The arrival

1. The arrival Process Drama: Unlocking the Creative Potential in your Classroom

2. WHY ME? • Life long learner of the Arts, especially in the domains of Dance & Drama • Have been an Arts educator in schools from Prep to Year 12 • Currently HOD Drama at Somerville House which teaches Drama from Years 5 to 12 • Drama QLD Committee Member working with Primary Educators trying to implement Drama & the Arts into their work programs • Writing a Junior Arts program from F-4 for our school setting & working as a trial pilot school for the Australian Arts Curriculum • A passionate advocate for the role the Arts play in the social, emotional & academic education of young people

3. Why now? • As the Australian Curriculum begins to be implemented across the many phases, Primary & Middle Years educators in particular are going to be under increased pressure to become ‘expert’ teachers across an even broader range of areas • While tertiary teacher education courses & programs will no doubt change, until that time, existing teachers need to be supported & have access to professional networks & development to up skill them & increase their confidence in the ability to deliver the required content & processes • A career in education is no longer an assured by-product of a tertiary education in the field. As such, we need to ensure we are at the forefront of our practice & prepared for any eventuality as the face of education in Australia changes

4. According to acara… • The Australian Curriculum for the Arts will be based on the assumption that all young Australians are entitled to engage with the five Arts subjects and should be given an opportunity to experience the special knowledge and skills base of each. • All students will study the five Arts subjects —dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts — from Foundation to the end of primary school. Schools will be best placed to determine how this will occur. • In broad terms, learning in the Arts involves making and responding. Students learn as artists, by making art works that communicate to audiences. They learn as audiences, by responding critically to the Arts. These actions are taught together as each depends on the other.(Shape of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, August, 2011)

5. What is process drama? • Process Drama becomes a medium through which any life experience may be explored, with a focus upon content as opposed to the form of a production (Bolton) • The concept of student empowerment through questioning and problem solving acts as the catalyst, as well as the motivating agent throughout the duration of the dramatic experience (Heathcote & O’Neill) • It is hoped that the problem solving strategies discovered in the Process Drama will aid the person in their daily lives should they come across similar problems, whether that problem is ethical, moral, philosophical or mathematical.

6. Yes, but How do i use process drama in the classroom? This is AN approach. Not THE approach. But an approach that you can hopefully apply or adapt for creative learning experiences in YOUR classroom. It is worth noting that in this style of learning experience the focus is on PROCESS not PRODUCT…there is no audience, only a team of shared learners.

7. Step by step… • Revisit your unit plans for the year….what unifying themes emerge that may lend themselves to a process drama? • Draw on the assistance of your library technicians & staff (or the internet!) to find a quality picture book with provocative images & messages that tie into your theme & may have a number of emerging issues that can be tied to learning across ALL curriculum areas, not just the Arts. • Read the book, scan or copy some of the images & start to consider the possibilities for the images & text BEYOND the book…consider the gaps & silences. • Select a KEY image or section from the book as your pretext…it is not about reading the book TO the class, but experiencing it WITH them.

8. Record your responses • WHO do we meet in the story? • WHAT can we discover about them? • WHAT opportunities exist to explore characters & situations beyond the book? • WHERE could I take on a role to guide students? • WHAT roles could they play? • WHAT sensory items will help bring the experience to life aesthetically? • WHY do certain events unfold? • WHAT IF they occurred differently? • HOW could we change the course of action?

9. Now you’re on track! By now, you should have the following items in your arsenal: • A unit theme or unifying idea • A picture book & copies of key images • Your pretext • Some items that appeal to the senses & relate to the text: some music, smells, objects • Some key questions to guide your application of the text to creative activities in class The NEXT step…shaping & creating the learning experiences from a range of Process Drama techniques….

10. Key process drama techniques • Touch & Talk • Teacher/Student in role (role cards or role play) • Conscience alley • Hot-seating • Teacher narrative • Re-enactments • Time jumps • Freeze frames or photographs • Role circle • Letter writing • Soundscapes • Galleries • Role sharing • Reflection

11. The concept in action The unit this Middle Years class were focusing on revolved around concepts of themselves, prejudice & accepting others. The selected text was ‘The Arrival’ a ‘silent’ novel by Shaun Tan.

