Episode 82: Learning to Teach; Teaching to Learn — Jolanta Oko

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This week on 5.6.7.EIGHT, Aleksandra interviews Jolanta Oko — Founder and Director at</span> <a href="https://cnadedu.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Canada’s National Academy of Dance Education</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which offers immense amounts of resources to empower dance educators.</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Jolanta boasts an impressive dance resume, having been a dance teacher for 22 years, a studio owner for 8 years, and a school teacher for 12 years. She holds a BFA and an MA in dance from York University and is a graduate of the National Ballet School’s Teacher Training Program in Canada. For her work with dance educators, Oko was nominated for the Hamilton Arts Innovator Award in both 2017 and 2018. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jolanta’s journey is the classic tale of being unable to shake a passion that’s inside of you. From a young age, Jolanta discovered the joy and therapy of being in dance yet decided to explore an alternate career path after experiencing some rejection. However, after feeling genuine sorrow at having to hang up what once provided her happiness, she has returned to the dance world, now enabling teachers to teach methods that work best and, in turn, encouraging students to pursue dance-related passions, even if they manifest in off-stage roles.</span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Moving Quotes:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Teachers are always taking courses; the curriculum is always changing. I really loved that about teaching. The children are changing, the world is changing, and our teaching methods have to change."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Why are the cognitive and physical abilities of different age groups important? They’re important so that you know what you’re teaching, why you’re teaching it, and how you’re going to teach it. You can’t teach the same thing the same way to a five-year-old as you can to a seven-year-old."</span></p> <p><span style="