The Value of Drama

Hello!

I ♥ drama, and have studied it throughout my entire education. Despite such positive experiences, I wasn’t particularly confident using it within my own teaching; I have heard many teachers complain about the overcrowded curriculum, and have wondered how I would find time for drama. I left our tutorial thinking the following...

Drama allows people to get to know each other and feel as if they are part of a community.

Drama allows people to experiment and try new ideas.

Drama can be used to teach content and can tackle big issues such as bullying in a safe and supportive environment.

Drama encourages participation.

These thoughts were mirrored in the reading by Sinclair, Jeanneret and O’Toole (2009) who state that drama it not only an art form and a socio-cultural experience, but also a powerful medium for learning. The Game of Power and the Postcard activity that Maureen gave us would be really useful in the first weeks of school when teachers are trying to encourage team building. The strategies can help students engage in imaginative thinking and, as you found, can lead to great units of work. I haven’t seen Hoodwinked- but what a great connection! This could be a fantastic lesson if you showed students the clip of Hoodwinked, following with the blanket enrolment strategy, and work these activities into a unit on how authors position readers to perceive characters in particular ways! There are some great books which relate author positioning to fairytales such as The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugene Triviaz and The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.

Bethany

Sinclair, C., Jeanneret, N., & O'Toole, J. (Eds.). (2009). Education in the arts: teaching and learning in the contemporary curriculum. Sydney: Oxford University Press