drama in education
Part 1: “My Understanding of Drama in Education” My understanding of drama in education is that it deals with the form of drama known as “process drama” as opposed to “performance drama”. Process drama is a very effective and essential learning tool in the primary school. ... Most process drama is improvisational and involves every aspect of the child’s personality. There are many subject areas, which can be dealt with effectively through drama, not just the curriculum areas but subjects that are important to the understanding of real life. ... Drama is an experiential class making it a unique way of learning. There are eight qualities of drama, which are common to both classroom drama and performance drama, and without all of these elements present the drama will lose its potential to be a great learning technique. ... Belief: This must be built up through the world of the drama. The belief is based on the imagined truth of the fictional story or the world in which the drama exists. ... Time: This is the fictional time dimension in which the drama takes place- the past, present and future of the characters. ... Place: This refers to the where of the drama- not only the fictional place where the drama takes place but also the actual space that represents this fictional place. For example, in one of the drama sessions we created the town in Bosnia where Anya was from. ... Tension: When the characters are faced with difficult situations or problems to solve, tension arises in the drama. ... Tension in drama is created by a combination of the other elements. ... Significance: This is the deeper meaning of the drama- the themes and issues the drama deals with. Some of the themes dealt with in the drama sessions included friendship, racism, teenage drinking, trust, power and parenting.