Process Drama

1. Process Drama - a powerful pedagogy - a compelling learning experience Pamela Bowell South Carolina, 2014 www.pamelabowell.com

2. Process Drama - what is it? • drama applied in an educational context – in other words… drama for learning • essentially improvised in nature • the external audience is absent but the internal audience is essential • the teacher works in role within the drama • a process of co-creativity

3. The Cornerstones • Play • Symbolic representation of life experience • Learning in context • Ownership of learning Children use dramatic playing as a way to understand the world in which they live

4. Learning About & Learning Through • Drama Form • Content • Both always present • Both aspects of learning always available

5. Principles of Planning 2 Context “Which particular fictional circumstances will be created by the drama to explore the theme?” 1 Theme or Learning Area “With which area of human experience do I want the students to engage and on which specific aspect of this do I want to focus their learning?”   3 Roles “Who are the students and the teacher going to be in the drama?” High Quality Drama High Quality Learning   6 Strategies “Which ways of working will I use? In which combination? For what purpose?”  4 Frame “Which viewpoint will the roles have in order to create tension in the drama? How distanced will the roles need to be?”  5 Sign “What artifacts, personal items, sounds, images and so on will I need to bring significance to the events of the drama?”

6. Learning Opportunities… Process drama provides a powerful, creative and compelling learning experience. It works because our brains are ‘wired’ for it. To ensure children gain the most from it, we need to remember that … the better the drama, the better the learning

7. Children love it!

8. And – they learn a lot! “We made the Valley of the Kings. It was a really difficult place for the archaeologists to be.”