In Step with Success: The Impact of Dance in Education with Professor of Dance Dr. Stephanie Milling

Step into the world of dance with professor of dance and head of dance education at the University of South Carolina, Dr. Stephanie Milling, and uncover the magnificent role it plays in education. Can you imagine how dance can lead to higher test scores, pro-social behavior, and increased school and community engagement? This episode reveals the cognitive, psychomotor, and psychological benefits of dance education, shining a light on its unique attributes that distinguish it from other art forms.

Venturing further, we immerse ourselves in the invaluable domain of professional development in dance education. Hear about an enlightening week-long workshop in South Carolina, orchestrated to bring fresh insights to dance educators. We also provide a glimpse into the innovative Masters in Arts and Dance Studies program at the University of South Carolina, designed for the working professionals in the field. Lastly, we rally for the cause of dance in K-12 schools, inspiring you to share your success stories and participate in this revolution. Get ready to witness how dance is shifting the paradigm in the education sector.

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To contact Dr. Stephanie Milling email smilling@mailbox.sc.edu.
To learn more about the University of South Carolina's MA in Dance Studies, go to https://sc.edu/study/colleges_schools/artsandsciences/theatre_and_dance/dance/study/ma_dance_studies/.

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Transcript

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Dr. Lisa Hassler 0:29

Welcome to the Brighter Side of Education . I'm your host , Dr . Lisa Hassler , here to enlighten and brighten the classrooms in America through focused conversation on important topics in education . In each episode , I discuss problems we as teachers and parents are facing and what people are doing in their communities to fix it . What are the variables and how can we duplicate it to maximize student outcomes

Impact of Dance in Education Research

Dr. Lisa Hassler 0:52

? In this episode , I discuss the impact of dance on student learning . How does dance and education benefit students ?

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:00

Research reveals the effectiveness of including dance and education , engaging sensory input , sustaining attention , fostering connections between past and new learning and enhancing long-term recall . Studies by the National Dance Education Organization showcase positive effects on student achievement , teacher satisfaction and school culture . For instance , florida saw improved reading and math scores upon integrating visual , dance and dramatic arts into the curriculum , while Maryland noted enhanced problem-solving skills through dance . Despite these benefits , the National Arts Education Status Report of 2019 indicated that only 15.3% of K-12 schools offer dance classes , with a minimal of 2.7% overall student participation rate declining from elementary to high school .

Dr. Stephanie Milling Introduction and Background

Dr. Lisa Hassler 1:51

Joining us today is Dr Stephanie Milling , a distinguished professor and advocate for dance education at the University of South Carolina . Stephanie is the department chair and head of dance education , holding a PhD in dance and MA in dance education from New York University . Welcome to the show , stephanie .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 2:09

Thank you . Thank you for having me .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 2:11

Could you please share your background in dance education and your journey ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 2:16

Yes , so I really began in dance education .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 2:19

I was dancing professionally in New York City at the time and one of the dance companies I was working with began doing some K-12 residencies in public schools and the company , the artistic director , asked me if I would be one of the teaching artists .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 2:39

And I worked in three different schools in the South Bronx for , I think , an entire semester and at the same time I was looking at graduate programs in dance and I found the graduate program at New York University , the dance education program , which is in the Steinhardt School of Education , and I realized that the coursework in this degree I didn't recognize any of the course names or the content that was described in the course descriptions and so if I really want to broaden my horizons in dance , this is the graduate degree that I need to do .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 3:17

And as I was doing those residencies and applying to graduate school , found a full-time position in elementary school , hired me full-time in elementary school in the South Bronx and then I worked in a middle school while I was doing my graduate work in dance education and then , after I finished that degree , I went on to do my PhD in second master's degree and then ended up working in higher education and I've been working in two different institutions in South Carolina now for 16 years and my primary teaching responsibilities have been working with students who are getting certified to teach dance in our K-12 schools . So it really started with me kind of starting in small artist residencies and moving on to full-time positions and then now I'm educating others who are going to be emerging educators and hopefully advocates for our field .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 4:13

What area in dance did you specialize in ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 4:17

