The Role of Traditional Dance Education in Children's Learning: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

This systematic literature review explores the impact of traditional dance education on children's cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development. Through an analysis of diverse studies and theoretical perspectives, the review highlights how traditional dance fosters holistic learning in young children. Traditional dance holds significant cultural value, not only as a means of preserving heritage but also as an educational tool. This paper followed a systematic literature review of journal articles extracted from SCOPUS, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. Eighteen articles met the inclusion criteria and were selected. The traditional dances reported in the selected studies include: Greek Traditional Dance (GTD) (n=8), Traditional Art Dance Therapy (TATA) (n=1), Malay Zapin Traditional Dance (MZTD) (n=2), Turki dances (n=2), Javanese Traditional Dance (JTD) (n=1), Indian Traditional Dance (ITD) (n=2), and Russian Folk Dance (RFD) (n=2). Six studies described the impact of traditional dance on students' cognitive abilities. The findings indicated that traditional dances enhance children's intellectual and mathematical skills. Twelve studies clarified the contribution of traditional dance to physical and motoric skills; the results show that traditional dance improves motor skills, balance, coordination, and body awareness. Other results, seven studies on traditional dance have an impact on social and emotional skills that allow children to express themselves creatively, which plays a significant role in emotional regulation, confidence, self-awareness, collaboration, communication, and empathy.