Our failures and flaws help us to grow and learn. Through them we find out what works and what doesn’t.
Just like Thomas Edison, trying and trying thousands of times before creating the lightbulb! He was willing to fail and keep going until success came.
If we do our best to encourage children to have no fear of failure they can be innovative, creative, and bold in their life choices.
Another example is Richard Branson and how he likes to hear that his children have made a mistake EVERY day, as its meant that they’ve been taken out of their comfort zone! And the guy who invented WD-40, apparently so named because it was his fortieth attempt that became the final and correct formula…
In reality, we are all TERRIFIED of failure. Just as Natalie and I were 18 months ago, on the morning of our first Groove Child Dance Syllabus demo in front of a room full of other dance teachers – guaranteed to be our biggest critics on the subject of teaching dance to children. We remember looking at each other 5 minutes before we began, saying “WHAT ARE WE DOING? WHO’S IDEA WAS THIS?!”
We quickly shook off our fear by focusing on our initial purpose; to bring the benefits of what we’d created to more dance schools, helping to increase the performance confidence and emotional well-being of children and young dancers. And we KNEW (and still know!) that getting stuff wrong is part of the journey.
For anyone unfamiliar with the term Growth Mindset this is the principal at the root of developing a healthy relationship to our mistakes; understanding that mistakes are part of learning and growing and that children (and adults) shouldn’t view mistakes as a reason to stop or give up. It’s the mindset we all strive to cultivate in our children, the mindset they need to thrive in their adult future. Yes, they may do Growth Mindset work at school – depending on how forward thinking their school is – but we all know the positive power an idolised dance teacher can have on their students! The impact we can have on our students is often greater than other adults of authority in their lives, and we can step into this role in even greater ways than we sometimes realise.
A growth mindset can be encouraged at every opportunity throughout a child’s day, including their dance classes with you, and particularly so – we’ve come to realise – if varied creative exercises can be incorporated into your sessions that allow them to explore imagination and creativity as well as learn technique. And we’re not just talking about tiddlers! We mean for children of all ages, particularly as they move into school years where they need to show more maturity. This is often where imagination and confidence begins to become inhibited and other social factors creep in. Groove Child® aims to help you to help children keep the same level of creativity they had in dance as they did when they were young and without inhibition.
Through developing the ethos and principals of the syllabus we recognise the importance of encouraging a growth mindset as an important factor to raising their self-belief and confidence.
Even though as dance teachers you may only see some of your students for 30 mins a week, you can do so much to affect their mental and emotional growth. So HOW can we make even just that half an hour a week count?
With the Groove Child syllabus we’ve done the ground work for you, and you can deliver the exercises safe in the knowledge that this work helps every child’s inner and outer process on a personal level, from a young age. Many of the exercises in the syllabus are rooted traditionally in teaching choreography, musicality, and the perfection of movement, but equally many of the exercises are also designed to help you celebrate individuality in dance, learn through ‘exploring’ movement dynamics in their own bodies, respond to new stimuli each week and learn to creatively problem-solve – all in a structured and progressive way, in a syllabus that’s at your fingertips.
The overall aim of Groove Child® dance sessions at your school is to help you maximise the awesome job you’re already doing with your students through dance. By giving you the power of an additional syllabus that engages them fully and equips children to feel they can go into any challenge, have it all go wrong and still come out smiling having found enjoyment and value in the process. Groove Child® teaches children to have a healthy relationship with their mistakes in dance; to understand what went wrong and move forward from it the next time.
We feel our role as dance teachers is to offer a space for this kind of growth with clarity and kindness, and we’re sure you agree (if you’re reading this far). You’re the reason we developed the Groove Child Dance syllabus; as a way to offer you practical support as a dance teacher, in helping your students develop a mindset that’s relevant to their growing creative talent.
Ultimately, a healthy mindset in their dance classes feeds into their life beyond the studio. PLUS, it puts YOU in a much stronger position to grow the skills over the years, without fear of failure getting in their way and with a healthy relationship to making mistakes.
Something we all could do with…!!!
The Groove Child® Dance Syllabus is designed to help dance teachers nurture children’s positive sense of self, confidence, and self expression through dance in a way that celebrates their individuality and boosts their performance. Dance School Owners & Freelance Dance Teachers – we’d love to meet you and introduce you further to the benefits Groove Child brings. Check our full details of the syllabus and our courses at the main website: www.groovechilddance.com
Groove Child Dance Syllabus - Blog 