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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to design and pilot a curriculum that would use overlapping concepts of two pedagogies: arts integration and Universal Design for Learning. In this curriculum, students would develop perspective and point of view skills through movement based activities. Both arts integration and Universal Design for Learning provide opportunities for teachers to increase student engagement and learning while building an inclusive classroom space. Having the skill to understand another person’s perspective is applicable to students' learning in social studies, reading, and writing, as well as understanding behavior and mitigating conflict, yet these skills are not commonly taught as an academic topic despite their importance and relevance to the classroom. The curriculum was carried out in a one-day, two-hour workshop at a Waldorf public charter school with a group of 20 fifth-grade students, followed by whole-class discussions and a teacher interview, all of which were video and audio recorded and transcribed. The workshop consisted of three sections to encourage students to gain comfort with movement as a way of learning, embody someone else's experience, and tell stories through movement activities that would convey varying perspectives, highlighting the importance of multiple points of view. In re-watching and coding the workshop footage, there were multiple instances in which students' engagement and understanding of perspective justified the purpose of the workshop and supported its efficacy.