Looking at the student teacher interactions during drama process

Shin Mei Kao and Cecily O’Neil combine analysis of drama process and SLA into one key study conducted in Taiwan. They looked specifically at the quality of the discourse and the quantity of the discourse in a systematic and empirical way. They conducted a fourteen week communication course using drama with university first year students. They then randomly took four drama process activities – two based on real events and two based on imaginary – and analysed the discourse.

They specifically looked at number of turns in the discourse from the students as compared to the teacher turns and also at the quality of the turns. The quality was measured using Van Lieu’s (1988) notion of taking initiative. This is described in four categories – (1) taking initiative on the topic, (2) taking initiative on self, (3) taking initiative for allocating the turn to another student or teacher, and (4) taking initiative in moving the sequence forward.  Excellent ideas on coding and ways to scientifically validate drama process.

Their key assumptions here are that the drama classroom resembles natural real-life discourse, allowing student to take more turns in the discourse and with a higher quality of turn. They made interesting discussion about the importance of internal tension – both in dynamic tension of the activity format and also tension of the role. They also tested the oral competence of the student before the class and after the class, using a self devised test describing a comic strip. In this test they scored the communication units and the speech clarity and proved that students improved (although not necessarily as a result of drama).

This study has given me ideas on how to measure communicative competence in the drama process and provides a solid way to empirical record the quality and quantity of the student teacher interaction. There is also a theoretical framework which I can follow – van Lier’s idea and categories of learners taking initiative in the classroom. I also liked the idea of teaching a drama process class for a period of time, recording everything with the video and then randomly choosing four episodes to analyse (and thereby eliminating other external factors).

The authors call for more empirical studies which validate drama process in language learning. They also describe a process for designing a language learning course using drama process.  Coming out of this reading I wonder at the possibility of doing a larger scale study in the same format. Or at least using the concept of conducting a program with students and then locating episodes to analyse for the aesthetic moment.

If I can merge Penny Bundy’s concept of the aesthetic experience – namely demonstrations of connection, animation and heightened awareness and Shin-Mei Kao’s theoretical framework and approach to analysis, I think I will be able to further analyse and validate the A-Ha moment.

Capturing the aesthetic moment

The more I talk about what the aesthetic moment is, the more I understand it on an intellectual level. Coming first from a very ethereal and touchy feeling place, I understand the moment from an emotional level and a irrational level. I am beginning to identify solid components that I would like to be able to track and record in a drama process.

Having had the moment many times myself both as a student in the classroom and as a drama practitioner, I intuitively know what it is but need to be able to explain it clearly and academically to other people.

That “A-ha!” moment for the student. There is a subtle shift in the dynamics between the student themselves, the other students, the teacher and the group as a whole. I wonder too about the relationship between their present self and future self. It is a moment characterised by a heightened sense of awareness. Penny Bundy talks about connectedness, emotionality and presence. The students connect more fully to the content, the situation, the relationships and also the language being used. I have a hunch an easier way to identify the moments as an observer is through the proximics and pragmatics – there must be a moment where the physical dynamics of the student and teacher’s eye contact, postures, gestures, openness, tonality, - all voice and movement elements – shift subtly. I want to video this interaction and capture these moments.

Once I have identified the moments through the voice and movement, I can then analyse the discourse and the teacher student interaction. How does the discourse change? Register? Tone? Pragmatics. And I will need to look at this systematically in the classroom environment, using systems analysis and Brofenbrenner’s (1993)  nested ecosystem of analysis. There are so many worlds occurring at that moment and leading up to the moment that are interacting like an ecosystem. The student’s inner world, their external world, the groups’ world and the teacher’s inner and external world.

The next step of the video analysis would be determining what are the triggers or lead up events to these moments that the teacher (and student) can take some control over. What do the teachers need to in the classroom to create more of these moments? What do students need to do?

