Drama Strategies

                Drama strategies are the tools and techniques employed by teachers in dramatic arts. These strategies are used to explore a theme, text or idea while engaging students in the creative process. Implementing drama strategies encourages students to build inquiry skills and explore their imagination for understanding. Through drama strategies, students enhance their teamwork, character development, storytelling and performance skills. Drama strategies can be used across the curriculum and require students to be actively engaged in their own learning.

                There are a multitude of drama strategies that can be implemented to enhance a variety of lessons. The way that drama strategies were implemented in our course proved that structuring a lesson to incorporate the various strategies could build students work in role, and their understanding of themes and ideas. Many students may be apprehensive, as I was at first, about doing drama. However, these drama strategies challenge students to move beyond the familiar and everyday life in a fun and non-intrusive way. By varying the techniques used, we were able to develop a repertoire of strategies and make progress in our dramatic arts pedagogy.

                I have picked 5 strategies to share that I believe do not have to be explicitly taught to the students. Students can engage in these strategies, make meaning and use them as a tool for understanding across the curriculum.  

What If

              The “What if” strategy encourages students to be creative and think quickly. “What if” questions play a key role in creating dramatic situations and providing context for what students are expected to do. The “What if” strategy encourages students to consider possible problems, outcomes, and solutions to their presented situations. This strategy can not only provide a starting point, but also extend and alter students’ thinking in the middle of their dramatic learning. “What if” questions can be posed by the teacher or the student, depending on the context and goal of the lesson.

- Katie, Natalie, Kimberley & Courtney Webster

Alter-ego 

              This strategy puts one person in the ‘hot-seat’. The person is presented with a discussion of some sort to make. On one side of the person there will the ‘angel’ or positive outlook, and on the other side there is the ‘devil’ or negative side. All that matters is that there are two conflicting views on either side of the person. It is to show the battle we all go through to make a decision.

 - Nicole, Camille, Erin W., and Erin P

Mantle of Expert

            Is a dramatic inquiry approach to teaching and learning. This strategy puts the students in a position of expertise. An imaginary world is created in which the students represent members of a community, board, or group of experts on a specific topic. By giving students the responsibility of becoming experts, they will be more likely to develop real purpose and discovery of learning in a proactive way. Students are given ownership over their learning by providing them with a context in which to apply drama skills and knowledge to their everyday lives. The focus on this strategy is for students to develop communication, teamwork and critical thinking skills while having to defend or argue a position within an issue.

Still image/freeze frame

              Still images and freeze frame are both a form of action and tableaux and can be implemented in a variety of ways. With freeze frame, the action within a scene can be frozen at a particular moment to allow the audience to appreciate what is happening.  However, in still images rather than freezing an existing action, students create body-shapes or positions to create a scene. This could be in the form of the group positioning individuals to create a still image or creating an image by each individual adding detail one by one to create a large group situation. Freeze frame and still image require students to be conscious of body language, facial expressions and proximity between characters to understand the situation or scene. These strategies allow students that are less likely to engage in dialogue to create meaning and tell a story.  

Teacher in Role

              A drama strategy that involves the teacher taking on a role of a character for an entire lesson. The teacher manages the learning opportunities from within the context of the role. This job requires the teacher to control the action of the class, encourage involvement, describe the narrative, and create opportunities for the group to interact all while remaining in the role. This strategy enables the teacher actively participate and model appropriate behaviour within the classroom. It also allows the teacher to take on different characters, act goofy and show students that drama can be fun. As such, students who may be hesitant to participate for fear of being embarrassed will challenge their ideas when they see that the teacher is involved in acting as well.  When all individuals within a learning environment are welcomed to participate, it creates a greater sense of community and respect.

- Heather, Autumn, Stephanie, Kaelyn & Katie

Although I picked only 5 there are so many drama strategies that can be implemented into primary and junior classes to engage students in the creative process.

Check out these online websites and resources for more ideas!

Drama - Making it work in the classroom
Mantle of the Expert
Drama Resource - Creative Ideas for Teaching Drama.