drama-education.com
a global perspective
learning in, with and through drama
Volume 3 Number 1 - 25/03/05

In this issue:

• Kim's Blog

• Lesson Idea

• Book Recommendations

Hi everyone,

Happy Easter.

Many of you will have my activities to date... the biggie is I moved to Queensland from Perth to start a PhD.  It's starting to take shape.  The PhD journey means that in about 7 weeks I need to submit a document called the "Stage 2 report" - this is basically a substantial research proposal indicating the research to be undertaken, the methods to be employed, the reason/rationale for the study, the resources required, a timeline, ethics considerations, literature review and interpretive paradigm.

My study is going to be a practice-led approach, looking at developing an online drama model as practice.  I'm starting to get a clear sense of how various stages of the study will come together.  One of the aspects that excites me is the possibility of drawing together participatory and presentational drama.  I'll be engaging with quite a bit of online games theory.... as well as new writing emerging about a shift to a Creative Economy.

I really like to have a few people along for the journey.  And I would like to find anyone who might be interested in participating at sometime over the next 3 years, in what might be some very exciting exploration of technology and drama.  I'm hoping to elicit the support of some of the research institutes at QUT, so we may well have some amazing resources and personnel alongside us!

SPIN ON THIS!!

This coming week QUT will host the Speculation and Innovation Conference (SPIN).  I'm lucky enough to be working in technical support!  Down and close to the action!   The conference has about 170 sessions scheduled over 3 days... and if you can't find something to interest you... then R.I.P....  what does concern me a little is that drama education seems to be very under-represented....  despite that there are many sessions, such as

de Freitas, Nancy
Protocols and Reactions: Mapping Creativity in Multidisciplinary and Collaborative Practice

that has clear significance for Drama Education practitioners... 

CIRCA - "this text has legs" - an sms circus

The other night I went to see CIRCA's reprised performance of "this text has legs", in its simplest sense it was an improvised circus performance back-dropped by a screen projection of sms (text messages) from the audience.  While the performers are obviously skilled and capable, the performance was very dependent upon the degree to which the audience was able to engage on a conceptual level.  The audience in many ways become collaborators in the performance.  There were some very engaging moments, punctuated by "in" jokes, schoolgirl infatuations, audience reprimand, audience asides...  the degree to which the text "shaped" the performance is open to speculation....  some sections seemed to be well-rehearsed sequences, either waiting to be triggered by an appropriate message or for a lull in the proceedings to reactivate the show...

As a performance it was problematic... as an experiment in performance it as very interesting.... I am keen to see how this type of performance work will develop... as it introduces MMS and EMS it has the potential to be very rich visually and aurally...  I believe it will be some time before audiences know how to receive such work.  Watch a video clip...

LESSON IDEA

I'm back in Process Drama mode...have run three over the past few weeks.. well - two and then started one and handed it over to students to work out how they would extend it if they were leaders...

I've found the posters from Barnardo's make really good pre-text material.  I have to thank Jonathan Neelands for introducing these as an idea back in York in 2001.  You can see them at the Barnardo's site.  They make wonderful stimulus material to explore some of the more harrowing aspects of human existence.  The other day we began a drama using one of the posters form the 1999/2000 campaign... our central question was "Where does hope go when you abandon it?"... students engaged in a variety of ways and all felt it as a very useful exercise. 

In reflection, we thought about the idea of "when is process drama useful?"...  and it was proposed that process drama might be very useful if it could be engaged with by politicians prior to important social policy debates...  rather than coming with a distanced, rational and economic perspective, it might be interesting to see what happens when they explore in practice the live/s of some of their community.

Drama as social studies, social critique...  a very useful exercise when engaging is issues based devised drama.

BOOKS

 

	First credit goes to Jonathan Neelands.  This book is a must for anyone doing drama - it identifies a range of drama conventions and categorises them according to type and function.  Some are better for deepening belief, others for extending context, etc...  This book is really a guide to being systematic about shaping significant and meaningful drama experiences, for students, community groups, awareness groups, etc...  I cannot imagine a drama teacher not needing to engage with this book at some stage in their career.
	Next credit goes to Pamela Bowell and Brian Heap.  I personally believe this is the most accessible text on Process Drama for newcomers to the form.  I recommend it to students and we refer to it extensively in lectures and tutorials.  It provides a clear, concise, yet remarkably deep introduction into Process Drama and how to make it work.  Logical planning stages and careful pacing through the planning stages makes this book incredibly valuable.
	This book starts to fall into the "heavy hitters" range.  It is precise and academic, yet still very accessible.  It provides the rationale and sophistication of understanding to make in roads into creating your own drama experiences for students.  Clear exemplars and detailed explanations provide templates for shaping and refining your own practice in this field.
	This is another in the "for serious study" range... but it really is a must read if you intend to be the very best you can in applying and creating effective drama experiences for learning. How can teachers incorporate drama into the curriculum? What activities are especially successful? How do teachers know when students are learning with and about drama? Teachers who are new to drama, or those wishing to refresh their knowledge and ideas will find practical answers and guidance in this important book. There has been renewed interest in the US, UK, and Australia on the subject of planning, implementing and evaluating drama work. With the range of activities, strategies and techniques provided, this text will prove invaluable to secondary school teachers.
	No discussion of Process Drama would be complete without referring to John O'Toole.  I don't know for certain but have been told that John was the one who named it "process drama"...  don't take me to task on that - not saying its true, just reporting! Anyway, John's work is precisely and carefully articulated.  This is a book for those who have a grasp of the practice and theory of Process Drama.

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