Blog Posts

I was having a discussion recently about how a drama class differs from a dance class. For me, one of the main differences is how dependent we are on the commitment of each member of the class when it comes to a performance. You see, it's not like a dance troupe where everyone is learning the same dance moves. Nor is it like a sporting team where they have some members sitting on the bench for sections of the game. Each student in a drama class learns their own role - dialogue and movements. Each student and their character brings something different to the play which would be glaringly absent if they were to step away. They have their own costumes, make-up, hairstyles. And when a student drops out of a performance it affects the ability for every other cast member to reach their potential, because we don't have understudies in a drama class. A professional theatre might be able to hire understudies. Often amateur societies cast understudies. However, in a drama class we cast each student into their own role so they have a chance to perform. Each character is given a chunky enough role so that students can put into practise what they have learnt through the semester. There is no one character that can be dismissed.

This is one of the reasons I spruik the usefulness of a drama class in teaching students about commitment and team work. It is a team in its truest form. All have a role and all roles are interdependent. It's all in, or none in (or a teacher has to go on stage with a script in hand so the rest of the class has a chance to perform - it happens!).

I was reminded on Sunday of how much I love learning. As a member of the Speech and Drama Association of NSW I took part in their final seminar day for the year and had so much fun learning teaching and performing tools from some very talented people.
I love learning. Spending time wrapping my head around a concept and the exhilaration when the light bulb switches on. As a teacher that light bulb moment is sustained as you pass this new knowledge on to your students, usually with a passion they find amusing.
I love learning. My students teach me things every time I walk into a classroom. Sometimes it's an interesting piece of information on the topic at hand and others a fresh perspective. Sometimes my learning comes from the fact that every group of students brings new strengths and limitations, new challenges and triumphs. A constant reminder that there is no one way to teach any one subject. A teacher cannot simply write a program and stick to it year after year because it will, without a doubt, fail. A class I took a number of years ago is a perfect example of this. During the first half of the year they gelled and were working as a well oiled machine. The second half of the year brought me two new faces to add to the old and a whole load of challenges. Funnily enough, it was not the new students who rocked the boat. A group within the pre-existing class were suddenly not getting along and making even the simplest group task quite a chore. This taught me about the fluidity of group dynamics and signs to pay attention to - to cut potential confrontations off before they escalate. Most importantly it taught me more about thinking on my feet and creating flexible lesson plans in order to achieve the goal of a lesson whilst recognising the needs and challenges of a specific class, on a specific day.
I love learning from other teachers, my students and myself. I'm sure every teacher surprises themselves as they push themselves to dance with sometimes conflicting expectations of employers, students, parents and the larger community. We learn everyday. Recognise it or not; Like it or not.
I love learning.

Encouraging Creativity in our Children

7/21/2013

Today I'm encouraging you to watch this talk by Sir Ken Robinson. Not only is the content interesting and worthwhile, but his performance is a fantastic example of how one might learn performance skills to use in professions other than acting.

In this particular talk Sir Ken outlines why he feels that creativity is equally important to literacy in our children's education and, unfortunately, how our schools tend to educate creativity out of us. One point he discusses which certainly resonates with me as a drama teacher is the willingness to be wrong. I was an adult when I finally took a class where my teacher encouraged me to get it wrong. It was an acting class. Now, I had certainly been in situations before where teachers had encouraged me to "just give it a try", "just do your best", but I had also been in a situation where, upon achieving 99% in an exam, I was asked where the other 1% was. I'm sure the long line of individuals who repeated the line thought they were being very funny... However, what a 15 year old hears is, "Your best isn't good enough". What I really needed to hear back then, what helped me so much as an adult, and what I use in my own classes is the order, "Get it wrong".

Recently I had a wonderful ten year old debate the point with me. I explained that we should never be afraid of mistakes because we learn so much and if we're perfect first time every time we won't learn. This intelligent lad disagreed saying that if we do it perfect then we'll learn how to do it perfect. I didn't tell him he was wrong. I smiled, told him I understood his point, but pointed out that all you would learn is a set of steps to achieve a specific goal. He didn't quite get my point so I explained further. "If you always do it perfectly one way, you will never learn why you shouldn't do it other ways. You will never learn other ways of approaching the same objective. You will never be challenged and therefore will never grow to your greatest potential". In the end we two decided to agree to disagree.

I stand by my argument. I use to be terrified of making mistakes. Afraid of people in search of my other 1%. My risk aversion was a direct barrier to reaching my full potential. The day that a new acting teacher looked at me and said, "Just get it wrong" was a first step in letting go of that 1%. We need to let our kids get things wrong and drama is a great platform for them to learn about how to benefit from our mistakes. Quite often you will see an idea crash and burn in class. Instead of dismissing the failed idea altogether we talk through the strengths and weaknesses. Usually we find a great idea within the crash and burn which will lead to something fantastic, but if we don't... we just try something else.

0 Comments

Why Study Drama

7/3/2013

0 Comments

I've lost track of the number of times people have flippantly answered, "Oh Acting" when they find out I'm involved in the subject of drama. Of course I answer, "No, Drama. Acting is only one element of the subject. " It's a shame so many people, especially parents, are so dismissive of the subject because it has so much to offer their children in regards to developing useful life skills. For myself, I was always quite confident within my home and family, but outside of that was quite a shy mite. It was drama and performance which allowed me to battle this shyness and overcome barriers to success in work, life and relationships. I am, therefore, quite an advocate for the powerful transformative effects of the drama classroom.
In addition to my own sermons, I enjoy bringing a variety of articles, research etc. into the benefits of arts education as well as good education practice, to the attention of interested parents. In that spirit my first offering is a nice little article from the Washington Post on the Top Ten Skills Children Learn from The Arts. Enjoy

0 Comments

Forward>>

How Drama Differs

I love learning

Encouraging Creativity in our Children

Why Study Drama

Author

Archives

Categories