Aesthetic and Expressive activities play an important role in the broader learning area of physical education. Specifically, dance and gymnastics offer alternative modes of self-expression and aesthetic engagement, extending students physical, critical, and communicative skills and provide a readily available vehicle to continue the development of fundamental movement skills. Dance and Gymnastics also to the Junior Cycle Wellbeing Indicators of Resilience and Connected, and Social Justice matters of gender, cultural identity and inclusion. The purpose of this module is the develop physical education teachers that, once graduated are confident in the subject content of dance and gymnastics and demonstrate effectively, and plan safe, enjoyable meaningful educational Physical Activity experiences. Creating is central to these subjects and as such this module is an ideal opportunity for students to take ownership of their work.

The emphasis in this module will be on the Curriculum Model of Personal and Social Responsibility. Through a combination of lecture based and practical labs students will experience and learn to plan for safe, inclusive and educationally meaningful learning for post-primary students in dance and gymnastics. To achieve the module learning outcomes the module content will cover: 1. practical introduction to the fundamentals of dance and gymnastics as aesthetic, cultural and expressive activities. 2. knowledge, skills and understanding of bodily techniques, aesthetic appreciation, cultural identity, inclusive and creative composition and using basic gymnastics equipment. 3. a range of strategies for safe and effective practice in dance and gymnastics that fosters, positive emotional intelligence, positive self-image and social responsibility. 4. accessing and using resources on digital teaching and learning platforms to enhance performance, composition and appreciation in both dance and gymnastcis. 5. cooperative activitiies, teaching and learning skills, guiding students towards more adaptive and motivational patterns of behaviour. 6. Engaging in qualitative research methodologies to review literature and existing data to interrogate cultural and historical physical and gender stereotypes in relation to dance and gymnastics.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: • Analyse and evaluate dance and gymnastics skills and performance. • Examine the nature of dance and gymnastics in a range of contexts including the Physical Education curriculum and in local communities. • Apply and evaluate relevant Curriculum Model of Personal and Social Responsibility as a strategy to engage and sustain student learning. • Use digital resources as part of developing personal and group performance targets and pedagogical approaches specific to dance and gymnastics that will develop pupils' technological literacy. (Digital Skills)

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: • Value working with others as a principle of caring for others. • Appreciate the aesthetic and expressive nature of dance and gymnastics. • Critically reflect on their own learning experiences in dance and gymnastics as part of an integrated and culturally sensitive approach to education. (Global Citizenship)

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: • Demonstrate fundamental movement skills of dance and gymnastics. • Create and perform dance and gymnastic sequences.

Through a combination of lectures laboratory and private study it is anticipated that the theoretical and practical aspects of the module content will enable the learning outcomes to be met. Experiential learning in the laboratories will be supported by online resources, lectures, literature, Post Primary Physical Education curricula (Junior Cycle, Senior Cycle and Leaving Certificate in Physical Education. A blended learning approach to pedagogy will be informed by current research in physical education and online, digital and mediated learning opportunities in dance and gymnastics UL Graduate Attributes: knowledgeable, creative, responsible, collaborative, and articulate. This module particularly focuses on creating an environment that supports students becoming: Knowledgeable: Develop the capacity for critical thinking within the dance and gymnastic disciplines. Demonstrate confidence in applying disciplinary knowledge to practice. Creative: Develop the capacity to see new possibilities and opportunities, and to act on them Collaborative: Show commitment to collaboration or to achieving collaboration, among others.