drama – Louise MacDonald UWS ITE ePDP

November 22, 2017December 20, 2017

Integrated Arts Week 11 – 21st November 2017

This week began with the continuation of the microteaching tasks in drama. Having presented with my group the previous week, this gave me a chance to participate as part of the audience for other groups, without the pressure of presenting. Each of the lessons were enjoyable, however the final group decided to aim their lesson at CfE fourth level students, tackling the issue of misogyny and violence towards women. I found this to be highly engaging and motivating, and at times it was difficult to remember that my fellow students were just playing a part, as they played their roles so well. They used techniques that we had learned about earlier in the module but no other group had used, such as throwing a scrunched-up piece of paper at a life-sized outline of a character whilst verbally expressing our feelings toward that character. This was a very effective way to engross the pupils as active participants in the drama, and get them engaged with the theme of the drama. It is also a good way to allow pupils to convey their feelings and thoughts, which is one of the drama experiences and outcomes for the expressive arts in Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, n.d. p.65):

Inspired by a range of stimuli, I can express and communicate my ideas, thoughts and feelings through drama.

EXA 0-13a / EXA 1-13a / EXA 2-13a

It was really useful to see drama used to tackle social justice issues, and gave me a good insight into how I can use drama to explore controversial issues within the classroom, by adapting the lesson to suit the age and maturity levels of my pupils. In this way, drama can also be used to help children develop strategies to use in situations where they are faced with difficult choices, preparing them to be responsible citizens and confident individuals, two of the capacities that Curriculum for Excellence aims to develop in our children and young people.

Within the dance lecture, we looked at the Midway Model for dance in schools (Smith-Autard, 2002). This model proposes that both the process and the product of creative dance are equally valuable, emphasising the importance of the aesthetic aspect of the arts as well as the creative. We also watched a video of a Parkour project undertaken with high school pupils from the local authority, which can be viewed here. This was an appealing project, as it moved the focus for the young boys involved away from traditional competitive sports, whilst giving them the opportunity to develop physical and creative skills, compose a routine and perform on stage, in much the same way as pupils would create a dance performance. Although there were considerable costs involved in funding a qualified instructor, this is something that I think would be highly beneficial to consider implementing, particularly with upper primary children who may not engage with dance as well as hoped.

In the workshop, the lecturer handed over leadership of the learning to us students. Giving each group a different task, we worked collaboratively to create a stretching routine, a warm up, and ten basic dance moves, all around a Christmas theme. Each group then ‘taught’ their activity to the rest of the section. This reinforces the role of the teacher as facilitator, providing the structure and framework for pupils to choreograph their own creative dance, developing problem solving skills, working cooperatively and taking responsibility and ownership of their learning.

This passing control of the content to pupils tied in with the microteaching activities in the drama workshop – giving us the opportunity to practice our teaching skills in each area, and also to put ourselves in the shoes of the learner.

REFERENCES

Scottish Government (n.d.) Curriculum for Excellence Edinburgh: Scottish Executive

Smith-Autard, J. (2002) The Art of Dance Education London: A & C Black

November 8, 2017December 19, 2017

Integrated Arts Week 9 – 7th November 2017

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

October 31, 2017December 19, 2017

Integrated Arts Week 8 – 31st October 2017

This week’s inputs looked at the different ways we can give children ownership and control of their learning. In contrast to last week’s structured framework for dance and drama, this week focused on allowing children almost complete control. Giving children the opportunity to have a say in their learning shows respect for their abilities and that their creativity is valued by the teacher.

In drama, we explored some more techniques and conventions including flash forward, flash back, narration, slow motion and forum theatre. Forum theatre is the brainchild of Augusto Boal, and the idea is that members of the audience are invited to stop and participate in the drama by taking the place of an actor of their choosing, and acting out an improvised, alternative version of the drama (Farmer, 2014). This is an excellent way to allow children to take a directive approach to their learning, however research by Killen and Cooney (2017) reveals that teachers lack confidence in allowing learners to take control of the lesson, so this is something that I will keep in mind and try to develop my own confidence in.

In the music input, we looked first at the voice. As prospective teachers, our voices are one of the most important tools of our trade. Constant use of the voice, often in noisy environments, coupled with dry air conditions in classrooms, can put teachers at greater risk of voice and throat problems. The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) have issued guidance for teachers and student teachers, including examples of good practice and strategies to protect and care for the voice (GTCS, 2003). One of the recommendations suggests using vocal exercises to warm up your voice. We tried out some of these vocal exercises in the music seminar, looking at some resources that can be used in the classroom to allow children to warm up their own voices before any singing activity. One of the resources we looked at is ChoonBaboon, a singing programme developed by Alan Penman, aimed at first and second level Curriculum for Excellence. ChoonBaboon is an interesting and engaging resource that is indispensable for teachers who lack confidence teaching music (ChoonBaboon, 2017).