I specialized in ballet and contemporary . I mean I did know all the ballet companies I danced in did a lot of contemporary dance as well .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 4:25

Was it your parents that introduced you to dance , or was it something that you just had ? This like burning passion ? Do you come from like dancers in your family , or was it in your school .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 4:34

No , it was definitely not in my school . It's really an interesting question . I still have my first dance picture from when I was five years old and my tap dance picture and I'm wearing a little cowboy hat and I'm on one of those stick horses and really it was . I mean , yes , my mom took dance lessons when she was younger and she introduced me to it and wanted my sister and I to study dance . But really I think part of it may be what my parents noticed . My mom always said that I never really walked . I went from kind of crawling to running . Was that in between , that in between stage ? Never really , never really , where you're just kind of walking and trying to get your bearings ? I skipped that apparently . So maybe it was just the idea that I was always on the move and that's still my life today . I mean , my students see me walking across campus and they're like you walk so fast .

Arts Advocacy: Dance Benefits

Dr. Lisa Hassler 5:35

You're an active arts advocate , receiving recognition for your contributions by the South Carolina Dance Association . Could you elaborate on the benefits of dance education for students both inside and outside the classroom ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 5:49

Absolutely . You know the benefits of dance education . They're cognitive , they're psychomotor and they're also psychological and social , and there's been a lot of research done on arts education that demonstrates how all arts areas and dance have the potential to support brain development . Researchers have talked about 21st century learning skills that we hear about so often critical thinking , problem solving , collaboration . All of these skills are inherent in what is happening in an arts or a dance classroom . To be more specific , there's a lot of research that talks about the benefits of the arts in higher test scores .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 6:32

Americans for the Arts has talked about for years about how children benefit in school and work in life and how 72% of business leaders in this country want to hire people who have an arts background because of the skills that they bring to the table . James Caterall his research Doing Well and Doing Good by Doing Arts . That was a book that was written a long time ago and even outside of work and academic success , students who were engaged in the arts in primary and secondary school it indicated that they had more pro-social behavior as well as they were more engaged in their schools and their surrounding communities . I think the thing that sets dance apart from all of the arts areas , because what tends to happen in arts education research is that all of the arts get lumped into one and an arts advocacy as well , which I think it's important . I think it's important that we have that unified voice and bring that to the table .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 7:31

But then sometimes we need to indicate more specifically what is unique about each arts area , and so I think the thing that how dance stands apart from all of these other arts areas is that the way it contributes to kinesthetic development and the development of motor skills and motor learning , which relates back to brain development , which I was talking about earlier . So I mean , if we think about the ability to locomote through space , I mean there's so much that goes into that when young children learn how to do that , the senses are involved . When learning how to move through space . That center of gravity is extremely important , and the ability to write oneself if that center of gravity is disrupted , when like going over a crack in the sidewalk or something that interferes with mobility , also the use of the senses in motor development are extremely important . So I think that's the one place where dance release stands apart from all of the other arts .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:38

Yeah , absolutely . I just think about how important balance is , especially as I'm getting older .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 8:43

Yeah , control about my students read a chapter this semester on postural control and balance . That was the title of the chapter from this book and what happened in our ability to develop postural control .

Dance Education Policy and Standards

Dr. Lisa Hassler 8:56

So now you are involved in policy and you actually wrote some South Carolina standards for dance education . How has this impacted the field and do you foresee a need for further changes ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 9:06

Yes , I've been on teams that have authored two sets of standards . One of those sets of standards included a curriculum support document that I edited . We revised those every seven years , which is pretty customary across the nation , and I visit our state house . I've made a lot of relationships with politicians here in South Carolina and my students participate in arts advocacy , so they go to the state house as well when we have our state and sometimes there's other more informal appointments that were invited to participate in . I think the idea of further changes . I feel like that we're kind of always fighting the same changes or we're always trying to respond to the same thing . Usually in the arts and arts education we're looking at funding issues .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 9:59

Whether we're looking at the state level or nationally , we're looking at funding issues , and we're looking at bills that specifically relate to education and the inclusion of the arts and education .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 10:13

