Dance Movements Of Children: A Case Study Of Preschoolers In Wlnneba

Abstract

Over the years much of the literature available all around the world, has focused on using dance as a tool to correct some mobility issues in the development of children and the benefits of music and dance to the growing child. In Ghana, limited research has been done on the dance movements of children. The present study adds to the growing body of literature on children's movement to music by investigating the dance movements of Ghanaian preschoolers. It is believed that, dancing not only allows for creativity in children and may also require little or no supervision from caregivers. The study employed a two-phase exploratory mixed method design. The first phase, which was qualitative in nature, employed content analysis and observation to develop a protocol guide that was used in the second phase to investigate the dance movements of the selected participants. The population was drawn from Ghanaian preschoolers in the Effutu Municipality of the Central Region of Ghana. The sample was taken from two (2) public and four (4) private kindergarten schools within the capital of this municipality, Winneba. The second phase was quantitative iri nature where 120 participants from the six (6) schools were recorded dancing in the classroom to some selected Ghanaian popular music excerpts. The study revealed that the older children had improved dance movement responses than younger children; that there was no statistically significant differences between the two genders and finally children in private schools had more interesting dance movements than those in public schools.