Finding Dance in Sylvia's Classroom

Abstract

Sylvia Ashton-Warner was a teacher who had great enthusiasm for the power of creativity in the young children she taught. This paper draws on the ideas in Sylvia's famous books Teacher and Spinster to reappraise the relevance of those ideas for today's teachers. It is argued that there is, indeed, much of relevance. Dance, for example, is a way of allowing children to express their inner selves and bring out their creativity, as are the other arts.