Sometimes there might be something relating to like a tax bill on the books at the federal level . I think the issues are much broader than they are at the state level . But I really feel like we're kind of always it's always the same sort of song and dance and maybe the ask is a little bit different from year to year . And we're very lucky in my state because the arts are very well respected by our legislators and they make sure that our state arts agency is well supported , because that really helps support the arts and arts education across the state .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 10:51

I think that if I was going to going to think about the future , I think one thing , and one thing I try to encourage people to think about , is the perception that the arts are always asking for a handout . That's just not the case . People tend to underestimate the potential of the arts in local , state , regional , national economy . So an example is within the state of South Carolina , the arts contribute $9.8 billion a year to our state economy , and South Carolina is not a large state . So look at what that contributes to the economy on a yearly basis . We need people in these fields . We need people studying in these disciplines because we need them to go out and continue to provide these services , and we need the appreciators . Not every student that studies in the arts is going to become an artist or a painter , you know , a musician or a dancer , and so , basically , you know , we need to continue to generate people who appreciate the arts as well .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 11:56

I think one thing I will say is that every once in a while , there's sort of a new issue that comes into play . I think the one that we're really dealing with right now my state is not alone in this is the debate about critical race theory in education , and that has a profound impact on the arts . I lost some funding because of the language in the grant , because the grant was focused on culturally responsive and culturally relevant pedagogy . In our state right now , there are certain terms that if you want to be supported , if you want to be supported by state funding , and there's certain legislation that's going through right now on how you talk about race and education and that has an impact on the arts , because the arts are so well equipped to focus on social justice , education and social justice issues . You know , throughout history , yeah culturally relevant .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 12:53

they offer opportunities for culturally relevant and culturally responsive pedagogy . And all of these things are being somewhat stifled in different ways because of the perception that they all link back to the teaching of critical race theory in education . And I won't get into that whole debate , but I mean , you know , it's my belief that nobody is teaching critical race theory in K 12 education .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 13:16

That is , and just because I have a background in critical race theory , I feel , like I feel like I'm knowledgeable in that area , but because of that it's stifling some of the work that we can do right now .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 13:27

Your K through 12 dance teachers . What kind of dance classes are in an elementary school ? I'm thinking like I don't think I've ever had a dance class in a K through 12 . I had one in high school . I did take it , but usually there's a PE . So how are you having dance in elementary school ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 13:45

Absolutely well , we have dance and elementary , middle and high school , Nice , and so elementary and their standards are written across . Their K 12 standards Okay , I state their K 12 , some states their pre K through 12 . But so they're written across all of those grade levels . Okay , basically , the four ideas of what students in the state of South Carolina and this is based on the current national core art standards in dance Students need to be able to perform dance , create dance , respond to dance and connect dance with other areas or other arts areas or other subject areas or other areas of life . So , elementary we see a lot of creative dance . I would say yeah . I would say middle , middle school students began to create more , they began to maybe learn more specific dance techniques outside of creative dance and they develop opportunities . There are a lot of opportunities in my state to focus on arts integration or arts infusion work . So there's a lot of work happening across the state where either teachers are working collaboratively with a teacher from another content area .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 15:08

Okay .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 15:10

Or another content area is being brought in to reinforce dance , or vice versa .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 15:16

Okay .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 15:17

So there's a lot of connecting happening . And then high school , the dance classes get divided up a little bit more . So you have students who are taking this as an elective , that maybe don't have much dance training and they're physically active in their class , and then they're also learning a little bit about history and culture within the dance classroom . But then you have students who have a lot of experience in dance and they get into more specific forms and higher levels of choreography as well .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 15:50

So really it's pretty , it's pretty broad and that's our K-12 dance . Teachers have to know a lot . They have to know so much to be able to go in and teach what they teach

K-12 Dance Educators Professional Development Training Opportunities

Dr. Stephanie Milling 16:03

.

