“Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths, and encourage the arts and commerce.”
John F. Kennedy
The weekly discussion topics we have created are pulled from the module work to deepen our knowledge and understandings related to the Arts. Each week we will collaborate with each other to discusses and explore each important topic.
Week 2- Personal Perception of Drama in Education
Grace: So we begin our drama in arts journey this semester where we are forced to look at drama and education and consider what we know think and feel about drama. My understandings that I have in relation to drama are:
- Drama is used to learn and develop in a wide variety of areas within education and personal and professional development.
- Drama is a way to express and work through feelings, emotions and problems.
- Drama joins people together and works to close gaps in different areas related to education and problem situations.
These are my preconceptions in relation to drama. Over the next 6 weeks I will be developing my learning and extending my understandings and will be re-evaluating these perceptions at the end of week 7.
Kyle: My own perceptions of drama stem from personal experiences in engagement from high school and early university courses where I was either required to enact drama elements or perform in musicals as part of an orchestra member on guitar. What I have learned from these experiences is that drama is not limited to just the stage – it applies across a wide variety of sources such as music and cultural arts. More significantly I have understood that drama allows people to develop skills in expressing themselves to an audience of people who can relate to specific feelings and moods, as well as incorporates skills related to social, cognitive and emotional intelligence.
Grace: I totally agree Kyle i think drama is a place of understanding, meaning making and inclusion. Weather it up on stage or in a classroom drama is about utilizing all of the resources the environment has to offer. Through drama an inclusive environment is created and everyone can come together embracing differences and using them to explore, discover and develop understandings or skills.
Kyle: That's where we're all learning about ourselves in the process, even if it includes interacting with others and learning about their own cultural, social and personal experiences. More or less we understand the backgrounds of our peers, and we also gain an understanding of the social, emotional and intellectual elements that are included in drama, as well as spatial awareness and observation of male and female roles, to place perspectives on the roles of the opposite sex.
Week 3- Arts Place in Society and Curriculum
Grace: Personally I believe the arts holds a sacred place in everyone, in society and in education. It’s the one place where we can reclaim our inner child and explore alternative ways. It’s an out let for emotions, therapeutic, diverse, challenging experiences where we grow personally, develop a skill or passion, learn about others and explore beautiful histories and cultures of the world. We learn to interoperate ideas and theories and explore in the rawest form.Arts in curriculum (ACARA, 2013) allows students to do all of the mentioned above and engage socially with other children and explore and make sense of themselves and their worlds.
Kyle: In place of curriculum Drama extends towards all areas of learning with differing frameworks and similar outcomes – in my beliefs of drama, we all learn how to express ourselves in different ways while obtaining the same result in finding our own space and awareness. When we also learn of drama, we also follow guidelines and frameworks that steer our learning pathways. This link from Drama Australia explains various aspects of drama that we learn throughout education to make ourselves aware of how it is applied to learning and everyday situations.
Grace: Good point I didn't make in my initial discussion, I think we learn not only about drama within the arts but through drama. Using drama as a learning tool to discover the arts, outcomes gives students the opportunity to apply their learning to different situations. As their knowledge and understanding develops they can attempt new learning ideas using their foundation knowledge. Other subject can also use drama as an approach to learning, I think its important that we have time for drama as a main subject and not just piggy back subject.
Kyle: It is indeed a prioritised subject and not just a tool for "filling in the gaps", so to speak. It has many different approaches and elements that are developed through the learner, and also incorporates many different everyday situations, such as applied movement, improvisation (a good learning tool for those who use it to reinforce particular skills such as impromptu speaking for example), and it also encourages us to engage in the subject matter.
Take for example this video link by celebrity impressionist Jim Meskimen, who uses a piece of literature by Shakespeare, albeit with different voices of celebrities. This is an example of how we can apply and incorporate different elements of learning and understanding into drama, such as the integration of literature and application of expression.
Week 4- Creative Materials
Grace: I think creative materials are in the eye of the beholder. Anything can be used as a materiel during drama and the interpretation and representation help shape the idea of the material being used. Varied realism is a term appropriate for drama creative materials, I think that different materials require children to use and access different parts of their knowledge, understandings and skills. Click HERE to explore the 5 domains of the creative arts and examine different opinions.
Kyle: An interesting point about the elements of drama that add to its overall character. How we make it interesting is up to us, however if we want to express the type of atmosphere in a drama enactment or such we need to consider the inclusion of spatial, emotional and even musical elements.
