Dancing with the "Other": Experiential and Reflective Learning of African Neo-Traditional Dances through Dance Education Study Abroad Programs

Autor/in	Mabingo, Alfdaniels
Titel	Dancing with the "Other": Experiential and Reflective Learning of African Neo-Traditional Dances through Dance Education Study Abroad Programs
Quelle	In: International Journal of Education & the Arts, 20 (2019) 2, (25 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1529-8094
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Dance Education; Study Abroad; Place Based Education; Student Participation; Foreign Students; Western Civilization; Indigenous Knowledge; World Views; African American Students; Racial Identification; Teacher Student Relationship; Alienation; Team Teaching; Cultural Differences; Educational Environment; Experiential Learning; Transformative Learning; Reflection; African Culture; Uganda + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Dance; Education; Tanzerziehung; Studies abroad; Auslandsstudium; Schülermitarbeit; Schülermitwirkung; Studentische Mitbestimmung; World view; Weltanschauung; African Americans; Student; Students; Afroamerikaner; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Teacher student relationships; Lehrer-Schüler-Beziehung; Entfremdung; Teamteaching; Kultureller Unterschied; Lernumgebung; Pädagogische Umwelt; Schulumwelt; Experiental learning; Erfahrungsorientiertes Lernen; Pädagogische Transformation; Africa; Culture; Afrika; Kultur
Abstract	The increase in internationalization of education has set off a proliferation of educational models. Study abroad has emerged as one of the educational approaches through which universities can support students to internationalize their experiences, hone their skills and knowledge bases, sharpen professional proficiencies, and broaden their cultural perspectives. What meanings do foreign students who participate in study abroad programs in African dances in local African communities construct? This article engages the theory of experiential learning and concept of Orientalism to provide a critical examination of the meanings that the students from the U.S who took part in dance education study abroad to Uganda constructed from participation in neo-traditional dance activities. A hermeneutic phenomenological research paradigm was applied to collect data from six students from the U.S who took part in the Dance Education study abroad program to Uganda. The findings reveal how the study abroad programs enabled the students to negotiate, question, and conceptualize the idea of "study abroad to Uganda" as a "place" of nativism, exoticism, identity variances, and cultural differences. Critical analyses are made on how the students' agency in neotraditional activities cultivated embodied connections to the "other," allowed for exploration of communalized pedagogies, facilitated holistic learning of dance through music and storytelling, and fostered immersion into "local" artistic and educational realities through collaborative and interactive lesson-planning and coteaching. Issues of how study abroad in dance can aggravate cultural appropriation are also examined. This article offers insights into the intricate trajectories that students take to construct complex meanings through embodied and reflective participation in dance activities in local African communities, which can be beneficial to dance educators, cross-cultural and intercultural learners, and individuals who run cultural exchange programs. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	International Journal of Education & the Arts. 1310 South 6th Street, Champaign, IL 61820. Tel: 402-472-9958; Fax: 402-472-2837; Web site: http://www.ijea.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01