Dr. Lisa Hassler 16:03

You offered a free professional development for K-12 dance educators and it was titled Culturally Responsive Dance Pedagogy New Understandings of Culture , context and Social Responsibility . That's your wheelhouse , so that's commendable . You're doing a lot for the professional development area for K-12 educators , not only in your state , but anywhere globally . They could come in and participate in this right . So can you describe the training opportunity and what you feel were the biggest takeaways for your educators that participated ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 16:37

Absolutely , absolutely . So that particular workshop was sort of kicking off a whole series of professional development workshops that have either happened since that initial workshop or are still coming . The whole reason for doing that initial workshop was outside of the content of it . It was really to help reestablish our professional development network for dance educators and professionals in our state . That is something that sort of disbanded several years ago . And there's a small group of us I work with three other professors who worked in institutions of higher education in South Carolina who focus on dance education and their work , and a former student of mine who worked on this grant as a student and she's kind of stayed with the team now as she's a K-12 educator . But that initial professional development workshop was funded by an internal grant from my institution . It basically it was a week long .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 17:41

We provided daily experience that always included movement , a movement workshop based in a different dance form . We focused on ballet and we focused on jazz that has roots in the African diaspora . We looked at Native American dance and one of my colleagues specializes in Native American dance and then we looked at composition and choreography . So there's always a movement portion of the day , a lecture portion of the day and then a portion of the day where educators were working to redesign a lesson . They all had to come into the week with a lesson that they needed to redesign using culturally responsive pedagogical approaches , and then they presented those at the end of the week . Through this work we teach ourselves . Sometimes we bring in nationally known and internationally known guest artists . We buy books and other teaching resources for the teachers . That initial workshop they went away with three books and they read those throughout the training as well .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 18:42

And housing for people that do not live in this city . They had housing on the university campus that they could stay in throughout the week , and I think the biggest takeaway was that they walked away understanding these approaches , how to implement them in their classrooms , and I mean really this professional development , other than the purpose of reestablishing our professional development network and thinking of how do we provide our teachers with the most current perspectives in our field . That's what's important to the team that works on this . How are we providing these teachers with the most current perspectives that they might not have a chance to interact with if they don't get to go to these national conferences on an annual basis ? But also , you know , we need them those of us in higher education that rely on these K-12 educators , too To mentor our students in practicum and student teaching placements . We need them and they need us . It's really a win-win all around .

Dance Education and Teacher Satisfaction

Dr. Lisa Hassler 19:47

I was looking at different research and they were talking about how Dan's education has an impact on teacher satisfaction . What would you say about that ? I mean like , how does it impact teacher satisfaction ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 20:01

Yeah , that's a good question and I can't really speak for all teachers , but I think one thing that I would say that has been true for me throughout time is the intrinsic value of learning that comes in a dance classroom , Usually students that are studying dance .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 20:19

They're there studying it because they want to be there . They are genuinely interested in the discipline and the content and having that motivation to learn the intrinsic value of learning so not not extrinsically what's happening oh , I know I get a grade at the end of this class , but really working toward , well , what is it that feeds me in what I'm learning to succeed , I think that's the one thing that can be really satisfying for teachers . And also the element of the creative process . The creative process and what that provides and I know you know people that might not understand what goes into creating a work of art , creating a dance , creating a musical score . I mean , there's a lot that goes into creating a work of art and to watch students enter a creative process and problem solve and make decisions and make revisions and fail and then try again .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 21:25

I mean that is .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 21:26

I think that's like one of the most beautiful things , that I try to remind my college students about it all the time , that this is a safe space and it's actually really good to fail . It's actually really good because that's where the meaty part of learning really happens .

