“Me Dancing”: An Intrinsic Case Study of Primary School Boys’ Understandings of Movement and Dance Through Their Drawings

In this research we explore the place of creative embodiment through movement and dance from the understandings of a group of 8-10-year-old elementary school boys. Children can be asked to speak or write about their movement experiences, but for younger cohorts it may easier for them to reveal their ideas via their own drawings. In this qualitative study using drawings as a research method, two classes (a total of 31) of Year 3-4 boys in a suburban elementary school in Melbourne, Australia were asked to produce a drawing of “me dancing” in an empty frame. Each child was then asked to explain their drawing to clarify their depictions. Visual data from the participants were analysed thematically with their comments assisting our understanding of the meaning of their images. We recognised in the data representations of movement as integral to personal physical activity and self-expression. Our findings suggest that young boys were engaged through kinaesthetic activity (movement and dance) that was included in their experiences both at school and beyond. For us, this underscores the importance of providing movement and dance in educational programs for young boys.