We then moved on to looking at graphic scores. This is a musical score, composed through the use of symbols on a grid. Creating a firework themed score within our section, we composed and then played the score using various instruments from chimes and bells, to castanets. We then had the opportunity to work within small groups to choose a theme, and compose a graphic score to play using any of the instruments to represent sounds related to our theme. This was a fantastic activity and each of us really engaged with our creative abilities. I would definitely use this activity in the classroom, as it is a simple activity that does not require a lot in terms of planning and resources, but can have a huge impact on children’s confidence when they actively compose and play their very own piece of music, having complete control over their chosen theme, sounds and final piece.

REFERENCES

ChoonBaboon (2017) Welcome to Choonbaboon [Online] Available: http://choonbaboon.com/ [Accessed: 31 October 2017]

Farmer, D. (2014) Forum Theatre [Online] Available: https://dramaresource.com/forum-theatre/ [Accessed: 31 October 2017]

GTCS (2003) Voice and the Teaching Profession [Online] Available: www.gtcs.org.uk/nmsruntime/SaveAsDialog.aspx?fileName=voice-and-the-teaching-profession1652_214.pdf [Accessed: 31 October 2017]

October 25, 2017December 19, 2017

Integrated Arts Week 7 – 24th October 2017

Looking at another children’s story, based around a single event involving a brother and sister who didn’t get on, we were introduced to a further five drama conventions: Role on the wall, VoxPop, Mime, Thought tracking and Voice in head. This topic felt much more prescribed, and restrictive, compared to the previous drama input based on the Dragon tale. By using a book as a stimulus, albeit a digital version of the book, there was a different atmosphere and I felt after the freedom of previous session, this method was more rigid. However, I can see how taking a more structured approach to drama can aid the teacher in leading the children to a deliberate learning outcome, which is sometimes necessary to ensure the children are getting something from the lesson.

The second input this week was our second dance session. The focus today was on consolidating the skills and steps developed in the last session, through refining our group routine and adding in some steps to create a whole class performance.

To warm up, we formed a large circle and agreed upon 10 different dance moves, each assigned a number from 0-9. These moves were all Halloween related, given that this is the week leading up to Halloween. We had various moves, from a swooping Dracula twirl, to the zap of a fairy wand. We were then given a sheet of maths questions, and in our smaller groups we had to work out the answers (funnily enough, all corresponding to the dance moves) and perform the correlating dance moves in that order. This was a fantastic example of how dance can be integrated into other curricular areas, and develop skills that can be used across all areas of a child’s life, using team work, initiative, cooperation and taking responsibility for their part. It also develops memory and retention.

We then moved on to another task, in which each group was given a different printed image. All of the images were again Halloween related, although this task could easily be adapted to any topic by using images related to the chosen topic. In this way, this would be an ideal way to integrate dance into an IDL topic in the classroom. Our group was given an image of a haunted house, and we came up with a dance move that we felt represented that image. We then came back together as a section, and each group demonstrated their move for the other groups to imitate. Lastly, we put all the moves together in a choreographed, timed structure and rehearsed this a number of times. This would be the beginning of our whole section dance, which will incorporate our group dances in turn. We also developed an opening sequence, similar to a Mexican wave, and created entrance and exit dances for each group, finishing up with a finale step. Our dance will be filmed in a couple of weeks.

Two key points I have taken from today’s inputs, are the importance of giving learners time to think, and the use of structure within the arts. In order to extract the creativity from learners, giving them adequate time to formulate their thoughts and ideas, whether through creating dance moves, or planning a short drama scene, is essential (Eisner, 2004). Rushing learners to come up with an answer can impact on their confidence if they do not feel they have been able to get their idea across accurately.

Providing structure to a lesson, giving the children a framework to use to come up with their ideas can be a useful way to introduce a topic within the arts to children. It is an essential skill of a teacher to be able to judge how much structure, and time, to provide learners. A careful balance is needed to allow creativity to flourish. Cone (2009) stresses the importance of allowing children to develop their learning, with the teacher being able to step back and refrain from interferring with the creative process.

