Results of this Research
The results are discussed in relation to the three questions: firstly, if adults and children can benefit from dancing together, secondly, do the props used as affordances enhance this experience and thirdly, were these sessions diverse, equitable and inclusive?
45 of you completed questionnaires (31 by adults, 8 by children and 6 joint efforts), and the results were overwhelmingly positive about dance being beneficial for both adults and children.
When adults were asked if they feel they “were able to be more than just a caregiver”, there were 16 strong “Yes” answers. Other responses reflected, in different ways, how the grownups enjoyed the opportunity to play and dance with their children:
“I loved having fun with my kids and all being on the same level of silliness.”
“The fact that everyone else joins in, makes it more comfortable to really get stuck in which the girls love. It’s just like we are at home in the kitchen.”
“Yes, it made me feel as a child again and the way my children see the session helps me see a bit through their eye, which is a credit for all of us.”
“YES, I ENJOY GETTING INVOLVED WITH THE PROPS AND HAVING THE CHILDREN SEE ME OUT OF THE FUNCTIONAL ROLE I PLAY AT HOME”
I found that although the adults always feel their responsibility as parents/carers, you were still able to get involved and lose yourselves in the group dance. The adults guided, supported and comforted their children when necessary, which is key to supporting their participation. You enabled your children either by verbal encouragement, listening to them when things weren’t working out, consulting, providing physical support and at the same time joining in and leading by example. You often showed a natural creativity in adapting to their own situations which can be seen in the videos. The session gave ideas to challenge the normal family dynamics, for example the follow the leader exercise was amusing to many when a family were following the antics of a baby or toddler, a dynamic not commonly seen at home. One respondent commented that they liked “the "follow the lead", dancing like the kids. It was fun - I felt it created empathy.”
The family sessions were notably different to my regular session that are catered to individuals. Having the focus being families created a more collaborative dynamic. How different families explored tasks or danced together illustrated creativity and provided constant surprises.
In response to the question whether families felt connected to others in the room, many respondents felt more connected to their own families than to the group. One participant summed it up:
“I felt more connected to my own family unit but enjoyed sharing the experience with other families”
Across the whole questionnaire, these were the most commonly used words:
Love (66)
Enjoy (63)
Family (58)
Engage (41)
Together (40)
It was great to see the strong family focus within the sessions, some described it as “family medicine” and “family therapy”. These reflections indicate that the session appeared to have a positive impact on your wellbeing:
“As a parent and as an adult I really enjoy the rare opportunity to be playful with my children and other families, to be part of a group and to dance together without feeling self-conscious - it's like family medicine.”
“This class felt like a safe space, or creative space to play, have fun and bond as a family. Thank you for this opportunity! We all very much enjoyed it.”
“Just unexpected laughs, fun and quality time, much needed family time, feeling better connected and bonded”
“All three of us (41,6,2) have such a fun time together. We love that we can be free and there is no judgement “
You were asked about the use of props and toys in the session and about the use of music and lights in the session. Overwhelming encouraging, most comments indicated that the props and toys helped you participate and engage with the session:
“For those of us in our family who don't have imagination to just move, a prop gives some structure.”
“They helped as the focus is not just on dancing. The props helped us interact.”
“I think the props help as they are all so fun and unusual, they draw the attention of the whole family.”
On the other hand, some responses indicated that some props are not always appropriate and accessible to younger children or those with disabilities. One family indicated that at times, props and toys could be a distraction, instead of affording an enhanced dance experience. Qualitative research will, by nature, demonstrate differences of opinion between people, and although I can guess at the reasons, the nuance and complexity of self-bias and past experience can never be fully unpicked. When situations arose in the sessions in which families were no longer benefitting from a particular affordance, I always allowed for flexibility and suggested different options for interaction. A key learning is that everyone will respond to affordances differently, and therefore, props are best used in combination with a flexible teaching style.
An objective of the research was to bring together families intergenerationally as well as including those with differing abilities. While my methodology, with the use of props as affordances lends itself to being accessible, in practice, the issues were more complex. The recruitment process did not ensure a good diverse representation. I optimistically hoped that recruitment through social media would lead to a diverse set of attendees, but in fact in ended up being mainly people who had previously attended session, creating a strong selection bias. Because of this, there is only a limited amount that can be said about this specific objective of my research.
Out of the 4 sessions I ran, the fourth session was very different to the first three in that I, having identified a lack of diversity, specifically targeted more neurodivergent families and reached out specifically to those who do not regularly attend sessions. The questionnaire responses from this session give a glimpse into both the benefits and challenges of including a neurodiverse and physically diverse group in these sessions. For example, families with disabled children reflected that some of the activities required adjustments for their children, and non-disabled families that attended reflected a feeling or surprise at the neurodiversity in the room. This indicates that in the local area, there may be a lack of familiarity with the disabled experience, or that these types of activities are not normally inclusive in this way. I am also involved in offering exclusive sessions for those with SEN, but these then exclude neurotypical participants except if they are siblings.
Observations and conversations with those families who attended with disabled and neurodiverse children also highlighted that they did feel welcome besides having to adapt and make accommodations. One participant noted “What's lovely is how different behaviours are accepted.”
One responder wrote that for their disabled child, “It was a little overwhelming with the loudness for him and he signalled for his hearing aids to be removed, which solved the issue.” Another said that the lighting, for their son was a distraction. A carer of a disabled child wrote that “even though he didn't want to participate in touching/initiating with props they help me in encouraging him to join in and at times he did touch and the soft balls he liked.”. From this, the ability to adapt and be flexible, from the perspective of a caregiver, and also a facilitator and a participant in the session, is key to making the sessions accessible and beneficial to those with disabilities.
These findings reflect the wider issues that disabled and neurodivergent people face in society. Although the sessions, by nature of having minimal instruction, and lots of opportunity for flexibility, are more accessible to disabled people than other parts of society, disabled people at the sessions still faced more challenges and difficulties. In future research, I would encourage to neurodiverse people to be recruited to the study to be able to gather more data. Also, other dimensions of inclusivity and diversity, such as financial background, race and gender were not explored here as there was not the recruitment or data to draw and results from, but are important to study in future research.