Dance Teacher Susan Hartley Shakes Things up at West Cary
February 28, 2002 - When most people think about social studies, they think about memorizing dates from history; math is all about solving equations on paper, and science is performing experiments in a lab. At West Cary Middle School, Dance Teacher Susan Hartley is adding a new twist (and a few turns) to these academic subjects.
 |
| Susan Hartley incorporates dance into the regular curriculum at West Cary Middle School. |
Using an interdisciplinary approach, Hartley doesn't teach "dance class" at West Cary. Instead, she teaches social studies, science, math, language arts and other subject areas through the use of dance and creative movement.
This unique interdisciplinary approach, which allows students to experience learning through dance rather than only experiencing dance as an elective, recently earned Hartley the honor of being named the state's Dance Educator of the Year by the N.C. Alliance for Athletics, Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.
"I think I'm in a unique position with the development of this way of teaching," Hartley said. "Most other dance teachers in North Carolina still teach dance solely as an elective, but by doing interdisciplinary, I'm able to reach so many more students. It was an honor for me to be selected for this award, because I was selected by my peers across the state."
Convincing the teachers at West Cary to incorporate dance into their lesson plans took a little bit of work, but Hartley said teachers from all subject areas now collaborate with her on a regular basis to find ways to enhance their instruction with dance.
Working with a sixth-grade social studies teacher, Hartley recently used folk dances to help teach the students about several Eastern European countries. Instead of reporting to their normal classroom, the students gathered in the auditorium where Hartley taught them the steps to authentic folk dances from Czechoslovakia, Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia. Hartley sprinkled her dance instruction with facts about Eastern European history and also discussed how the countries' culture and climate influences the dances.
"Before teaching a class, I brainstorm with the teacher," Hartley said. "I have to complement and support what is being taught in the classroom, so I don't confuse the kids. I do my own homework, so I'm able to teach the unit of study that the class is working on. I can do that creatively and abstractly or authentically. If they are studying a country, I bring in an authentic dance and discuss why this dance was created for this country and culture. In Eastern Europe where it's cold, the steps are invigorating to help keep warm. In tropical countries, the dances have qualities that are more cooling. I talk about why the dance is the way it is and try to connect with the students' knowledge."
In math, science and language arts classes where specific dances don't necessarily relate to the subject matter, Hartley gets more creative. For example, when working with students in a science class who are learning about the structure of an atom, she has the students demonstrate the structure and movement of the atom through dance steps and creative movement, exploring the relationship between neutrons, protons and electrons. Geometry students use dance techniques to demonstrate different geometric shapes, while language arts students use creative movement to illustrate the parts of speech, narrative writing, poetry and interpretation of literature.
"Incorporating dance and creative movement into their regular classes, requires the students to apply their knowledge and use it in a different way," Hartley said. "It takes the book learning and allows individuals to make it come alive. The students have to have a real understanding of the material. For our learners who learn in a different way, you can see the light bulbs going off. Teaching through dance is another way to reach these students."
 |
| Social studies students learn about Eastern European culture by dancing the polka, a popular dance from Czechoslovakia. |
A dancer since the age of three, Hartley joined the Wake County Public School System in the early 1980s after teaching dance privately for a number of years. She received her bachelor of arts in drama from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her master's of fine arts in dance from UNC-Greensboro.
Throughout most of her career with the school system, Hartley has taught dance primarily as an elective. When she first joined the system, she taught dance for two years at Fuquay-Varina Elementary and then two years in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system. When she returned to Wake County, she was the dance teacher for 12 schools across the county where she taught exposure to modern dance and creative movement to fourth- and fifth-graders. The next year, she taught dance at six schools and continued to do so for 10 years before being assigned to two schools a few years ago. Finally, in 1999, she was assigned to West Cary full-time and given the opportunity to implement her interdisciplinary approach.
"I like the interdisciplinary approach because it gives me the opportunity to reach every child in the school, not just those who sign up for dance class," she said. "The nice thing about teaching dance as an elective is that you get to focus and see development and growth, but you only reach a few students. Through the interdisciplinary approach, I'm able to tap into kids who normally wouldn't take dance and encourage them. I enjoy working outside of the box and using dance to show kids how what they learn in class applies to other areas of their lives."
Elizabeth Grimes-Droessler, Wake's senior administrator for arts education, said Hartley is an real innovator in the area of arts education.
"She developed the middle school interdisciplinary dance program and has implemented it with great success," she said. "She received constant praise from her academic teaching colleagues."