This week we began the micro-teaching inputs for drama. Our group started with a drama lesson based on Julia Donaldson’s children’s book The Gruffalo (1999). Using a number of drama conventions introduced previously in this module, we planned and delivered a 30-minute lesson the rest of our section. The initial brief was to plan a twenty-minute lesson, however during the activity the cohort was so engaged in the drama that we decided, with the lecturer’s consent, to allow their creativity to flow and not interrupt just to stick rigidly to the plan. Dewey (1938, cited in Eisner, 2004) calls this “flexible purposing”, which Eisner (2004) tells us is the antithesis to rigid adherence to the lesson plan. This notion could however, have been developed further. Due to lack of confidence, and perhaps the fact that we read the story in sections throughout our lesson, our group failed to deviate from the original storyline of the book. Upon seeing the next group’s take on their lesson, it was clear to see that the activities could be much more engaging and fun if the lesson is allowed to follow the direction of the participants, regardless of whether this was the expected outcome of the ‘teacher’.
In the afternoon input, pupils from Greenhill Primary School Orchestra brought in their string instruments to demonstrate how they are played. The pupils showed us how to hold the instruments properly, how to control the bow, the names of the strings, and some chords. They then demonstrated how to play a song they have learnt, and confidently helped us to have a try. The confidence the children have was astounding, something that Bloomfield and Childs (2002) attribute to learning to play an instrument.
The idea of children leading the learning was further developed through both inputs this week. By handing over leadership of the lesson in the drama workshop, the lecturer enabled us students to see how our primary school pupils may feel when asked to take ownership of their learning. This was then observed in practice with the Greenmill pupils leading the learning in the music inputs. The impact this had on the confidence and self-esteem of the children was clear to see, and reinforced to me the importance of arts education in the curriculum.
REFERENCES
Bloomfield, A. and Childs, J. (2002) Teaching Integrated Arts in the Primary School. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Donaldson, J. (1999) The Gruffalo London: MacMillan
Eisner, E. (2004) What Can Education Learn from the Arts about the Practice of Education? International Journal of Education & the Arts Vol.5(4) pp.1-13
