Embodied ethnopedagogy in dance creation: an educational ethnography of primary school teacher candidates in Indonesia

This dissertation examines dance creation among prospective elementary school teachers in Indonesia through an ethnography of body-based education. The ethnographic method involved closely following dance class life through participant observation of warm-ups, movement explorations, group work, lecturer corrections, repeated practice, and presentations; in-depth interviews with students, lecturers, and elementary school educators; and documentation of field notes, learning reflections, process recordings, and choreographic readings. The findings demonstrate that dance classes are not merely spaces for artistic practice but social arenas where bodies, relationships, culture, and pedagogical imaginations mutually shape one another. Students learn to manage shame, read rhythm, negotiate ideas, and transform everyday experiences into meaningful movements for children. Local cultural experiences are present through childhood games, folk songs, daily movements, bodily expressions, and shared values. The main contribution of this dissertation is the development of the concept of embodied ethnopedagogy, which positions the body as the center of knowledge, culture as the source of meaning, and the dance classroom as a field for the formation of creative, reflective, and empathetic teachers, rooted in the Indonesian context.