ABSTRACT
Sometimes it is good to be thrown in the deep end. Almost as soon as I had arrived in Assam for the very first time, I found myself facilitating a workshop for school students at the Delhi Public School in Guwahati. There was little time to reflect on why a school in Guwahati was known as the Delhi Public School, who my students were, how many would be involved, or how they would respond to my personal teaching pedagogy. Teaching is what I love to do and after many years in western tertiary, secondary, and primary school contexts, I was keen to try out my creative teaching strategies in India.
This chapter reflects upon my experiences of teaching dance workshops in Assam over a four-year period. Five case studies are examined alongside research that outlines the benefits of working collaboratively and creatively. These benefits are also discussed in respect to learning to problem solve while enjoying learning. The benefits of integrating dance activities across the curriculum are also discussed in the light of a new school curriculum in India that calls for critical and creative thinking. A qualitative research pedagogy is applied that draws upon constructivism and auto-ethnographic methods.
