role of education in drama

        All preparation and no performance.

Although Bolton agreed with Heathcote, he also saw Drama as being a “heightened experience” and endorsed a rigid structure to support this in its teaching.  Both Heathcote and Bolton continued to develop their ideas throughout the 1970’s and by 1984 Bolton decided that Drama was indeed a tool for learning and never about individual learning but rather something “outside of self” which, although emphasised the process there was also a finished product.

        

Much debate took place as to the status of Drama in the National Curriculum during the 1980’s.  Finally instead of receiving equal rank with Art Music and P.E. it was controversially placed within the English sector instead of being given its own position, and was grouped with “Speaking and Listening” and “Reading.” In most schools it has been the responsibility of English teachers to keep Drama alive.

        

In 1989 the Department of Education and Science published the five elements of learning in Drama.  Interestingly, these elements are separated in order of understanding and importance.  However, all are equally important and interrelated therefore it seems illogical to divide them.  They can all be utilised in the teaching of English.  Firstly, “concepts” which refers to dramatic conventions and the way that they can be employed to aid both the participants and the audience.  They are listed as: role, setting, symbols and conventions.  The first three are self-explanatory but conventions are the next step.  They are employed to aid the participants and the audience.  For example, “Hotseating” is a technique which can enable a pupil to adopt the role of a particular character in a play or a novel and to submit to questioning from other pupils concerning their actions or emotions.  This technique serves several purposes.  It can be used to extend pupils’ responses and also to create tension.  I personally have had to perform Hotseating in Drama and found that it was extremely beneficial, in that it allowed me to feel what the character thinks, and, in adopting a different persona, any pressure which I may have felt was eliminated – these were the characters thoughts and feelings and not my own.  Another dramatic convention is “tableaux” otherwise known as or “freeze-framing” or “distillation of essence” which can be used as opposed to “acting out” scenes from plays or novels.  Narrative text responds particularly well to this technique and can be used to create still images of a scene.  A tableaux helps pupils to understand what is happening in the text as it relies upon body language and facial expression rather than dialogue and verbal intonation.  During one of my drama lessons, we created several tableaux whilst exploring the war poetry of Wilfred Owen.  Each person was given a character, and, after giving a short monologue, we went on to depict tableaux from a given scenario.  I drew upon personal experience for this, as I have visited the battlefields at the Somme.  On reflection, I feel that this is a powerful method of focusing the pupils’ attention to the text subject matter and increasing their attention span, as this proved to be the case with myself.  This method can also be extremely useful when studying the plays of William Shakespeare.  As Ken Byron cites:

        

        Working on tableaux or still images of crucial moments in the play offers less threat than naturalistic enhancement.

The pupils could then be asked to create a scene based upon the tableaux or “improvise” which is another dramatic convention useful as a tool for learning.

 

The second element featured on the document is “knowledge and understanding” which refers to the pupils’ own experience in drama but which later relates to the techniques in the lesson and the history of the Theatre.  Initially, children tend to draw upon their own experiences when attempting to grasp the concept of “acting” and this can gradually be enhanced.  This can prove to be an extremely useful tool when teaching Shakespeare.  Providing an historical background to the play such as where they were performed, The Globe Theatre, can serve to create a heightened understanding and also captures the attention of the children, whilst gaining their interest.  When I myself was at secondary school, one of my English teachers employed this technique. Snippets of information, such as the fact that Shakespeare’s plays were performed for the masses and not the literary intelligentsia, helped me to perceive the notion that his plays are universal and can be related to ordinary everyday life, in any culture or era.

The third element is “imagination” or the use of it, which directly links to the previous two elements discussed and is necessary in their usage.  Children require physical or mental stimuli to initiate their thought processes and engage their attention.  This could take the form of an object or a story.  During my Drama sessions this term our work on improvisations has involved the use of an object which was randomly selected and this did serve to stimulate my imagination.  As a trainee English teacher I believe that drama can help pupils to develop a relationship with fictional texts.  By using the concepts previously mentioned this can be achieved.  As Ken Byron cites:

Because Drama as an art form works in certain crucial respects differently from narrative as an art form, it distorts the material or subject matter differently, illuminates it differently, and so can produce another way of seeing the people, situations, tensions and dilemmas in the story.

