An Analysis of the Problems and Challenges in Teaching and Learning Creative Dance as a Pedagogical Tool in Malaysian Preschools

Abstract

Creative dance is a Western-based dance pedagogy that aims to provide participants with a creative and artistic dance experience. In the National Preschool Curriculum Standard of Preschool Education 2017, the Ministry of Education Malaysia listed creative movement as a teaching method for enhancing the creativity of preschool children. However, the literature shows that Asian educators encounter problems and challenges when adopting a Western-based pedagogy due to the differences in social-cultural context. This paper intends to study these problems and challenges in the context of creative dance in Malaysian preschools, based on expert perspectives. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews with four local experts from the field of creative dance in preschool. The study found six problems and challenges, which were misconceptions, a lack of teaching resources, resistance to change, negative attitudes, a lack of ability and creativity in giving instructions, and environment and education system. These problems and challenges were caused by two social-cultural factors, which were (1) educational beliefs with different values than creative dance and (2) a learning environment that discourages creative behaviour. The study highlights that there is an urgency to develop a creative dance teacher training module and it must take these factors into account.