I feel I have an access point and clear method for tapping into the drama side of it – start with the voice and movement and then identify student teacher interactions. I am still fuzzy on the linguistics component. Some areas for research would be the affective domain (Arnold, J), pragmatics, engagement, alignment between real self and future self, psychology of the language learner and motivation, group dynamics, flow and creativity, the mind gym – use of these activities, Multiple intelligences in EFL. I imagine I need to start with the larger context of affective domain, and then narrow it down to group dynamics and notion of self.

Timeline for my research

The timeline for my research is starting to pan out. My goal for this year is to complete the following in order:

Build community of practitioners – language teachers who are using drama techniques in their adult language learning classrooms. This will be done by inviting practitioners to a professional development night hosted at the Centre for English Teaching. This will be to present a 45 minute workshop on drama methodologies in language learning in preparation for my presentation at the CamTESOL conference end of February. The tentative date will be Wednesday 10 Feb at 6pm. I hope to determine who is interested in participating in research next year, but also to discover what people are actually doing in their classrooms. Ideally I need three to five practitioners who will be able to help develop the toolkit, apply it during their classes and then work with me on re-developing it.

CamTESOL conference 2011 – I will present a workshop on drama techniques in the language learning classroom. This will explore specifically the open end of the continuum of drama activities – specifically exploring drama process. This needs more work, as I only have 45 minutes here and need to combine both theory and practice in the workshop. I hope to connect with people using drama throughout Australasia and look forward to attending workshops and research about the area of applied drama process.

Thesis Proposal and Ethics Approval – the last half of 2011 will be finalising my proposal (15,000 words) and getting ethics approval.

Data Collection – for a concentrated period somewhere in 2012. I was advised that this period should be short and intense and also be a time I take off at work. Ideally this could be an extended workshop, video and analysis, then extended workshop and redesign, then video and analysis.

Data Analysis and Thesis writing – most of the end of 2012 and then 2013. It was also recommended that I take time off for final writing of the thesis – 70,000 words.

Given these parameters, my schedule is starting to look like this:

Thesis Proposal Development

9 Feb 2011 – professional development workshop to build community

27 Feb 2011 – CamTESOL

30 June 2011 – Draft Proposal (requires 600 words per week from 1 March 2011).

30 Sep 2011 – Final Proposal + Ethics Approval

Data Collection

15 – 30 January 2012 – Extended workshop to drama teachers

February – March 2012 – Observation of classes and test phase to video and identify both physicality of aesthetic moment and discourse of student teacher interaction.

Phase one observation goals

·         Student and teacher interviews and surveys to determine when heightened moments actually occurred (by collective agreement on these moments – self analysis of video)

·         Video analysis of moments to document first recognition of physicality of moment, analyse discourse during the moment, and determine triggers or lead up to moment.

Easter 2012 – Extended workshop and redesign

This would be design based research and involve feedback to teachers about the observation of phase one and involvement in redesigning the toolkit to include specific activities conducive to creating the aesthetic moment.

April – May 2012 – Observation of classes and application phase. Use of videos to record same teachers with different sets of students using redesigned toolkit but same drama process to create the aesthetic moments.

Phase two observation goals

·         Record moments and confirm first phase analysis of triggers and indicators of aesthetic experience.

·         Use of student and teacher surveys to analyse connectedness.

June 2012 – Final workshop

Workshop with teacher participants to redesign toolkit and plan for future developments.

Words into Worlds

In reading Words into Worlds by Shin-Mei Kao and Cecily O’Neil, I am recalling a lot of reading and exploration I made during my Masters Degree and while at Model Language Studio in Tokyo, Japan. I studied Process Drama in my drama degree and enjoyed the building of the narrative and taking participants through this process. Techniques such as teacher in role and mantel of the expert were definitively successful in moving the drama forward and engaging participants in the drama. The extended narrative and journey that you take with the students is powerful for both the teacher and the participants. The authors of Word into World (1998) talk about the continuum of open to closed drama activities, starting with the standard role-play at the closed end of the continuum and moving through to process drama at the open end. I was quite surprised at this, as I have been using role-play for a long time in the classroom and I know many teachers use role-play ineffectively thinking they are providing creative opportunities for their students to communicate. In this prescriptive manner, role-plays can be controlling, inappropriate and unreal.

