Researchers from the University of Arts in Helsinki write in their policy brief: “In dance, physical activity is combined with expressing feelings, social interaction and cultural participation, which creates a multidimensional link to one’s holistic development, learning and well being in the school context." „Teachers for SwanZ“ is going to be implemented by partners from Austria, Bulgaria and Greece under the coordination of the Choreography High School „Floria Capsali“ from Romania. It offers modern approaches to the continuous professional development of 133 dance teachers and trainers, active in the partner institutions, public and private ones. The „SwanZ“ – inspired by the swans in „Swan Lake“, a well-known ballet – are the 106 students studying in the partner schools and who will be involved in the project. They are 12 - 16 years old, they belong to the Z Generations, they are well acquainted with dance and ballet, and they have a „second life“ going on in the virtual social space, being nurtured by technology. Within the analysis carried out at the partners' levels, the students agreed that there is a need for a better understanding of how to use dance education to enhance the overall achievements in all subjects that they have to study and how to better develop their social skills. In order to reach the „SwanZ“ and to lay a new foundation to their further personal and professional development, we have to make sure that the teachers are well prepared to address the students' needs and that they are equally well equipped to understand how dancing impacts learning. There is a need that the dance teachers develop continuously in relation with their profession and that they also integrate easily and knowingly skills like active listening, negotiation and nonverbal communication – so frequently met in their classes. It is important that they share and learn how to share their knowledge about rhythm, space, using balance against gravity, body awareness and movement fluidity, visual perception and so on with their colleagues teaching sciences, languages or other subjects. It is important that non-dance teachers learn how to integrate this new information in their classes. Because all teachers know that learning for a child is happening not only in his or her head. Understanding the link between body and mind is important for the children's education and better academic achievements can be obtained if all teachers are aware of this approach, work on self-development in this direction, and also if they work together in supporting the students with learning activities involving the whole universe of sound, speech, rhythm and with meaningful connections to themselves, to peers, to family and to the school community as a whole. In this respect, the project is going to finalize with the following tangible results: 1) A training course for dance teachers/trainers (ToT) to support them in the development of professional and soft skills (it will contain methodologies of dance techniques collected at the partnership level and chapters in coaching, communication and intercultural dialogue for dance teachers); 2) A web platform - The Virtual Learning Laboratory - where dance lessons are going to be taught online and where there are going to be uploaded video files with dance classes and performances held in the partner countries, interviews and testimonials. This is the digital DNA of the project, a sustainable outcome, unaffected by any potential crisis as the one started by Covid-19; 3) A mini-guide for non-dance teachers that will be an innovative instrument and will have the role to support teachers who teach different subjects (from STEM, to languages etc.) to introduce dance related terminology, activities and exercises in their classes. In terms of non-tangible results, we expect that the project will support the development of skills and competences for all the people directly involved in the project management and implementation: professional and communication skills, soft skills, intercultural skills. We expect that the project beneficiaries will be more motivated to learn and more open to experiment and apply innovation, to work better in teams and to improve their critical thinking. As this is the first big project for most of the partners, we expect to learn a lot and to grow a lot – both personally and professionally, to increase our capacity in building partnerships and working internationally. We also have in mind the growth of our institutions and professional communities that are going to benefit extensively from being part in an Erasmus+ European project. „Teachers for SwanZ“ responds to important needs of the partnership: it offers an option to the young generation of teachers, it fills the gap of missing dance methodologies and practical guidelines, and it facilitates the connections between dance – non-dance education, and between dance education and the dance business area.
The project's general objective was to develop the professional competences of dance teachers/trainers/ instructors from the partner dance institutions, through creating innovative education tools, raising the quality and attractiveness of the dance teaching profession and strengthening the connections between the dance training and the European dance professional labor market. The project's specific objectives were: to develop the knowledge regarding the new dance techniques, teaching methods and digital instruments for dance teachers; to improve the communication skills of the dance teachers in the partner institutions through a transnational opportunity; to enrich the dance and non-dance teachers’ communication and coaching skills for motivating the students to learn; to develop digital skills for dance teachers and students. We expect project beneficiaries to be more motivated to learn, to be more open, to experiment and apply innovation, to better work in teams and to improve their performances.
In most of the countries from Central and Eastern Europe, dance vocational schools preparing the future dance artists are often neglected and are affected by logistic and budget shortages. After an analysis of what we can do in order to bring a positive change in the vocational school system we have addressed the needs for: modern approaches to the continuous professional development of dance teachers and trainers; addressing a different generation of students, the so called generation Z; achieving skills like active listening, communication, negotiation, dialogue between cultures; improving professionally by exchanging experience with similar schools, in other countries in order to become more motivated to learn and more open to experiment and apply innovation, to work better in teams and to grow from local to the international level; filling the gap of missing dance manuals, methodologies and practical guidelines for school teachers; for an interdisciplinary approach in dance teaching and learning, facilitating the connections between dance and “non-dance” teachers; the need for exchanging experience between public and private dance education areas.