WHAT WAS LEARNED: We had our first experience of drama this week, discussing “The Lonely Dragon”. We discovered that, even when only given a title, children can make a story by themselves. This ties in to the fact that the Arts (especially drama) are best delivered by a teacher who is mediating, not dictating. This means that there are less rules to follow for the children, and therefore more room for self expression.

During our dance section of this week’s class, we learned about the cross-curricular availability of dance and integrated the current Hallowe’en theme. This brings relevance and fun for children and may make them less embarrassed because of the less serious nature.

 

IMPACT ON MY VIEWS:

I haven’t had any drama or dance experience, apart from two mandatory drama classes during S1 in Secondary School. I had negative views about both dance and drama, but I now feel that if i had had inputs (not including extra-curricular roles for the school plays) in Primary School, my views may be different. I can see the benefit (confidence and co-ordination) from starting drama and dance lessons from an early age and I wish that my Primary School could have offered these.

 

FURTHER ACTION:

Having last week read the Cone article, I feel that I could benefit from attempting mock dance and drama lesson plans. I would then bounce my ideas off of my colleagues in University and then, later on Serial Days, perhaps ask the teacher I’m shadowing for his/her opinion. Collecting feedback from peers is something I understand as very important so that I can obtain a rounded vision and understand different approaches and methodologies.

 

Image found at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Childrens_Nativity_Play_2007.jpg