This thesis is situated within the field of early childhood education and explores learning through artistic experience, more specifically through dance-theatre art in a Montessori kindergarten.
In the theoretical part, I present the foundations of holistic and experiential learning, which emphasize the child’s active role in the learning process and the importance of learning through artistic experience for a child’s development. I focus on Montessori pedagogy and the significance of the prepared environment, independence, and learning through one’s own experience, which together provide an important framework for the development of artistic activities. Special attention is given to dance expression and the role of theatre in early childhood.
I believe that dance-theatre activities, which are based on movement and play, meaningfully align with Montessori pedagogy. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to investigate how preschool children respond to planned and guided dance-theatre activities, as well as to activities that are content-wise and organizationally adapted to the principles of Montessori pedagogy, in the form of a Montessori-prepared environment for dance-theatre play. During the observation, I monitored children’s responses to dance-theatre activities, their level of engagement, mutual cooperation, and aspects of motor creativity, such as diversity of movement, use of space, directions, levels, and the time and energy of movement.
I conclude that the children responded very positively to the dance-theatre activities, demonstrating a high level of motivation. They actively engaged in the activities, spontaneously developing their own movement ideas and collaborating with one another. Progress was also observed in the area of social development, particularly in cooperation, communication, and the assumption of various roles within the group.
Furthermore, the children exhibited diverse and engaging movement creativity, as they employed a variety of movement patterns, explored space, and adapted their movements in accordance with the progression of the story and the theme of the activity. The findings confirm that dance-theatre activities can be meaningfully integrated into the Montessori environment, where, with appropriate adaptation and implementation, they can support the holistic development of children.
|
