Beyond the PLO’s: Drama Teaching Life Lessons

As a teacher it is important to teach your Prescribe Learning Outcomes (PLO’s), but the teaching shouldn’t stop there. There are also underlying learning outcomes, such as being an active responsible citizen, which some may argue are more important learning than the PLO’s. Both Jonothan Neelands, in his article Acting together: ensemble as a democratic process in art and life, and Jessica Hoffmann Davis in her article Redefining Ratzo Rizzo, assess the underlining learning’s of drama.

Neelands describes this underlying learning as “bigger picture curriculum.” Stating that drama allows for this “big picture curriculum” learning because drama: “emphasis on decentralizing the power of the teacher, negotiated learning and encouraging deeper contextual explorations of the bigger questions of life.” (Neelands, 2009) Drama takes classroom learning and expands it by allowing students to relate first hand what they are doing, to the real world (using past experiences) that provides more meaning. Also, present in this article is that drama facilitates education on personal and social skills, because it provides an open forum for children to practice their skills. These types of learnings are essential life skills that students must be taught. 

Rizzo, reveals that schools with an emphasis on the Arts produces students that are more socially responsible citizens. Rizzos’ theory is that students in an Arts school have more passion to learn, as they are more interested and invested in their learnings. They are also part of a group that they do not want to let down, which means they will work harder for the greater goal. The Arts also provides a connection to an overall school community.  Both Neelands and Rizzo have argued that if students feel part of this learning community they are more likely to treat each other with respect. This sense of community also allows for more understanding and appreciation for diversity. Which in turn creates an overall healthy learning environment and students, which are more socially responsible in the wider community.

Rizzo also concludes having more art in the classroom leads to better learners because carrying out a process and then reflecting comes as second nature to Arts students. Arts students are able to look back and learn from the process or “see mistakes as learning opportunities.” (Davis, 2005) These reflections allow students to think of many different routes they could have taken and then see the many end results, which I think allows students to understand their cognitive abilities and approach life’s problems more effectively. Which is a huge learning outcome for students and is important for teachers to teach. 

Drama Used In Other Curriculum Courses

“Drama in the context of writing with older students facilitates positive attitudes toward writing.” (Crumpler, 2005)

“One of the values of developing drama with young learners is that it engages them in thinking, doing, and imagining so that when they begin to compose texts, they weave these threads together in unexpected and interesting ways.” (Crumpler, 2005)

  

Both these quotes are from the article The Role of Educational Drama in the Composing Processes of Young Writers, by Thomas Crumpler. Crumpler is trying to portray that using drama creates a process that facilitates children in learning. It is a process that is often used by children when they are writing, but with drama it is a seamless process that the children enjoy being involved in. If children enjoy their learning they are likely to be more motivated to learn or in this articles case, write. Like Neelands, Crumpler argues that children gain a deeper understanding by doing, using their imaginations and writing “in-role.” In a drama structure children tend to imagine more and get more involved in the story at hand which in turn makes for a great written story.  Neelands would say that children can be more imaginative in drama because of tools like the drama contract, which is a safety net for kids to be creative and eliminates the fear of being wrong. In addition, drama is not teacher run, allowing children to lead the education processes together using their own experiences, resulting in a deeper and richer understanding, overall improving their writing and reading abilities. Both authors and myself feel that when a child looks back at what they learned years later, they remember something they connected with and had fun doing and this is usually a learning through a dramatic process.

Mallika Henry, in his article Drama’s Way of Learning, relates further on how students get a “richer learning experience” through drama being used in every subject. When students take on a role they create personal and imaginary worlds that provide a wealth of learning opportunities.  He bests describes this relationship by saying:

Creating personal worlds is a learning process that moves in a direction opposite to many kinds of learning, in that it begins with an idea, and analytic or abstract form of knowledge, and shapes it into contextualized knowledge. Drama creates worlds that enrich and cultivate meaning. The ‘creative act of world-making’ is a process that involves learning about both the objective world of form and the inner world of feeling. (Henry, 2000)

I believe Henry is trying to explain that through drama children can escape the typical classroom learning and begin to use their imagination to work through a learning process that best suits them coming to a more meaningful answer. I also think this quote is important as it brings up the fact that there is more than just teaching the objective, you must also have the child be aware of what is happening internally, particularly how they ‘feel.’ Henry expands on this parallel of learning by stating, “Thought is charged with feeling, while feeling is refined and strengthen by thought.” (Henry, 2000) Meaning, that thought and feeling go hand in hand and when you understand this, your thoughts will have the most powerful strength and meaning.

Big Picture Reflection

Most articles on drama in education report on the end results; how drama created a great classroom, changed a school stricken with violence to a peaceful one or a class all of a sudden has a deeper understanding on the lesson. It however, doesn’t explain the process that is involves.  “Making Sense of Drama,” starts at the beginning and explains in details tools a new teacher can use to incorporate drama in the classroom across all curriculums. It is now that I understand the structure of drama work that, I can understand how many of the article examples got from point A to point B.

Making Sense of Drama Summary

The book starts out by explaining that children are not passive learners. Making reference to how children learn by doing and using their past experiences they are able to process new information and learn best. Children can further their learning in all subject areas when viewing information not as themselves (in-role) and by using their imagination when they don’t have past experiences to draw on. Neelands, then ties in how drama fosters this type of learning style by writing “The view of learning I have described has in turn shaped the view of drama that seeks to develop and extend children’s existing cultural resources in ways that are both familiar and also stretching.” (Neelands, Making Sense of Drama Guide to Classroom Practice, 1984)

The author then uses the rest of the book to describe specific tools teachers can use as a “guide” to incorporate drama across all curriculums. Each chapter describes a different tool that is meant to be read in sequence, allowing for the reader to get a deeper understanding of drama as they read on. 

The first tool is the “Teacher-Learner Partnership,” where Neelands expresses that when drama is present, the learners and teachers have a different type of partnership. It is within this tool that Neelands introduces the reader with the very important “Drama Contract.” He describes the contract as follows:

The contract itself is implicit –it’s already there and understood in the way you and your class relate to each other; or explicit – its been discussed and negotiated openly with your class. But it MUST be there. It’s no use going on to discuss the technique and strategies of drama unless we are clear about the nature of the contract.  It is a prerequisite of drama work. (Neelands, Making Sense of Drama Guide to Classroom Practice, 1984)

The second tool is the form and phases of negotiation the teacher must carry out to have a good drama structure. In this section, Neelands explains that the teacher must be careful with their actions to support students. He also explains how a teacher should use skillful questioning to have a productive drama structure. There are three phases to a drama structure: planning, drama-time and evaluation.  Within these phases the teacher must always consider his or her own role in facilitating the drama while adhering to the drama contract.

The third tool explained is the type of drama modes that can be used, each having their own pros and cons. Teachers should select a mode that suits the class and learning outcomes.

Another tool discussed is the components of theatre that are part of classroom drama. Components such as: focus, tension, ritual, symbolic objects, time, space and roles.  These are considered drama controls that teachers can use to extend his or her existing strategies. Lastly, Neelands provides a chapter on how to plan a drama structure, followed by some sample lessons.