How to Approach Speaking and Listening through Drama

Teacher as storyteller

        The teacher as a storyteller is something all primary school teachers will recog-nise. Good teachers slip easily into it and use it frequently. In its most observable guise it occurs when teaching the whole class and engaging them with a piece of fiction. A class can take part in a drama where all of them know the story, where none of them knows the story, or a mixture of both. As long as some fundamental planning strategies are observed, knowledge of the story is not a barrier to participation. Broadly these pre-requisites are:

1 .An awareness of those elements of the story that will not be changed – and agreements about these must be made with the class at the beginning or duringthe drama, in other words, the non-negotiable elements of the narrative.

2 .A willingness to move away from the fixed narrative to an exploration of thenarrative. The use of drama strategies to explore events and their conse-quences, to look at alternatives and test them. In these periods the class develop hypotheses, test them and reflect upon them.

3. If narrative consists of roles, fictional contexts, the use of symbols and events then the teacher needs to hold some of those elements true and con-sistent with the story so far. For example, roles and contexts may already be decided but new events may be introduced, the delivery of a letter, for exam-ple. How the class respond to this event is not known and it is at this point that they become the writers of the narrative.

Preparation for the role

       In preparing to be this kind of storyteller the teacher must have made particu-lar decisions about this child.

Teaching from within

Moving in and out of role – managing the drama and reflecting on it

       Drama then teaches in the following way. Taking a moment in time, it uses the experiences of the participants, forcing them to confront their own actions and decisions and to go forward to a believable outcome in which they can gain satisfaction. (Johnson and O’Neill, 1984, p. 99)

The teacher–taught relationship

        There are five basic types of role and mostly can be illustrated from the ‘The Dream’ drama.

>The authority role

>The opposer role

>The intermediate role

>The needing help role

>The ordinary person

How to Begin Planning Drama

● How to begin a plan

● The frame of a drama – first example ‘The Governor’s Child’

● The frame of a drama – second example ‘The Wild Thing’

● How did this drama evolve?

● The ingredients of planning

● Learning objectives

● Strong material

● Roles for the pupils

● Tension points – risks – theatre moments

● Building context and belief-building

● Challenges and decision-making

How to Generate Quality Speaking and Listening

Dialogic teaching

       This is one of the most interesting, potentially powerful and new concepts being promoted in educational circles in the UK. It is the result of extensive work by Robin Alexander and others (Alexander, 2000, Alexander, 2005). This approach to oracy in the classroom raises the profile of talk, speaking and listening, from the poor relation of English in the National Curriculum, to become the central focus, the pivot of learning across the curriculum.

How to Use Drama for Inclusion and Citizenship

       Drama’s inclusion is embedded, first, in its dialogical approach to teaching and learning. This is reflected in two contracts that form part of its rubric. These are:

1 Everyone will take part, including the teacher both in and out of role.

2 We will treat members of the group with respect by listening to them and allowing them to express their views without fear of derision or humiliation.

       Drama is often promoted as a teaching and learning methodology that generates empathy in pupils, yet there is little debate about exactly what is meant by this idea. The word empathy is sprinkled liberally throughout education documentation and literature. For example, the Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning (SEAL) documents that are, at the time of writing, being trialled in the UK make reference to empathy (SEAL, 2006).

Using drama to make meaning of the past

Let us begin by looking at three elements of historical enquiry:

● A concern with facts

● A concern with reasons

● A concern with meanings

What is assessment?

       The primary aim of assessment is to provide information about the development and achievement of those involved in the teaching and learning situation. Assessment records evidence related to students' abilities, both actual and potential, and charts their progression. The intended audience of assessment feedback should always include the students themselves. (Clark and Goode, 1999, p. 15)

Drama as a context for speaking and listening

● Negotiating and co-operating with others in the creation of drama work and the roles within it

● Expressing imaginative ideas when contributing to the drama work development

● Taking and using effectively the opportunities within the drama that require oral and aural communication

● Modifying, selecting and relating language and vocabulary to the changing roles, moods and situations in the drama work

● Controlling effectively oral and aural communication particularly in challenging sequences of drama work, e.g. questioning, dilemmas, unfair or emotional situations

● Responding with enjoyment and enthusiasm to the exploration of speech, gesture and sound

● Contributing effectively to critical evaluation of their own work and that of others (Clark and Goode, 1999, p. 22)