Week 3 - Drama

This week we focused on one of the most important components of the art form of drama: role.

To assume a role is to step into another person’s shoes, and by taking this step “…students learn to assume roles that are both similar to and different from those of their real lives, temporarily adopting another person’s perspective” (Ewing & Simons, 2004, p. 5).

This idea of assuming a role got me thinking about the opportunity that drama offers in the instruction of English Language Learners in the classroom. As Hertzberg points out, taking on the role of another person allows ELL students to take a ‘safe risk’ saying “If they make a mistake, it is the character who makes the mistake and not them; if they say something that really is from the heart, again it is the character and no-one else need know that it really is their thoughts” (Hertzberg, 2012, p. 133).

We need to provide our ELL students with a range of opportunities to practice different registers and language functions if they are to move beyond conversational language and acquire academic language, and drama offers a great way to provide ELL students with that range.

In the workshop we looked at the book ‘Voices in the Park’ by Anthony Browne. After having read the book we then proceeded to stick adjectives and phrases on two large outlines of two of the characters from the book, describing how we thought these characters were feeling.

After this we formed groups and developed a series of still images that painted one of two scenarios, either a birthday or a holiday, in which the characters interacted. I was chosen to play the voice of Charles and explain what was going on in our holiday scenario. This was very liberating because it gave me the opportunity to really articulate how Charles must have been feeling through the use of improvisation. I didn’t know what I was going to say before I said it and this experience was liberating! Finally in pairs we were asked to interact with each other assuming one of the characters from the book. To finish the workshop we were asked by the teacher to add another voice to the book and below is my piece of writing from the perspective of a homeless person

It’s a funny thing being homeless. You might as well be invisible. Nobody wants to look at you or pay you any attention because it reminds them of how good they’ve got it. If people actually stopped to think about how good they’ve got it then they wouldn’t have anything to complain about, and lord knows people love to have a whinge. But apart from the cold and the wet, I don’t mind being homeless. It allows me to see things that other people don’t see. Like cruelty, kindness and everything in between.

References

Ewing, R. & Simmons, J. (2004) Beyond the script: Drama in the classroom. take 2. 2nd ed. Sydney:PETA. 

Hertzberg, M. (2012). Teaching English language learners in mainstream classes. Marrickville Metro, N.S.W. : Primary English Teaching Association Australia.