I've always been one to observe music in films or drama plays, being an avid musician myself. I tend to observe how it portrays the overall drama film/play and how it engages the viewer. Most films tend to use bleak, melancholic pieces to envisage sad scenes, while in celebratory moments there is usually an inclusion of brass, loud instruments and faster-paced tempos. Love themes usually embrace soft sounds whilst different fiction-themed parts use grandiose pieces that are often thunderous.
Grace: I think within resources not only physical resources but resources that cater to different elements such visual, audio, spatial and gestural are important to consider within The Arts. These include videos, music, posters, pictures, boxes and containers among other things. Its important to think outside the box in terms of creative materials for the different domains and look at the relationships and connections formed or that could be formed within the domains. Here were explore the arts in various ways and build understandings and values related to The Arts.
Kyle: I agree that these domains are very accurate for a developing child to understand the elements of the arts. I recall participating in an arts course in my first year of university, where we actually explored these domains and engaged in examples of these, such as understanding our movements and our cognitive intelligence which allows us to become spatially aware of the environment around us and especially when we engage in dance or movement with other people. An example was when I had to engage to a group activity of forming letters using ourselves as the shapes, meaning we'd have to lie in circles or straight lines, hold another student
between us, or create an interesting pose to convey our shape or letter to our tutor.
Week 5- Previous Drama Experiences
Grace: Unfortunately my previous drama experiences are limited to my past days. In primary school I participated in all school plays and took art, drama and singing lessons. These experiences we for fun and i love it, had positive experiences at each activity I participated in. Also in primary school I entered a competition for the arts where we had to recreate and retell a story in front of a panel of judges, we has specific criteria to adhere to and we although didn't go very far had an amazing time, especially with our home made props.
During high school I also took art, drama and music classes and participated in the school musical where there was lots of opportunity to sing, dance and act. Also very positive experiences and great memories with my friends. I also continued drama lessons outside of school during the first few years of high school which I also loved. I participated in the end of year play where we all got to play several different roles, male and female roles to challenge our skills.
Kyle: I agree Grace, my experiences in Drama were also limited to past days, however that does not mean that my experiences ended after high school. Although I avidly participated in drama events during primary school and some of high school with acting or spatial roles, most of my time was spent fulfilling the music side of things; that is, creating the atmosphere in which fellow drama participants could express themselves. As I was involved in creating orchestral elements through the guitar, my role was to share the drama space with singers, dancers and actors. Every musician finds their own spatial awareness through their roles. Although mine is half-hidden behind multiple guitars, synthesisers and vocal microphones I am still expressing myself to whoever listens.
How we express ourselves to the public eye depends on how we look, how we act, and how we interact to develop an awareness of our skills. As stated earlier, music is an indirect element of drama, as it incorporates moods, feelings, emotions and atmospheres, all somewhat applications of drama. One of my favourite music groups, the German electronic group Kraftwerk, used this to their advantage when performing music on stage. To read up on how they exactly did this, here is a link to a blog post on their pioneering use of instruments to create brand new atmospheres and emotions, hence a new form of music, to engage the listener. Their presence on stage was different to how normal musicians usually expressed themselves - they often didn't appear on stage, instead using dummies to represent themselves. Talk about expressing cold, distant emotions, huh?
Week 6- Skill Development within the Course
Kyle: This week in developing new understandings of the Drama course I'm beginning to understand how the elements of Drama all come together. The link has helped to explain some insight into how drama incorporates -and differs from- various types of literature. So how do my skills fit into all of this, just from reading on the Modules from the course?
Past experiences such as writing stories plays a large part in setting up the elements of fiction to make a dramatised story work. In high school when we were encouraged to generate ideas for stories using elements such as genre (science-fiction, romance, crime, mystery, and so on), setting, plot, characters, synopsis and the three primary stages of storytelling: introduction, complication, resolution. These all fit into how we apply our skills into drama and accepting the roles we play. How conventional do we make it? Does the hero have to save the girl, or is he an amoral character instead? These are but some of the questions we face when applying skills into the roles and structures of drama.
Grace: I think The Arts are very open to creativity and interpretation so everyone is going to take out different things from exposer to The Arts. For me it has opened up my eyes and helped me look beyond the what and how we do thing but explore the why and when. I have spent time exploring different scenarios and concepts within The Arts and what the teacher and the students can take out of different lesson and the different learning angels a teacher can teach and implement from. I have also explored the role of the teacher within the classroom and learnt more teaching positions to understand and values to take on as an educators. I have explored the serous side of drama and the importance The Arts has within the education system, the community and children.
