Dance as expression in physical education? Aesthetic experiences, identities, and unusual learning processes

Dance has been a part of physical education (PE) in several countries for a long time. It is, however, marginalized in PE in Sweden and there is a gap between the ambitious goals in the curricula and the actual teaching of dance. Many PE teachers feel generally uncertain about the role of dance in their subject and are insecure about teaching it. PE appears to be dominated by a multiactivity model, underpinned by discourses on health and fitness alongside the logic of sport as bodily movement practices aimed at competition. The aim of this paper is to discuss whether dance and aesthetic experiences can help broaden the understanding and use of the body within PE as part of an identity process. The theoretical references draw on the pedagogue John Dewey’s (1934/2005) concepts of experiences and aesthetic judgments. The sociologist Thomas Ziehe’s (1986) concept of unusual learning processes is also used to discuss challenges for students’ learning. A pedagogical intervention study, consisting of eight PE lessons with dance inspired by Rudolf Laban (1948/1988), was carried out over three classes at a Swedish high school. The empirical material consisted of videotaped lessons, teachers’ interviews, and students’ written narratives. The results show that the aesthetic dimensions of movement and dance as expression challenge students in PE and offer new learning experiences and, therefore, can be a part of an identity process. Instead of imitating and reproducing movements, the students have an intention to express feelings through dance and create unpredictable movements. PE teachers can use more student- centered teaching instead of direct teaching with its specified movements as a form of social control. New dimensions to subjective experiences and the sensual body can then be given space in PE as a counterweight to sports-related physical activities