So Drama Process it is going to be the focus of my reading for a while. I am interested in re-immersing myself in this medium and analysing which stages are effective in aesthetic engagement. I will be presenting a workshop in February 2011 at CamTESOL and look forward to receiving feedback about the beginning of the drama toolkit I hope to create. There is a list of key elements in creating effective process drama that O’Neil and Kao (1998) explore and I will include in my toolkit:

1.       Find an effective starting point for the drama, and if necessary, initiate the drama in role. This invites the students to enter the fictitious world of the drama, and inverts the assumptions underlying the traditional pedagogical context (ie teacher handing over power and empowering the students).

2.       Choose themes and topics appropriate for the social and linguistic abilities of the students. (I would suggest some linkage here about aiming the linguistic level to the i+1 level of the students, i.e. aiming the language level just above their current level to promote reach).

3.       Introduce a variety of roles in order to familiarise students with a wide range of language functions.

4.       Understand and foster the operation of tension in the dramatic situation, so that encounters continue to be unpredictable and authentic.

5.       Handle the class as a whole group as well as organising students into pairs and small groups.

6.       Release students from the constraints of language and provide them with fresh opportunities in incorporating non-verbal activities in the process. This is especially important for lower levels.

7.       Negotiate the development of the drama with students, and encourage similar positive interactions among students.

8.       Use a variety of forms of questioning to promote involvement, support students contributions and challenge superficial or inadequate responses.

9.       Reflect on the experience, both in discussion and through eh use of other modes of expression.

10.   Extend the drama experience beyond the limits of the classroom by making connections with society and the student’s own lives.

Sources and Ideas I Draw From

There are a lots of areas that I am pulling from for my ideas on drama methodology in the classroom. I guess in following my own progress and development I can see how my ideas have shaped and developed my practice. Origin ideas and learning on drama and language learning came from Richard A. Via, in his work on using acting methods in the English Language Learning Classroom. This work was further developed by Yoko Narahashi in Japan and her work with Japanese actors developing their acting skills in English. Some credit should be given to Model Language Studio and their work with producing plays in English and developing their Pinch and Ouch approach to teaching Japanese children English. Moving from there I began to explore more complex drama techniques in the language learning classroom, such as drama process (Dorothy Heathcote, John O'Toole, Gavin Bolton), Drama techniques in Language Learning (Alan Maley & Alan Duff), Dramatic Elements (Brad Haseman), Improvisation (Viola Spolin), Theatre Sports (Keith Johnstone). Completing my Masters in Education and focusing on the affective domain in language learning - connecting emotion and feelings to language development, I was particularly interested in the theory relating to the affective domain of learning (Bloom). This area of my study is weak and I will need to research more about theories relating to connecting emotions and feelings to language learning. Other areas that come mind include immersion, physicalising of language, narrowing the distance between reality and the suspension of disbelief, similar to that of an audience watching a theatre play. There are many papers that I wrote in this two year study that I can refer to.

I later studied Change Management and explored techniques in teaching to create change. Some key theorists here that guided my practice include Colin Turner (Swimming with the Dolphins Makes You Happy), Daniel Gilbert (Happiness), Daniel Goleman (The New Leaders) and exploration of different intelligences applied to change. Coaching and developing competences on three different levels - linguistic or language competences, through business competences and environment and at the top level - social and personal competencies, helped my refine and develop my field expertise in this area. My experiences in Japan, training Japanese businessmen in developing leadership and management skills through creating realistic business scenarios for them through role-play, characterisation and improvisation and then focusing on developing the linguistic tools needed to support their performance in these environments - is unique in the industry and something I can use as a base for my work in this research.

