Move This World Digital Tools for Emotional Wellbeing
This project's parent organization is Move This World
It operates in United States
It uses Dance
Shortlisted for the
More about Move This World Digital Tools for Emotional Wellbeing
While a Fulbright Scholar in conflict-ridden Colombia in 2007, Move This World Founder and CEO Sara Potler LaHayne created the first iteration of the curriculum that would go on to become Move This World. Sara saw how students were falling asleep at their desks, unresponsive and disengaged when educators lectured about empathy and conflict resolution from behind their desks. Later, she saw the same students light up when dancing to reggaeton music on the playground. Sara, a lifelong performer and dancer, realized dance could inspire those same social, emotional, and civic skills being taught in books.
The research went on to prove her theory. Empathy is a cognitive, affective, and kinesthetic construct. The kinesthetic dimension of empathy allows us to feel the physical state of another person with our own body, which is a crucial component in the perception and expression of emotions (Behrends, Muller, and Dziobek, 2012). Moreover, programs focusing on developing social and emotional competencies for empathetic behaviour could yield community-level decreases in violence (Sams & Truscott, 2004). Using dance and creative movement to teach empathy reduces violent conflict.