The integration of Drama - Research Paper Example

The integration of Drama Drama as a resource to be integrated into educational curriculum has been identified and recognised by educational researchers. The integration of Drama into the curriculum of behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children has been implemented successfully across the world. Moreover it has been confirmed by researchers that the traditional modes of instruction which is used in the conventional mode of teaching is inappropriate with reference to diverse range students especially those who have problems in learning (Chapman & King, 2005; Tomlinson, 2003). “Schools tend to focus on logical analysis and language but there are many other valuable learning modalities that need to be tapped” (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001). It must be noted here that children with behavioural and emotional problems very well fall into this category of struggling learners. Tomlinison (2000) has opined that traditional curricula expect students with special needs to adapt to the curriculum and does not extend its scope to amending the curriculum according to the needs of students with special needs. Drama and the processes associated with it are generally seen as an output oriented activity which ends up in a performance restricted to a stage. However, the process oriented approach on drama has explored it as learning and teaching tool. Pedagogies have been developed incorporating the processes associated with drama targeting specific learning outcomes. A separate stream of education called Theatre in Education (TIE) came up after the Second World War (Farrell, 2002). Drama has been established as successful as a correction tool (Okhakhu, & Usrwoma, 2006) and as an educational tool(James, 2009).The basic philosophy behind using drama as a process based tool in education is that children tend to use experiences and experiments to learn than reading and listening (Booth, 1994). This basic understanding has been further researched and developed into pedagogies catering specifically to the various learning outcomes. The specific learning requirements of behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children also demand a free platform to do and experience. Research on curriculum catering for the special needs of children with emotional and behavioural disabilities have suggested that such programmes must mandatorily include “provision of coursework and educational activities relevant to students’ real-world experiences and goals that include a variety of non traditional curriculum,” and, “provision of effective programming that facilitates students’ social, emotional, and behavioural growth” (Hughes & Adera, 2006).Drama can ideally include these two criteria. Drama has been found by the educational and physiological as an ideal platform for children to have a free environment to enhance learning. The basic strategy in using drama in the curriculum of behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children is to make learners engage in the learning process. The objective of this essay is to analyse the scope of drama as an effective learning tool to be incorporated in the curriculum of behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children. Drama as cooperative activity Children with behavioural and emotional disabilities or issues find it difficult to cope with their peers. They also find it very difficult to place themselves in a classroom environment. Thus the basic problem that behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children face in a classroom is that they encounter with a learning environment which they find difficult to cope up with. In the case of behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children, it is a general observation that apart from class room settings, they find it difficult to social gatherings and avenues of cooperative activities. Researches in Psychotherapy have suggested engaging these students in positive environments involving cooperative activities as one of the remedial measures in tacking behavioural issues. Drama serves as an ideal platform for this. It involves wide varieties of cooperative activities including concept formation, script development, script writing, casting, directing, rehearsals and performance. If one carefully analyse these activities it will be evident that each one of this will demand a lot of teamwork to which each participant will have to collaborate with. The positive side of inculcating desired learning through Drama in the case of behaviourally challenges students is that it creates a less restrictive and positive environment for learning. More over learning through drama is recreational in nature. Schleien & Ray (1988) have confirmed the importance of such recreational environment in ensuring the involvement of students with special need and also have emphasised it as an effective teaching technique. Recreational learning The relevance of Drama as a pedagogy is that it ideally brings together recreation and cooperative structuring. The importance of constituting a cooperatively structured climate in the curriculum of behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children promotes positive social interaction (Rynders & Schleien, 1991). This is very important as it helps students with emotional and behavioural disabilities to deal with social interactions. This must be read together with the fact that social interactions are tough for these children. Dramas incorporated in curriculum create replicas of real life situations for them which will help them develop their interpersonal