Abstract
The object of this project was to establish a relationship between bodily movements, feeling states and affectivity, as experienced by a group of PMLD children who had stereotypical behaviours. The Pratchett Movement Observation Schedule (PMOS) was devised and used as a tool for analysing movement patterns, it also became a dance teaching programme. Four children were observed on three different occasions and a personal movement programme was developed which was based on the identified gaps in their PMOS profiles. Other checklists were used to develop a comprehensive portrait of the child. All the children showed alterations in their emotional and physical behaviour, the stereotypies decreased in one child and another was able to control her violent emotional outbursts. Towards the end of the six months, the children were able to work together as a group and begin to develop the ability to allow themselves to experience a range of different movements. Keywords: PMLD, movement observation, affective development, Laban, stereotypies.
Introduction
This study originated in the observation of a young child who had been described as having behaviour problems with tantrums, screaming attacks and some self-aggression. My intuitive, Laban (1988) based movement observations suggested that Josie's movements occurred at the periphery of her body boundary and that she was unable to bring her limbs close to her body centre. An experiential dance movement programme was introduced where Josie could feel new and different bodily movements that were not an integral part of her usual movement repertoire. Murdoch (1997) suggests that working with existing repetitive behaviours within the zone of proximal development is an option for moving children on. I observed and recorded Josie's movements and used this as a starting point to develop her movement experiences, however I did not just work with her existing movements but I sought to move her on physically, emotionally and socially. The programme was designed to extend and expand her bodily awareness and movement repertoire; it also sought to see if these alterations would affect her emotional state. This proposition is grounded in the notion that the mind and body are linked (Johnson 1987, Damasio 1995, Merleau- Ponty 1962, Pert 1997), and that new physical movements would influence Josies' emotional or affective state, as her current movements were so frenetic and agitated. Perhaps feeling new and different movements would calm her and alter her behaviour.
The children who participated in this study would be described as having profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD). They had no formal means of communicating with others and they also had a physical disability. The aim was to see if they could engage in more constructive relationships through developing their bodily awareness and movement experiences. As Sherbourne (1990) suggests "Obsessional movements begin to disappear as the handicapped person finds the movement experiences interesting and involving." p.95. The key to the success of the study was to observe and understand what my pupils were doing. Many professionals had already observed the children, but they had only focused on the behaviour and the problems associated with it. My aim was to use a different format for observing the children and to link movement behaviour with affective feelings. Even though my pupils were profoundly disabled, I was convinced that they would respond to feeling new movements and that by working with their repetitive behaviours through 'other-willed' action on self they would begin to develop self-willed action (Stern 1985). The starting point was to use a fine grain system of observing and analysing their movements. The Pratchett Movement Observation Schedule was devised for this purpose and it was grounded in Laban's theories of dance, which looks at where we move, what we move and how we move (the dynamics / effort involved in these actions) and our relationship with others.
Four children were involved in this study and table 1, 2 and 3 describe their disabilities, physical abilities and stereotypies. They all attended a PMLD special school run by the charity Scope. The children were selected because they exhibited a range of restricted movement patterns and some stereotypical behaviour that caused an obstruction to learning. At the outset of the study none of the children could walk independently and they were aged from 7 to 11 years.
The Pratchett Movement Observation Schedule (PMOS)
The PMOS
was designed to record the child's bodily movements using a dance perspective
not a functional movement approach. When devising this schedule, I looked to
dance movement education and Laban's work developed by Preston-Dunlop (1980)
and North (1990). When analysing North's (1990) description of the different
aspects of bodily movements that can be observed and notated by the teacher, I
had to assess their relevance and usefulness for PMLD children (appendix I
lists these aspects). Extra elements were added to different sections to
account for the children's physical impairment. The PMOS was based on my
practical work with the children and it was developed from this classroom work.
