e. Drama and role play
Drama was squeezed out of the primary school curriculum with the National Curriculum in 1988. It reappeared in the revised version of 1999, as part of the PoS for Speaking and Listening, but this coincided with the National Literacy Strategy which seemed to give less attention and time for drama. However the PNS has made considerable progress in rectifying this.
It has received a considerable boost from the 2003 PNS Speaking, Listening, Learning in Key Stages 1 and 2, and is now a strand in its own right in the primary Frasmework. But it continues to be an area that student teachers feel less confident about.
Drama is, arguably, the most powerful means to develop speaking and listening. Carol Smith suggests that ‘the best way (for teachers who feel unsure about drama) to explore the range of stimulating possibilities that drama can provide for developing children’s oral skills at any age… is by engaging in some high quality practical professional development’ (Grugeon et al. 2005:121).
Smith’s experience suggests that teachers who take part in conventions, such as ‘role play’, first hand, become confident to extend their drama practice. Giving student teachers an opportunity of this kind may give them the confidence they need to include drama in their teaching.
In seminars and workshops where you are working on stories and retelling, it is possible to involve the student teachers in using conventions like hot seating, role play, freeze frame etc and working in pairs to plan and tell a story themselves.
Student teachers specialising in the Early Years should build on children’s spontaneous urge to explore life through role play. (See ICT and role play Foundation CDRom Learning and Teaching using ICT. 2004). They should be encouraged to listen to children’s talk and observe their play in the classroom and on the playground (Grugeon et al. 2005, 55). This will help them to make links between their planning for drama and the children’s existing skills and interests.
See also 5c. Storytelling, drama and role play
and
Teresa Cremin on Drama
 
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