Week 4 - Drama SchoolTM Professional Learning Day

Today I attended the Drama School^TM Professional Learning Day. This was a great day because I have the opportunity to be a part of the professional development program which focused on using drama pedagogy with quality literature in primary school classrooms. This program was developed by Sydney Theatre Company and The University of Sydney in order to build teachers’ confidence and strategies in using the Arts as a teaching tool and to help improve students’ literacy outcomes. Teachers involved in this program would work with a teaching artist to provide learning experiences which meet the chosen learning outcomes for students in the classroom. I would also be able to observe and assist teachers and the teaching artist later on in these workshops.

What we did today was experience drama activities from a student’s perspective and also from a teacher’s perspective. One of the workshops involved having a look at the book: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book by Lauren Child. As Ewing (2011) describes, “Literature is imaginative writing including novels, short stories, plays, poetry and picture books that use evocative, expressive language”. I think that it is essential for us as teachers to include quality literature in our classrooms as they “demonstrate how language can be used creatively to help us understand the world, imagine new world and experience people, places and adventures beyond our world” (Gibson and Ewing, 2011, p.71). This workshops demonstrated how quality literature and drama can be used together to provide engaging and meaningful learning experiences for students.

First, we talked about different fairy tales and chose a favourite character to walk in role. Then we had shared reading where we discussed about characters, the way the texts were positioned on the page and etc. Two characters were chosen. In pairs, we sculpted each other and presented the sculptures. Then in groups, we chose a critical moment in the story to depict. Our audience had to guess who we were and what part of the story we were depicting. Then students plan characters, settings and sequence of story to create their own fairy tale.

I really liked how the drama activities lead to a writing activity where students would end up writing their own fairy tales and how these drama activities would be scaffolding students to help them in the end task. I thought about how, in doing these activities, students would be able to meet a lot of the Drama outcomes and English outcomes.

One of the general capabilities students need to develop is critical and creative thinking. Creative and critical thinking skills “are integral to activities that require reason, logic, imagination and innovation. In learning to think broadly and deeply students use reason and imagination to direct their thinking for different purposes.” (NSW Board of Studies, 2012, p.28). I think that drama and the Arts can help develop students’ critical and creative think because activities such as conscience alley and hot seating involves students understanding the character, thinking as the character, being in role and making decisions based on what their own beliefs and values and the character’s.