Part A - Dynamics
This section of the PMOS describes the
quality of the movements used by the study children; however, these elements
are often missing from their personal movement pattern. Laban (1960) describes
the component parts of Effort / Dynamics as space, weight, time and flow. Each
quality has an opposite attribute i.e. weight is described as light / firm;
time as sudden / sustained; space as flexible / direct and flow as free /
bound. Figure 1 pictorially shows Laban's (1960, p.81) special notation for
recording the effort qualities of movements.
Flexible Light Direct Free Bound Sustained Sudden Firm The relevance of this section for my research was to see if the study children had these qualities in their movement repertoire and then to see if as part of a taught programme they would be able to feel and learn new ways of moving. This aim covered all areas of the movement programme.
The section called 'Phrasing' looks at the child's use of these qualities and is personal to the child. With my group of children it was difficult to make secure assessments in this section and for most of the children it was marked 'none'. When making these observations, I looked at the child and not their disability.
The following section labelled 'Rhythms' was included to indicate if the child had any rhythmic patterns in their personal movement pattern. Rhythms were an important element of the movement programme and this section was a useful diagnostic tool. Levete (1987) suggests that every human being is born with a sense of rhythm and that it is outwardly expressed through any part of the body that can move. It would be interesting to evaluate this proposition by analysing my observations and to see if my findings were similar.
Part B - Body Parts
Russell (1965) placed Laban's (1988)
sixteen basic movement themes into an analytical framework for use in schools
as a dance movement programme. A summary of her Four Aspects of Movements is
described in figure 8 they include: the body, effort, space and shape and
relationships. These elements are all included in the PMOS and section B - Body
Parts is based on her work. The part that looks at 'activity' (locomotion,
elevation,) has been altered to account for the children's disabilities and my
division includes; the way they have 'contact with the floor' and how they
'move across the floor'. Because of my experience of working with my study
children, I was able to recognise that when on the floor, the children would
move their upper and lower bodies differently. I therefore had these as
separate sections under 'Which body part moves?' All elements of this section
are relevant but the 'awareness of body centre' is extremely important as
movements emanate from our body centre and if this does not happen the child
may have problems developing a sense of movement perception (Moore and Yamamoto
1988).
Part C - Timefactors
This section was included because I was
interested in working with children who had some repetitive or stereotypical
behaviour and this quantitative data would reveal the incidence of these
behaviours. It also gave a picture of the child's response to the environment
and some indication of affective behaviour i.e. in 'postural behaviours' I
indicate if the child is passive or hyperactive and then I supply a pen
portrait of the child. This portrait can be verified by external reports on the
child. This was not a tool for developing a specific behavioural intervention
programme that targeted these repetitive behaviours with the aim of changing
them.
Part D - Pathways
Where the body moves in space is the focus
of this part of the PMOS and it is grounded in Laban's (1988) work and further
developed by Russell (1965) and Preston-Dunlop (1980). Here, I look to see
where the child is moving within her personal kinesphere and if the movements
are near to or away from the body centre. The kinesphere is a surmised spatial
field around the body, the periphery of which can be reached by extending the
limbs without moving the base support; this kinesphere moves with the
individual (Preston-Dunlop 1979). Using these spatial forms provides key
elements of the proposed movement programme for the child.
Part E - Relationships
The children chosen for this study had
some relationship problems either with themselves, their peers or with adults.
This section was viewed as important in discovering if and where these problems
occurred. Dance movement education based on Laban's theory stresses the
importance of relationships of body parts, individuals to each other and of
groups to each other. The list of suggested interactions is not exhaustive and
can be personalised to the individual.
Part F - Diagnostic Record
This section was included to record descriptive information on the children as an aide to developing a portrait. These categories were briefly described in Part C under postural behaviours or responses. Floppy movements could describe the child with athetoid cerebral palsy; while 'introverted' may be a relevant description of a child with autistic traits.
