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!
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