skills. Moreover they rehearse for a future situation making it easy for them to react in real life situations. For children with behavioural and emotional problems, this serves as an advantage Structured Cooperative learning Drama has a clear advantage a curriculum tool in comparison with other recreational activities. It has been established earlier in this essay that recreational activities incorporated in the curriculum helps as a therapy for behavioural and emotional disabilities in children. However, these unstructured recreational activities do not serve this purpose. It was common in the early years that children with behavioural disabilities were put together with normal children in recreational centres. Researchers assumed that proximity with other children in the recreational environment will bring forth positive results in the learning of children with special needs. However, this was disproved as Rynders et al (1993) suggested that unstructured exposure of students with disabilities to recreational activities along with other children would yield negative results. Novak (1975) came up with the observation that unstructured exposure would lead to the rejection of cooperative environments by disabled students. His would negatively affect their social life and further worsen their behavioural and emotional balance. However, in the case of incorporating drama as a recreational activity in the curriculum it has the advantage of being a structured cooperative activity. Moreover, drama as a teaching tool can be customised to serve specific requirements of the students. Non competitive learning tool In a cooperative learning environment as set by that of drama, students are required o work together to achieve the goal. In other words, individual performances won’t help in cooperative learning environments as that in drama. Thus students automatically will start behaving socially. Carefully designed drama modules specially catering to the needs of the students involved will accelerate the process of therapy. This is contrary to the competitive learning environments. In the conventional classroom setups students follow benchmarks. The basic process of learning happens here through competing against these benchmarks. These benchmarks vary with reference to the context of study. These could include pass marks, deadlines, ranks and positions etc. In the case of students with behavioural and emotional imperatives, the non achievement of these benchmarks or relative performance in the group leaves them with a competitive disadvantage. This negatively affects their emotional health. Thus the learning process becomes destructive with reference to the objective of the curriculum. In the case of drama as a curriculum tool, it creates a completely non completive structured cooperative learning environment. As the whole group of students work towards a common goal, it not only eliminates the scope for competition, but it also adds the advantage of peer motivation. Through cooperative efforts, the strengths of individual students will be automatically tapped by the students and resultantly the child gets motivated. Director of Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Seidel has opined that through participation in arts like drama students convert themselves to active learners from passive learners and also from receivers to creators (Deasy & Stevenson, 2005) Impact on Social, Cognitive and Academic skills Any curriculum for emotionally and behaviourally disturbed children must address social, academic and emotional needs of the students. The elements of skills which are represented in drama are kinesthetic, spatial, and interpersonal skills. These skills are vital for children with emotional and behavioural problems. Any process which would help them acquire these skills would be ideal to be incorporated in their curriculum. Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences suggests that students use varied avenues to acquire skills. Drama being an avenue which requires and represents kinesthetic, spatial, and interpersonal skills, the use of it in the curriculum will help the students achieve those skills. As explained in the previous paragraph, the cooperative nature of drama processes will help children develop interpersonal and other social skills. Hary (2006) has opined that “Drama-in-education enables students to use their different strengths to make meaning for themselves”. Cognitive skills are very important for a student to perform well in academics. Mastropieri & Scruggs, (2007) has opined that trainings in Cognitive strategy including instruction in organizational skills, empowers students to master critical content and perform according to the academic benchmarks. Incorporation of tools like drama in the curriculum influences the cognitive skills of the students in multiple levels. It initially encourages the students to actively participate in the learning process. Any teaching methodology will fail to achieve its objective without having the students actively involve in the learning process. The active participation further helps them to experience learning elements more closely and directly. This helps them to relate learning elements to these experiences. This is very important because this becomes the base for the development of cognitive skill. For instance, when a student is able a particular element of learning to his or her experience, it improves her memory and analytical skills on the subject. As the children are able to experience lessons directly, they will be able to express themselves effectively. In the context of behaviourally and emotionally challenged students, most