New MA in Dance Studies at USC

Dr. Lisa Hassler 21:41

And so now you started a new Masters in Arts and Dance Studies at the University of South Carolina . It is a milestone for your state . You want to talk a little bit about this program , and then what opportunities will it offer for those who are taking it ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 21:56

Absolutely so . Our MA in Dance Studies is going to be the first graduate degree in dance in the state of South Carolina , which is greenly exciting . It is a hybrid degree .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 22:13

So , it's a degree that it's really geared toward working professionals and the purpose of it is to enable them to continue employment while they're doing this degree . So we start off as a summer start every year , so people are in the studio and they're working together in person before they go away and during the academic year they're doing online coursework and some of the more theoretical based courses . There is no other degree really like this in the Southeast region at the moment , with in terms of the amount of time that you can complete it in , as well as this really interesting sort of hybrid nature and the broad base of study . I mean , there's so many interesting courses that I'm fortunate to work with professionals at my institution who specialize in a variety of areas . So there's a course it's actually two courses that are kind of focused in anatomy and kinesiology for dancers .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 23:13

There's a choreography and creative process course . There's a course that focuses on neuroscience and dance teaching and performance . There's a dance history course . There is a dance production design course , so it's really and then , of course , the thesis project at the end . So it provides people from a variety of backgrounds and dance to come and expand their knowledge and to sort of take that next step into graduate study and while this degree initially , when it was being developed , was really geared toward the K-12 educator population we have in the state who doesn't have a graduate degree to pursue in the state of South Carolina , to get that next salary step , we decided to sort of broaden the coursework a bit so people from a variety of dance backgrounds whether it's a more creative choreographic background , a dance performance background or a pedagogical background would feel comfortable and prepared coming into this program of study .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 24:18

It sounds so interesting .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 24:21

And it has been . It's so far about two years of my life working on this to get it approved by the institution and by the state . I'm excited about it and it's going to provide a really just , valuable opportunity for those in South Carolina and beyond . I actually had somebody from another country contact me and want to talk to me the other day about this , so it's going to be wonderful .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 24:50

It sounds wonderful , I'm excited . I know dancers that I've already talked to about it and I'm like you have got to look into this . So where would someone go to learn more about it ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 25:01

Absolutely Well , they can email me . They can find my information on the University of South Carolina Theater and Dance website . They can just look on the University of South Carolina Theater and Dance website where there's a place . Big red letters apply here and you click on it and it takes you to the graduate school's website and you can find information about it on the graduate school website as well .

Advice for Parents and Teachers

Dr. Lisa Hassler 25:26

Perfect . Before we wrap up , can you leave teachers and parents with maybe some advice on dance and education ?

Dr. Stephanie Milling 25:33

Absolutely . I think , the big thing that I would say not to underestimate the potential of dance learning to support and reinforce other content areas . Sometimes the idea of dance and what it is and what opportunities there are to learn the different content , the different areas of the field , are misunderstood . It's not just steps . It's not just steps by . Inherently , dance is very interdisciplinary . So we're always able to connect to history and culture . We're always able to connect to other arts areas because a lot of time , dance performance includes all other arts areas . We're able to connect because of the processes that we use to create . We can make connections to ELA , science and scientific processes and principles . And then , finally , all of the skills that we learned in a dance classroom , which I mentioned earlier . They all translate into other areas .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 26:33

Not that we should always be looking at dance as oh , we can take these skills and apply them anywhere , not that that is the purpose and the function of it but , I look at my own training now being chair of a department and I've served in a lot of administrative positions throughout my career I think my ability to choreograph and my ability to evaluate choreography I'm able to run a department because I can see all the moving parts individually and I can see the big picture at the same time and I'm able to work with others to achieve goals and so I think really thinking about the skills that are learned and how those can be utilized throughout life is really

Call to Action

Dr. Stephanie Milling 27:15

important .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 27:16

Excellent . Well , thank you , Stephanie , for sharing insights into dance as a discipline and its far reaching gains in education , society and life .

Dr. Stephanie Milling 27:25

Thank you so much for having me .

Dr. Lisa Hassler 27:27

Let's answer the call to action: advocate for dance in your K through 12 schools . If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share , you can email me at drlisarichardsonhassler@ gmail . com , or visit my website at www . drlisarhassler . com and send me a message . If you like this podcast , subscribe and tell a friend . The more people that know the bigger impact it will have . If you find value to the content in this podcast , consider becoming a supporter by clicking on the supporter link in the show notes . It is the mission of this podcast to shine light on the good in education so that it spreads , affecting positive change . So let's keep working together to find solutions that focus on our children's success .