Week 7- Creative Responses to Reading and Activities
Grace: I personally use what I learn and try and put it into play, I learn best when I can understand and implement my learning. So I was able to try different variations of some of the activities at my work.
Kyle: I find that by responding to the activities in the course I use content and knowledge that I can relate to, usually through prior experiences or through new found information that I can understand through some sort of experience that relates to it. Some of this even applies to my teaching when I variate different actions to gather attention.
Week 8- Re-Discuss Perceptions of Drama in Education (Discussion Comparison to WEEK 2)
Grace: When re considering my pre-conceptions of drama within The Arts I think I had a pretty thorough idea in what I thought and expected. Over the last 7 weeks I have confirmed my pre-conceptions that drama is used to develop a wide variety of curriculum areas and is important in itself, drama is used as a way of self expression or used to explore or demonstrate ideas, messages or feelings and that drama works to join people together and close all kind of gaps between people.
Kyle: Many preconceptions made prior to the oncoming weeks after Week 2 have shifted into a new collective understanding. I feel that I can now make observations to how spatial movement, the application of dance, music and voice, and the inclusion of emotional elements have their own theoretical underpinnings and ways of working and understanding, as compared to Week 2 when I had an idea that the concept of drama was looser than from what I have now learned.
Weekly Discussion Page Reference List
Australian Curriculum, Assessing and Reporting Authority (2013) Australian Curriculum: The Arts Foundation to Year 10 Date Accessed: 20/03/2014 Retrieved From: http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_2_July_2013.pdf
Binary Quotes (2014) Drama Accessed on: 27/03/2014 Retrieved From: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/arts.html#qOTXJeGghzkEIJiB.99
Crean, M. (October 25, 2012). Here are some movement activities to help develop your students' spatial awareness [Web log post]. Top Notch Teaching - Time saving tips. Retrieved 2nd April, 2014 from http://topnotchteaching.com/time-saving-tips/movement-activities-to-develop-students-spatial-awareness/
Drama Australia. (2014). Welcome to Drama Australia [website]. Sourced 26th March, 2014 from http://www.dramaaustralia.org.au/
Google (IMAGE, 2014) Kids Drama, Google. Date Accessed: 27/03/2014 Retrieved From: http://www.bensonblake.com/blog/archives/1117
Leon. (2012, May 24). What is drama and how is it different from other literature? [Web log post]. Retrieved 3rd April, 2014 from http://literatelai.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/what-is-drama-and-how-is-it-different-from-other-literature/
Meskimen, J. (2011, July 19). Impressionist Jim Meskimen does Shakespeare in celebrity voices [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PGBnNmPgk
Smith, M. (2013, March 23). Kraftwerk - how they changed music [Web log post]. Matthew Smith - Music Blog. Retrieved 3rd April, 2013 from http://matthewsmithvb.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/kraftwerk-how-they-changed-music/
Australian Curriculum, Assessing and Reporting Authority (2013) Australian Curriculum: The Arts Foundation to Year 10 Date Accessed: 20/03/2014 Retrieved From: http://www.acara.edu.au/verve/_resources/Australian_Curriculum_The_Arts_2_July_2013.pdf
Binary Quotes (2014) Drama Accessed on: 27/03/2014 Retrieved From: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/arts.html#qOTXJeGghzkEIJiB.99
Crean, M. (October 25, 2012). Here are some movement activities to help develop your students' spatial awareness [Web log post]. Top Notch Teaching - Time saving tips. Retrieved 2nd April, 2014 from http://topnotchteaching.com/time-saving-tips/movement-activities-to-develop-students-spatial-awareness/
Drama Australia. (2014). Welcome to Drama Australia [website]. Sourced 26th March, 2014 from http://www.dramaaustralia.org.au/
Google (IMAGE, 2014) Kids Drama, Google. Date Accessed: 27/03/2014 Retrieved From: http://www.bensonblake.com/blog/archives/1117
Leon. (2012, May 24). What is drama and how is it different from other literature? [Web log post]. Retrieved 3rd April, 2014 from http://literatelai.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/what-is-drama-and-how-is-it-different-from-other-literature/
Meskimen, J. (2011, July 19). Impressionist Jim Meskimen does Shakespeare in celebrity voices [Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8PGBnNmPgk
Smith, M. (2013, March 23). Kraftwerk - how they changed music [Web log post]. Matthew Smith - Music Blog. Retrieved 3rd April, 2013 from http://matthewsmithvb.wordpress.com/2013/03/23/kraftwerk-how-they-changed-music/