The Study
Four children participated in this study which was
conducted in a busy classroom after the lunch break. The sessions lasted from 5
to 20 minutes and occurred on a daily basis. The children were individually
observed using the PMOS, then their movement patterns were analysed and any
specific problem areas were noted and used as a starting point to develop their
movement experiences so that they would eventually participate in a structured
group movement session. These dance movement sessions were not an attempt to
correct a movement pattern; they were an experiential movement encounter where
the child would feel new and different movements that were not part of their
usual repertoire. It was an attempt to discover if affective responses are
connected and established in the body and then expressed in physical actions.
The PMOS was used as a teaching programme as it contained all the elements of a
dance curriculum. The children experienced a range of movements that included
fast and slow, diagonal movements and movements that were close to and far from
their body centre as part of their programme. The objectives for the child were
not rigidly defined beforehand and were determined to be soft goals e.g. to
develop the ability to relate to others; the sessions were also seen as a
worthwhile educational encounter (Eisner 1969) that sought to test the
described hypotheses. Each programme was personalised for the individual child
and would start with a song e.g. Josie ____ is a very nice girl, Josie _____
goes flick, flick. The session would then move onto working with the target
behaviour, if the child pulled away, then the activity would stop and would
restart when appropriate. This way of working would follow the advice from
dance movement therapy and would not be overwhelming or intimidating for the
child. We would then move on and work with offering the child a range of
different movements e.g. fast or slow. The session then ended with a quiet
rocking moment.
Results
Each child started the study at an individual point
that was personalised for them; they worked through this programme on a daily
basis. All the children showed signs of alteration in their physical behaviour
and affective responses as the study progressed. After the six months of
individual movement work with the children, a short questionnaire was sent out
to parents, carers and school staff asking if there had been any change in the
child's behaviour and if they had benefited from the movement work. The general
consensus was that the children were calmer and that the movement work has been
of benefit to them. It was more difficult to state that these changes occurred
because of the work but the adults stated that they believed the changes
occurred because of the movement work. The PMOS was reused to see if there had
been any alterations to the child's first profile. All the children had
progressed in some area after the inception of the programme. Stereotypical
behaviours were not totally eliminated, but the incidence decreased and they
were not disruptive to social interactions.
Discussion
The aim of this study was to see if bodily
movements influenced behaviour and affective states and all the children showed
some alteration in affectivity, behaviour and their use of bodily movements.
The notion that how we move our bodies influences the way we feel and hence our
behaviour has been demonstrated in this study with a group of children with
PMLD. Some dramatic changes occurred with Josie and she eventually was able to
calm herself after an emotional episode. It appears that there is a link
between the mind, body and emotions; and Pert (1997) who has scientifically
investigated a link between brain, body and behaviour, states "Emotional states
or moods are produced by the various neuropeptide ligands, and what we
experience as an emotion or feeling is also a mechanism for activating a
particular neuronal circuit - simultaneously throughout the brain and body -
which generates a behaviour involving the whole creature, with all the
necessary physiological changes that behaviour would require." p.145. This
quotation legitimises my research and provides physiological evidence for a
link between feelings and behaviour. My work with profoundly disabled children
can be used with other groups of children that have special educational needs,
but it also shows how important dance and movement are for the mainstream
population as a stabilising force for emotional and social development.
© Glynis Pratchett 1999
Appendix 1
| The Body | Effort | Special Directions and patterns | Relationships |
| Inwards and outwards flow | Phrases | Shaping gestures | Relationships between the moving person and objects or with other people |
| Narrow and wide use of body | Elements of movementAttitude to weightAttitude to timeAttitude to flowAttitude to space | Placement of shapes | |
| Body awareness | Ability to alternate between opposite attitudes | Planes of movement | |
| Unity of the upper and lower parts of the body | Combinations of three elements appearing at the same time | Levels of space which are used by an individual | |
| Unity of the centre of the body and the extremities | Combination of two elements appearing at the same time | ||
| Trunk movements initiated in different parts | |||
| Symmetry and asymmetry of the body | |||
| Shapes of the body | |||
| Manual dexterity |
Adapted from North (1990) pp. 153 - 167
Bibliography
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reston-Dunlop, V. (1979). Dancing and Dance Theory. A Laban Centenary Publication. London.
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