12. Some of the images…

13. The pretext I chose

14. My responses • WHO? A family with a man who must leave behind his wife & daughter to venture into a new land where he doesn’t fit in. • WHAT can we discover? Why he moved? How it was for him being a fish out of water? How his wife & daughter coped back home? • WHAT opportunities exist beyond the book? Seeing him meet the locals, seeing how his family responded when they got word from him, hearing the locals point of view, watching him experience new cultures. • WHERE could I take on a role? As a tour guide of the new place to show them the sights & sounds, as him exploring the new place, as the mother back home. • WHAT roles could they play?As the child left behind, as the locals greeting the newcomer.

15. More responses • WHAT sensory items will help bring the experience to life aesthetically?Music: eg. Sonic Loom (establishes the mood)Unknown objects (what might their use be in this new place?)Spices (a sense of the unfamiliar & new) • WHY do certain events unfold?Because he overcame his fears & embraced the new place. • WHAT IF they occurred differently?Perhaps he doesn’t settle in well, or is overcome by fear, or maybe it is those at home who struggle. • HOW could we change the course of action?Can explore overcoming fears & accepting differences using problem-solving & creative thinking.

16. A drama related experience… The teacher in role as a ‘tour guide’ uses a teacher narrative to guide the students through the new place, observing the new customs & places. Students have the opportunity to take photographs (create freeze frames) along their journey. The students are in role – one as a local & one the newcomer & they experience asking for directions from someone who doesn’t understand them. These are shared through touch & talk. A few students have the opportunity to go through conscience Alley & hear the inner thoughts & fears of the newcomers. They write a letter or postcard home to chart their experiences in the new place.

17. A dance related experience… Having now met some of the locals, they have been invited to attend a local festival. At this festival they will need to both share a dance from their culture as well as learn one from theirs. Revise some dances they may be familiar with from festivals already…eg. basic bush dances, bus stop, Zorba the Greek Students in role in 2 groups (via role sharing): one group represents the locals & 1 group the newcomers. Using allocated movement guidelines they are to come up with a dance which they can share at the festival:Provide music for each groupThey must have an entrance, a group formation, travelling steps & a canon32 counts (4 sets of 8) They are to teach & share & all participate

18. A visual art related experience… The letters that they sent home have been received & a response has arrived. Teacher-in-role as the child at home reads aloud a collective response in which the child suggests a souvenir or an artefact to be sent home that represents the new place. Either electronically or around the room display a gallery of image from the text & use these as stimulus for the creation of this souvenir. Provide a range of 2D & 3D items for the students to create their own artefact for ultimate gallery display in the classroom also.

19. A music related experience… Worship & celebration are a large part of this new place & with it comes the sounds of the city. Using a mixture of both instruments & found objects & working in small groups, students are to create a soundscape or the call to worship sounds that they hear when they wake-up.They are to rehearse their tune & give it a name & record it both on paper & electronically (if possible) using their understanding of rhythm, pace, melody & notes…they may even make up new symbols for music that exist within this culture. With students-in-role as politicians of the city, they can locate a piece of music as the ‘national anthem’, explaining how & why the piece of music captures the essence & the heart of the place.

20. A media arts related activity… As a part of their reflection, students can take on a role which they experienced during the Drama or a new one & can report to a ‘diary room’ where they can verbally record their feelings & experiences & what they have learnt since arriving or living apart from a loved one for the camera. These responses can be uploaded on line or edited to make a media presentation which incorporates photos taken during the freeze frames, images from the book itself, extracts from their letters home & photographs of their souvenirs & artefacts. This provides an excellent way to share their own learning with them & with the whole school community.

21. FOR FURTHER HELP… • See Shaun Tan’s captivating range of books, many of which have been turned into stage performances & his beautiful website with many more ideas: www.shauntan.net • Dorothy Heathcote, Gavin Bolton & Cecily O’Neill are the major theorists behind Process Drama • Patrice Baldwin, President of IDEA (International Drama Educators Association) www.patricebaldwin.com – she outlines many similar units, processes & texts • Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed or Forum Theatre also use similar methods & have been adopted in many anti-bullying campaigns around Australia • Drama QLD or other Arts professional education networks (ArtsLink QLD& KITE) • University websites which have specific subjects based on Process Drama (eg. QUT) ANY FINAL QUESTIONS?