Drama Pedagogy and the Principles of Teaching

Drama-based pedagogy(DBP) uses active and dramatic approaches to engage students in academic, affective, aesthetic learning through dialog meaning-making in all areas of the curriculum. DBP is a collection of teaching tools(including activating dialogue, theater games as metaphor, image work and role play) designed to be used in conjunction with classroom curriculum. It examines a mutually-beneficial relationship between drama and education, which champions the versatility of a drama-based teaching and learning.

|| Akshinta Das

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The American Alliance for Theater and Education(AATE) defines drama-based learning strategies(including creative drama as well drama-in -education) as “an improvisational, non -exhibitional, and process-centered which is a form of drama. Participants learn and are guided by a leader to imagine, enact, reflect upon experiences.

Applications for teaching in the classroom

Drama-based pedagogy can be integrated into numerous curricular areas. It can be used to introduce a new concept or theme, check for knowledge, or extend a student’s learning. It can be used to express a character’s motivations, infer a story’s outcome, or illuminate facts and concepts. Using drama-based pedagogy you can:

• Recreate Galileo, Newton or Einstein’s presentations of new scientific ideas
• Examine tensions in literature such as Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Bridge to Terabithia, Journey to Jo’berg etc.
• Explore events leading up to major historical moments like the Boston Tea Party, the battle over the Alamo, or the Civil War etc.
• Solve math problems- as the characters in the story!
• Enact struggles over policies such as slavery or apartheid, as well as governmental representation, like the right to vote etc.
• Debate controversies over taking care of rain forests, endangered species, habitat, drinking water etc.
• Learn language and practice techniques to resolve conflicts, improve self-esteem, combat racial or gender stereotypes, manage anger, etc.

Understanding the philosophy in which children learn through their early experiences of a dramatic play. A more structured sort of improvisational role-playing, drama-based pedagogy generates and cultivates many skills. Out of these skills, these are the few important ones:

• Language and communication abilities
• Problem-solving or critical thinking skills
• Decision-making capabilities
• Creativity and imagination
• Collaboration skills

Drama-based pedagogy used with structured moments of oral or written reflection, it provides an excellent link between various classroom curriculum and the specific knowledge of skills.

Drama Code of Conduct:

All students should follow this Code of Conduct to ensure that drama lessons are focused, productive, effective and non-threatening.

Before the class

1. Students should not enter the drama room without permission. All students are to be actively supervised.
2. Always walk into the drama room and never run or push anyone.
3. Enter the drama space quietly.

During the lesson

1. Always put your bag, coat and other belongings in the area where your teacher tells you to put them.
2. Always listen carefully and concentrate, otherwise you won’t know what you’re doing.
3. If you don’t understand instructions, ask your teacher.
4. Be mindful of the safety of other students during the drama lesson- never push, punch, hit or strike out at another.
5. Work with other students respectfully. Never make fun of other student’s work or opinions.
6. Respond appropriately to the questions.
7. Sit quietly when watching other people’s work.
8. Be considerate when evaluating drama by others, and honest when evaluating your own.
9. Always work to the best of your ability.
10. Never eat or drink during lessons.

After the lesson

1. Always leave the drama room clean and tidy, and ready for the next class to use it.
2. Always collect your bags and belongings from the safe area.
3. Always leave the drama room in a quiet and orderly manner.

Guidelines for Socially Distanced Drama

1. Work in a larger room with good ventilation or the means to ventilate opening windows and doors. Air-conditioned rooms are not advised. Alternatively take your drama outside to the recreation grounds or playing fields.
2. Keep class sizes to around 15 students.
3. Keep group sizes to a minimum with a maximum of 4 students per group. If possible, students should work with the same groups and in the same space each lesson.
4. Limit any collaborative group activities to a maximum of 15 minutes and limit the number of group activities to no more than 2 hours per hour’s lesson.
5. The space for your group to work in should be, ideally 3m by 3m. Aim to keep individual spaces at least 1m apart. Mark up working spaces on the floor using colored tape or chalk.
6. No singing, chanting or playing musical instruments.
7. Limit the amount of paper that students come into contact with. Scripts can be projected for students to read to avoid handling. Alternatively, poems or script extracts can be laminated and wiped down before and after every lesson. Students must avoid passing around reference books, notebooks, and any other written material.
8. No mask work – unless students bring in their own masks!
9. Technical equipment should be wiped down prior to each lesson – and afterwards – and must only be handled by one person during each lesson.
10. Props and costumes from your store cupboard are totally out of bounds until further notice! (Sad face).
11. If you want your students to use costumes or props for any of your drama work, these should be brought in from the student’s own home and taken home with them again after each lesson. Ensure that students don’t swap or handle each other’s props or costume items.
12. Remind students of appropriate distances at regular intervals during each lesson. Use a drama game to make reinforcing spatial awareness fun!
13. Ask students to gel their hands on entering the lesson and to wash their hands afterwards, and before moving on to their next lesson. Or use gel again afterward.

Reassure students as often as you can and remind them that this too shall pass…

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