So I have just signed up for a free online course - just one the first unit - excellent stuff. So I am examining Exploring play - which I think is vital for Drama.
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I have just finished reading Boal, Bausch, Lecoq and Meyerhold editions in the Routledge Performance Practitioners series. Four different books. I think they are brilliant resources for the teacher and also any IBDP theatre student looking to be introduced to their ideas as well as simple exercises. They give a good overview to the context of for each practitioner and simple exercises that you could apply to your classroom. FIVE star from me.
Well .. yes it has been a long time since I posted and I will try to be back on a little more. Just read a great book: The Physical Actor by Annie Loui. It spoke to me through the physical theatre aspect and she introduced me to the concept of Contact Improvisation. It is an areas I am going to investigate a little more. At moment I am teaching 5-8 Drama and 7/8 Dance. I used some of the ideas with some warm ups with my 7/8 Drama class in terms of stretching and using language and movement to vamp up the rehearsals a little more. I did more extensive work with my Dance class - only because I have the flexibility of not running a traditional style dance class. The main chapters are: Warm Up and Alignment; Space; Mime; Partnering; contact Improvisation and Active Imagination- Performance Composition.Arts education provides a platform to develop and apply creativity. The
importance of creativity and creative thinking in education cannot be denied. David Skorton (2009:para 2) states that the arts are “disciplines [which] nurture our creative instincts”. Creativity requires divergent and convergent thinking. (Bronson & Merryman: 2010: Para 2; Sternberg: 2006:87) These are the basic processes of the creation of arts. Through creative activities, students transform ideas and combine them to create new pieces of artistic work. An example from this International School is in Grade Four, where small groups of students take a poem and transform it into a piece of instrumental music that demonstrates mood. Researchers (Craft: 2002 and Elliot: 1971 cited in Craft: 2003:118; Robinson: 2009: 57) view imagination and creativity as separate concepts. Robinson (Ibid) believes imagination is an internal process and that underpins every unique human achievement. It is this internal process which allows us to create. When observing a Kindergarten class in ‘free play’ in kitchen space at school, the children exhibited both imaginative and creative play. This relates to Egan’s theory, that we can only construct worlds we already know. (quoted in Bergmann: 1998: 270) This is also demonstrated in the role playing of children in Drama with Grade Five students who, created an entire ‘news’ show based on their learning about weather and the body system. There was a funny weather segment, an interview, a nutrition specialist, commercial with healthy snacks that the students had created. They role played the different parts. (M. Ostiguy: Interview: 2010) This is part of a paper I have written:
“The arts are not mere diversions from the important business of education; they are essential resources.” (Eisner quoted in PYP: 2007:128). The Arts provide the skill base and are an integral resource, which allows students to developing both imagination and creativity. Arts education provides a platform to develop these skills, which are a key component of 21st century development. (Pink: 2005; Robinson: 2009) Imagination and creativity within the arts are interlinked with the artistic process. This artistic process provides students with an opportunity to explore, transform and utilise higher order thinking skills. This discussion paper will examine the literature and the importance of the arts for young children within the context of the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program in an international school. Numerous scholars perceive the arts to be beneficial in developing young children’s’ creativity and imagination. With the revision of Bloom’s taxonomy (Anderson and Krathwohl: 2001), creation now features as the highest order thinking skill. The ability to create a new product or point of view is an inherent aspect of the arts. The theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner & Hatch: 1989) also impacts creativity in the arts in terms of its cultural manifestation. Studies (Burton, Horowitz & Abeles: 1999: 91; Kennedy: 2006: Para 2; Saubern: 2009: 12 & 13; Smith: 2009: Para 2; Smithrim & Upitis: 2005:120) indicate that students immersed in the arts achieved highly in terms of creativity, imagination and originality. This a new book that I am reading - I think it has lots of interesting points
Pink, Daniel, H A Whole New Mind, New York, RiverHead Books -Penguin Group 2005. Print ISBN – 1 – 57322-308-5 P1 – The future belongs to very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind – creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people – artists, inventors, designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big pictures thinkers – will now reap society’s richest rewards and share its greatest joy. P17 1. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body; the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body 2. L H is sequential; R H is simultaneous 3. LH specializes in text; the R H specializes in context – RH is responsible for understanding metaphors 4. L H analyses the details; R H synthesizes the big picture P28 Abundance, Asia and Automation P 51 three questions – 1. Can someone overseas do it cheaper? 2. Can a computer do it faster? 3 is what I am offering in demand in an age of abundance? P 55 more Americans today work in arts, entertainment and design than work as lawyers, accountants and auditors – “2002 National Cross Industry Estimates of employment and Mean Annual Wage for SOC Major Occupational groups” Occupational Employment Statistics Program, Bureau of labor Statistics – www.bls.gov/oes/home.htm P 61 aptitudes “the six senses”. Design. Story. Symphony. Empathy. Play. Meaning. P65 1. Not just function but also Design – must be beautiful or emotionally engaging 2. Not just argument – story – p 66 the essence of persuasion, communication and self understanding 3. Focus – symphony – seeing the big picture, crossing boundaries 4. Logic – empathy – to understand what makes their fellows tick, forge relationships and to care for others 5. Play – need to play – best bosses have humour 6. Meaning |
Catherine Rankin
Drama/Theatre/Dance teacher for 30 years; Currently teaching at International School Manila. Archives
November 2021
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