REFERENCES

Cone, Theresa Purcell. (2009) Following Their Lead: Supporting Children’s Ideas For Creating Dances Journal Of Dance Education [Online] Vol.9(3), pp.81-89. Available: EBSCOhost. [Accessed: 17 October 2017]

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

October 5, 2017December 19, 2017

Integrated Arts Week 4 – 3rd October 2017

During this week’s lecture we were introduced to Scottish artist Avril Paton’s 1993 painting ‘Window’s in the West’, currently on display at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Gallery. As Paton is a modern artist, we were able to view a video of her talking about the painting online. This is something that I will keep in mind in the classroom; there is a higher chance of discovering video or audio clips of a living modern artist talking about their work than a classical artist who is now deceased. This gives pupils a greater understanding of the artist and their work, and helps them to utilise Taylor’s Model of Assessment (1987) to interpret a piece of art. Using this method, we discussed our interpretations of the painting, and it was interesting to note the variety of emotions and ideas the painting evoked in each of us.

Diarmuid also encouraged us to consider the gender of the artists we select to look at in the classroom. When you think about it, female artists have essentially been written out of history, and it is conventionally male artists that are usually looked at in the classroom, from Da Vinci and Van Gough, to Steve Brown. Choosing female artists to investigate in school makes some attempt to balance the gender bias.

During the lecture, we also discussed the possibilities for interdisciplinary learning by considering the links to literacy and drama that could be forged through this painting. Pupils could take a room or scene from the painting, for example the two people in the doorway, and come up with a back story for these characters. They could develop a drama based around the lives of these people and create a script to go with it. The pupils could then act this out, and it could also pull in elements of a Scottish culture topic.

The visual arts input was a practical lesson on printing. We recreated a section of Windows in the West on a polystyrene tile, rolled tempera paint onto it then printed this onto a folded A4 piece of paper. After a short time, we repeated the print process with one or two additional colours, creating a total of four images. This was an interesting activity which produced aesthetically pleasing results, and could easily be used in the classroom, with some adaptations. I would ideally spread the process over a few lessons and perhaps have relatively small groups of pupils completing the activity at a time as things did get a bit chaotic in the art studio. The tempera paint is permanent and will stain clothing, so whilst it is necessary to have a tolerance for mess in order to fully engage in the arts, consideration must still be given to the implications concerning children’s clothing, school property and furniture, and I feel that smaller groups would allow for more precautions which in turn will ensure activities like this can continue without issue from management or parents. This activity could lead smoothly from a research project into the invention of the printing press within a topic on inventions and industry. If done at the right time of year, the results of the activity could be used as an enterprise venture for the pupils, making the prints into Christmas cards for example.

In the afternoon, we had our first opportunity to experience drama. We considered how drama is conventionally viewed in the classroom. Often, it is pigeon-holed into the nativity, the end of year show, and in some religious schools, the stations of the cross at Easter. However, today we considered the idea of introducing drama as a regular, non-production based element within the classroom. By using drama conventions such as teacher in role (TIR), we were introduced to the story of “The Lonely Dragon”. Modelling how to perform TIR, the lecturer encouraged us to participate as pupils, suggesting possible reasons and solutions for the problem of the dragon. This allowed us to see how drama can be child-led in the classroom, and doesn’t need a myriad of scenery, props and costumes. Something simple such as a scarf or hat for the teacher to wear to signal to the children that they are in their role is all that is needed. Children have wonderful imaginations and often choose role playing games when given the opportunity. We should capitalise on this to make drama a much more regular experience for children, and doing it in this way allows those who may not feel confident performing on stage, the chance to take part and be involved.

We continued to look at other drama conventions through the story of the dragon. The Freeze Frame technique was fascinating to get a glimpse into how differently we all reacted to the story – this enabled us to see how the teacher can steer the class towards a certain conclusion whilst still allowing the children to lead the direction of the drama and utilise their imagination and creativity. Other techniques we tried were hot seat, improvisation and thought tunnels – these all have a key role to play in truly allowing the children to lead the drama and develop their abilities in some of the key Tallis skills, such as imagination, collaboration and inquisitiveness (Tallis Pedagogy Wheel, 2017).

Thinking about the common theme through the inputs, Eisner’s ‘Ten Lessons the Arts Teach” (2002) comes to mind, particularly the idea that the arts teach us that each of us interpret the world around us in our own individual way, and every interpretation is valid.

REFERENCES:

Eisner, E. (2002) The Arts and the Creation of Mind. London: Yale University Press.

Paton, A. (1993) Windows in the West [Online] Available: https://avrilpaton.co.uk/ [Accessed: 5 October 2017]

Tallis Pedagogy Wheel (2017) [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html [Accessed: 12 September 2017].

Taylor, R. (1987) Educating for Art London: Longman