of the issues get solved once they are able to express themselves properly (Corbett, Wilson & Morse, 2003). This will help them take decisions and will be self motivating. Organizational difficulties are major obstacles for many students with learning and behavior problems (Minskoff & AIlsopp, 2003). Thus incorporation of drama in the curriculum will help them to get over the behavioural disabilities. In conventional curriculum students are made to receive, memorize and regurgitate empty facts. However, drama as a teaching tool can help the students to “learn, apply, and retain meaningful skills that last far beyond the classroom” (Harry, 2006). Studies on the academic performance of the students with emotional disturbances show that their relative performance in academics is far below than other students. Data on their social and emotional health also have suggested poor outcomes. (Bradley, Doolittle, & Bartolotta, 2008). “Children with emotional disturbances are more likely than all other students, those with disabilities or not, to drop out of school, receive school suspensions and expulsions, fail one or more courses, not graduate, and have difficulties socially integrating at school” (Reddy & Richardson, 2006).Good cognitive skills would automatically reflect in the academic performance of the students. With the capacity to remember, analyse and logically organise lessons, students will be able to perform better in their academics. With healthier social skills, children with emotional and behavioural disabilities will have confidence which would directly reflect in their academic performance. Researchers have observed that students with special needs who undergo critical literacy programmes, which also include drama, have performed better in their academics (Stribling, 2008). Literature also suggests that these students have achieved better social skills as Stribling (2008) has reported that these students were able to get along with each other better. They were found to be “learning and using acceptable behaviours (Comber, Thompson, & Wells, 2001). A very interesting observation is that these students who underwent through a curriculum involving critical literacy programmes like drama have successfully learnt to become the voices of their respective community (Morrell, 2002). These research findings clearly suggest the social skills that incorporation of drama in curriculum inculcates. Drama will enable students to explore various streams of thoughts which is very positive for children with emotional and behavioural disturbances. According to Bryan Way, the role of drama in education is the overall enhancement of the total child. This explains the scope of drama in the curriculum of children with behavioural and emotional problems (Farrell, 2002). Further, Dorothy Heathcote, explained Theatre as a medium of learning and the acquisition of knowledge “in a designated aspect of the school curriculum (Farrell, 2002). Scope for further research Researches in relation with the adaptability and feasibility of drama as a tool in education have suggested positive correlation. There are ample researches available confirming drama as a tool in the curriculum for behaviourally and emotionally disturbed children. The properties of drama including intensity, unity, enactment, catharsis, and closure have been utilised by education experts to effectively formulate curriculum elements. These studies suggest conceptual success of drama as a tool in education. There are good numbers of literature available dealing with the customisation of theatre concepts adaptable in classroom environments. The conventional concept of drama restricting it to confined area of a performing space has underwent massive changes. Now the scope of drama as a spontaneous but structured activity carried out in creative teaching environments has been discussed much by researchers. The social, academic and cognitive implications of drama used as a part of curriculum have had ample attention from researchers across the globe. These researches have further lead to industry taking up the concept and bringing out customised products for specific needs of the students. However, the impact of theatre on children with behavioural and emotional disabilities have not been quantitatively analysed in psychological terms. Though there has been conceptual confirmation of the positive implications of drama on children with emotional disorders, interdisciplinary researches involving psychologists to analyse the psychological factors associated with the area is scarce. This is an evident gap in research dealing with drama as a part of curriculum for students with behavioural and emotional disturbances. Thus this paper suggests interdisciplinary research to be conducted involving experts from various areas allied with theatre. Interdisciplinary studies including theatre experts, psychologists, educationalists and counsellors are suggested to further standardise the incorporation of drama in the curriculum for children with emotional and behavioural issues. References Bradley, R., Doolittle, J., & Bartolotta, R. (2008, March 1). Building on the Data and Adding to the Discussion: The Experiences and Outcomes of Students with Emotional Disturbance. Journal of Behavioral Education, 17(1), 4-23. Booth, D. (1994). Story drama: Reading, writing and roleplaying across the curriculum. Markham, ON: Pembroke. Chapman, C., & King, R. (2005). Eleven practical ways to guide teachers toward differentiation. Journal of Staff Development, 26(4), 20-25. Comber, B., Thomson, P., & Wells, M. (2001, January 1). 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