English is a subject that lends itself nicely to being dramatic through various means. First of all, the obvious one is the study of texts, primarily plays. When a pupil studies drama in a school environment they are usually given a book that contains a play with several roles, then are split into groups and asked to act it out. From personal experience this is quite an effective method of getting through large chunks of text and acting provides a medium where all pupils can be equals without fear of ridicule. So how is this different to teaching a set text such as Othello to pupils in an English classroom? The only difference between an English classroom and a drama classroom is that there are seating plans, chairs, tables and an environment in which the pupils are used to writing instead of doing.
When teaching a play it is important to engage all of the pupils, especially as an engaging lesson will stick with the pupils and information may actually come to them in their time of need: the exam. I believe it is thoroughly important to get the pupils out of their seats and fully exploring the play, both in words and movement. The pupils need to feel the atmosphere that Shakespeare's audience would have felt when watching Othello being performed. This way they not only understand what is being said and why, but can also understand why certain characters were made to feel or be seen in certain ways, therefore deepening their understanding of the text. How does a teacher fit into this? So far I've only talked about pupils engaging, pupils doing and acting, but as teachers we need to lead by example, to show the pupils that it's ok to be out of their comfort zone. In the classroom I perform every time that I teach. I need to, as my real personality is that of someone who is laid back and quite happy to accept what happens. This is not acceptable in a classroom from someone who leads, therefore I perform for every single lesson. I change my voice, my attitude, my persona and the way I look every time i come into school. This builds up a defense against what pupils might say or do, but to lead when teaching a play I need to let my guard down and show the pupils that it's ok to look a bit stupid and be unsure of what to do at the beginning. This element of trust at showing a glimmer of the real person behind the suit is what being dramatic in a lesson is all about. There has to be a relationship between you and the pupils that works, and trust between the two groups that you won't be laughed at too much. I enjoy being dramatic and sometimes over-dramatic in a class for effect. Humour is a great way to get through to pupils, and I have found that certain aspects of being dramatic can always get a laugh from the class, diffusing situations or getting all pupils to focus.
How about if you aren't teaching a play, but a novel instead? Can I still be dramatic? There are several ways of doing this, with or without class participation. From my experience of being a pupil I remember being read small parts of Of Mice and Men in year nine, and my teacher (who somehow managed to put the fear into every single child in the school) was reading the book to us as we followed and read each character in a different voice. This was unexpected from such a stern member of staff, but the technique worked as it created different characters with real voices in my imagination. I specifically remember that Lenny had a rather childish voice, with what seemed to be a little inspiration from the Blink-182 singer Tom DeLonge (he over-emphasises certain words, creating a specific sound) and George was gruff, with a little Southern in there for good measure. I actually think that if John Malkovich hadn't been cast as Lenny then my old year nine teacher would have been great, with some make-up work. From personal experience teaching classes I have found it easy to integrate drama and be dramatic in lessons. When teaching a year seven class the text Wolf Brother we did two different tasks: one a news report and one a role play activity. The news report worked particularly well as we used iPads to 'film' the news broadcast and reconstruction of the crime, enabling pupils to take the task a lot more seriously. The role play was a fantastic way for pupils to express themselves as they took on different roles from the book. Enabling them to be dramatic in the classroom allowed them to explore the feelings and activities of the characters. The other thing I did was take a leaf out of my year nine teacher's book and use different voices. When teaching Matilda to a year five class I made us of the classroom. We were in a mobile every time, which meant that the room was a little less solidly constructed than the main building. When it came to Miss Trunchbull I was able to bang and thump around the room with great effect, as the floor was entirely made of wood and the sound bounced around the room. This made some pupils jump, but the majority laughed and it allowed them to enjoy the text a little more.
To be or not to be is the question, but I can guarantee that any chance that I get to be dramatic in a classroom to further pupil learning, I will.
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