Dance in Early Childhood Education: A Comparative Studyof the Regional Curriculum in the LOMLOE

Abstract

Dance as a language has a high educational value, endorsed by the scientific community as an ideal resource for early childhood education. Its contribution to children's motor development, along with the psychosocial aspects that can be addressed through dance, mean that dance should be a tool considered by teaching professionals for this stage. This comparative study aims to determine the presence of curricular elements that refer to dance in regional curricula for early childhood education, both in the first and second cycles, for the legislative period of the LOMLOE (Spanish Organic Law of Education). To this end, the eighteen curricula published since Royal Decree 95/2022 were analyzed using a systematic analysis protocol. Among some of the results found, it is clear that most curricula (with the exception of five) tend to include dance more in their documents, favoring its presence and, therefore, its subsequent development in early childhood classrooms than the national proposal. However, this presence is greater for the second cycle than for the first.Likewise, dance is used in some autonomous communities as a source of knowledge about regional musical heritage. It should be noted that the terms dance and dance are used differently, giving them distinct connotations and are not usually used synonymously, although dance can be assumed within the concept of dance. It is concluded that the autonomous communities are making a greater commitment to incorporating dance and dance into early childhood education classrooms than the national government.