Student Well-Being & Movement Video

Teachers, Try This: Use Dance to Boost Engagement and Learning

By Kaylee Domzalski & Jaclyn Borowski — February 13, 2025 2:34
Members of eMotion Breakdance bring rehearsal outside during a fire drill at Bellaire High School on Nov. 21, 2024, in Houston.

Paris Kent, the dance director at Bellaire High School in Houston, has sent her students into physics classes to help students learn about the rotation of an axis through the movement of their bodies, demonstrating how a person’s size impacts the speed of the rotation. It’s just one way Kent works to incorporate dance across the curriculum.

But the methods for utilizing movement are just as plentiful as the reasons for doing so—from giving students an opportunity to share elements of their culture, creating connections between students and their teachers, and increasing student engagement.

Here, Kent shares how teachers can incorporate dance and movement into their classrooms in small, time-effective ways.

Kaylee Domzalski is a video producer for Education Week.
Jaclyn Borowski is the Director of Photography and Videography for Education Week.

Video

Early Childhood Video Play-Based Learning: How It Can Build Young Children’s Independence
An EdWeek video looks at how an early learning program helps students explore boundaries and responsibility.
1 min read
Students tend to chickens at WonderHere in Lakeland, Fla. on Sept. 1, 2026.
Students tend to chickens at WonderHere in Lakeland, Fla. on Sept. 1, 2026.
Saul Martinez for Education Week
Teaching Video How Co-Teaching Helps English Learners Succeed
Increasingly in the Metro Nashville schools, general-education and English-learner teachers team up.
1 min read
Laura Eady, a 3rd grade general education teacher (left), and Lisa Maddox, an English-learner teacher, prepare lessons together for students at Mt. View Elementary School in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 2, 2026.
Laura Eady, a 3rd grade general education teacher (left), and Lisa Maddox, an English-learner teacher, prepare lessons together for students at Mt. View Elementary School in Nashville, Tenn., on Sept. 2, 2026.
Kevin Wurm for Education Week
School & District Management Video ‘You’ll Make New Friends’: What Happens to Students When Their School Closes
How two middle schoolers managed uncertainty as their rural school closed its doors.
1 min read
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the First day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the first day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Natalie Behring for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Video How One NYC School Experienced 9/11: An EdWeek Editor Recounts That Day
EdWeek's Kevin Bushweller recalls how the staff at a Manhattan public school reacted with resolute calm to upheaval.
Education Week Managing Editor. Sean Cavanagh (left) and Deputy Managing Editor Kevin Bushweller discuss how one New York City school experienced September 11, 2001.
Education Week Managing Editor. Sean Cavanagh (left) and Deputy Managing Editor Kevin Bushweller discuss how one New York City school experienced September 11, 2001.
Yi-Jo Shen for Education Week