Something in particularly which has run through all of my experiences, is my background in teaching children and the beliefs about education and the classroom that have shaped my approaches. The manipulation of the power differential in the classroom through drama, especially Heathcote's concept of the mantle of the expert, has led me to have a very specific role of the teacher. The teacher is the most flexible actor in the classroom - if the response is not that the teacher wants, then a different stimulus is required. Relating this to the Pinch and Ouch theaory - if the ouch is not what the teacher wants, then the teacher should change the pinch. Children in the classroom will go where their interest is and connect when they relate to something. I don't think it is much different for adult learners.

In reading and researching for this research there have been other theorists that have begun to inform my practice. Aesthetic education and the work of Penny Bundy and Judith McLean talk about the aesthetioc experience in the classroom and what are the criteria for this. Connectedness, Presence, Heightened emotion are all criteria for creating aesthetic engagement. Sir Ken Robinson in his recently animated presentation "Changing education paradigms" talks about having presence in current moment, resonating with excitement with the current topic, when your senses are operating at their peak and when you are fully alive. He draws an interesting comparison to the opposite - anaesthetic, which brings into stark reality the result of not placing importance on aesthetic education. The work of Cecily O’Neil and Sin-Meo Kao get very practical with their work on learning a second language through drama (Words into Worlds). The work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in exploring creativity and the concept of flow is also something that aligns with my own beliefs in the learning process. Shapiro looks at the effects of mindfulness and meditation on the effects of learning. It is my objective to brings all of my experience and more recent research on aesthetic education to provide a toolkit for language teachers to use for adult international learners in the Australian university context. Not a small order by any means!

Next steps are to:

1. Further research complementary language learning developments in the literature that support language learning.

2. Develop the first draft of the language learning through drama toolkit. I need this for my presentation in Cambodia at the end of February.

3. Plan out my thesis proposal document for work and development. My supervisor has requested 1,500 per month!

Cool animation about aesthetic education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U&feature=youtube_gdata_player

What is my research about?

I hope to explore the successful dramatic techniques an ESL teacher uses in the classroom to effective engage their students. And I don't mean just interest them. I am talking about aesthetic engagement. That moment where the student truly connects with what they are learning. They are engaged, connected and emotive towards the subject and content matter. Students and teachers switch off in class, don't participate and therefore don't learn in classes because they are not engaged in the learning. I believe drama promotes collaboration and aesthetic experiences in the classroom and therefore promotes learning.

What I want to develop is a master tool kit for teachers who want to use drama to engage their students. I will develop this toolkit from analysing master practitioners and determining what teacher behaviours are conducive the aesthetic experience. What do teachers do or say that engages their students? What techniques can we adopt as teachers that connect us to our students and helps them connect to the subject matter. More simply - how do we make our classes more fun and appropriate for Gen Y?

Starting to sort my ideas

OK, so new to this but ready to give it a go.

What are my objectives with this blog?
1. I want to write regularly my views on drama methodology in language learning. Writing helps sort my ideas and get them down on paper. I started my Doctorate in Education last year at Sydney University and am entering 2011 and a new phase of my research. I would like to start publishing pieces of writing and thoughts on my research for feedback and review.
2. I would like to meet like minded people. Drama practitioners who are using drama methodology - drama process, improvisation, simulation, voice and movement, role-play and acting games in their ESL classroom. I benefit so much from talking through issues and verbalising my ideas with people. I would love to hear from other's experiences and use this blog to communicate with a wider variety of people.
3. Once my research begins, I would like to generate a communicate of teachers who I work with and use this space to build resources for people who believe in the power of drama in the classroom.
4. I need focus and direction! Without setting a simple goal of daily blogging, I am unable to sift through the thousands of thoughts and ideas that flash past as I read and explore my research.