In order to stimulate the children’s imaginations, I would perhaps encourage them to firstly translate their perceptions from the narrative text into a visual art form, for example, to design a picture which conveys their understanding of a particular poem.  Drama can then be introduced into the equation via the afore-mentioned techniques, and will stem as a natural progression as a result of using the visual stimulus.  It has been said that Drama is an ideal method for translating narrative text; it serves the function of  “illumination by transfer” and enlightens children and increases their perceptions.

        The fourth element to be discussed is “skills” which is a performance-related element.  The external factors such as: language, movement and gesture and voice are stated in the document.  Drama can enhance pupils’ language skills and significantly change the features of communication and interaction during lessons.  For example, when a child takes on a role and the teacher also performs a part, there may be a shift in the balance of power, and, as a result, the dynamics in the room change.  When enactment takes place they may be encouraged to use different vocabulary and style in their communication.  Voice is also important in the respect of communication in Drama, indeed it has been said that:

Drama is about communicating, so appropriate language, clarity of speech and expression, and an ability to match words to intonation is important.

During my Drama sessions this term, we have performed exercises in voice projection, such as shouting letters of the alphabet with an upright posture to allow our voices to be heard by everyone.  I feel that this will be particularly beneficial during teaching.  In addition to language, the factors of gesture and movement are also important, and directly relate to the previous elements discussed.  Sometimes the maxim “less is more” applies in Drama as with tableaux, when gesture can express a great deal more than verbal dialogue.

        

The last element on Curriculum Matters is that of  “attitudes.” Drama can increase pupils’ self-esteem which is vital if they are to reach their full potential.  “Responsibility” is also important during any lesson, as is “Supportiveness.” “Responsibility” or giving the pupils autonomy means the teacher, through Drama, can effectively teach the children the value of independence.  However, this does not necessarily mean that they do not intervene at all, but rather by “positive intervention.” Supporting the pupils and perhaps offering them a choice and some aspects of autonomy, therefore introducing equality in the classroom, prepares them for other lessons by inspiring confidence and boosting self-esteem.  This element can also be related to the four other elements.  For example, when in a lesson, allowing the pupils to volunteer when performing such dramatic conventions as improvisation or hotseating can allow them to take the initiative without feeling pressured, therefore giving them certain responsibilities and independence, which may also extend to other subjects across the curriculum.  The five elements are all related and are difficult to divide and, as shown, all bear considerable significance to each other.  They also highlight the importance of Drama as a tool for learning; Drama is intercurricular and translates into many subjects, not merely English.

        

Today Drama is mainly kept alive by English teachers after it did not achieve National Curriculum status, and this is a pressure on trainee English teachers which I do feel.  However, I will try to incorporate Drama into everyday English lessons in the methods previously discussed.  I recognise the value and significance of Drama, although many teachers are divided upon this issue.  A report by the Secondary Heads Association in 1998 called for Drama to be established as a subject in its own right and for its positive impact to be recognised.  The report, named “Drama sets you free” called for Drama to be included as a National Curriculum subject, on a similar basis to Art and Music.  Seven hundred schools in the United Kingdom were asked to submit a response and from the results it was clear that Drama was well established in most of them, despite the pressures of resources and staffing.  The report also highlighted the value of Drama as a tool for learning and put forth extremely effective arguments for Drama as a means of developing communication skills, teamwork and understanding, as well as enhancing social well-being in dealing with themes such as bullying and drugs.  In an article in the Times Educational Supplement on Friday October 23rd 1998, entitled “Acting Teaches the Things That Cant Be Told” it was reported that one respondent to the survey wrote of Drama in School:

Incalculably beneficial.  It enhances pupils’ self-belief.  It encourages and nurtures the basic skills of co-operation, commitment and control.  

However, the survey stated that specialist Drama teachers should be appointed to teach Educational Drama and the responsibility should not be placed upon English teachers.  Whilst I tend to agree with this view, I believe that Drama can, nevertheless, be a powerful instrument for the teaching of narrative texts, poems and plays within English lessons and I mean to employ Drama conventions to aid learning in that respect.

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