Existing UK and International research findings suggest issues of
teachers’ limited prior experience of dance; misconceptions around
dance; teachers’ own confidence and ability to teach dance; time
within a busy curriculum and subject hierarchy, may be having an
impact on dance in the primary school (Rolfe, 2001; Kaufmann & Ellis,
2007; Russell-Bowie, 2012; Lummis, Morris & Paolino, 2014;
Cheesman, 2016). Therefore, the purpose of this project was to
provide up-to-date information on what is happening with dance in
primary schools in Scotland and why.