Drama at Key Stages 1 and 2

The Diversity of Drama Practice

School observations

Invite the student teachers to add to their brainstorm the practices they have observed in school which are included under the banner of drama. This would include both formal and more informal drama activities as well as aspects of school life which have dramatic undertones. They could undertake this in the same groups using another coloured pen so that at the end of the activity the extent of their personal experiences and their observations can be ascertained. This activity should help student teachers move away from any fixed personal conceptions of drama and help them highlight the diversity of drama practice in nursery and reception classes and across the primary phase.

Offer internal group discussion time and invite each group to share one practice from their school observation with the rest of the group through the use of a freeze frame. So if they want to share the dramatic nature of the staff room then the group will need to take up role positions as if they are in a staff room, or they may suggest that a class assembly is a dramatic practice and would in this case create a frozen tableau of an imaginary assembly.

The whole group can observe each other's freeze frames in turn and guess which activity is being shown. Stress the wealth of activities shown which demonstrate that there is considerable dramatic scope and much implicit drama already in existence in both the official and unofficial curricula. Their challenge across the course will be to become better acquainted with these aspects of drama, to recognise the dramatic potential in a number of activities and to develop their subject knowledge and skills so they can teach it effectively and foster learning through drama.

Discuss place and space with the student teachers. Where did the activities which they have depicted take place? Try to highlight that drama does not necessarily need space, improvisational classroom drama is frequently undertaken in the classroom. What are the benefits of such contexts compared with the hall?