Name: Jude de Bont
Age: 23
Occupation: Theatre in education performer.
What do you think the children get out of having a theatre company like yourself come in to the school and perform?
For many people, in today’s financial climate, the luxury of taking your children to the theatre or putting them into drama classes isn’t an option. Bringing the theatre to the children in school means a new experience for some of them. A child’s imagine is incredibly pure and needs to be stimulated, developed and encouraged. Theatre is imagination and play. For many children it gives them an outlet to express themselves when they may struggle to in other ways. It’s generally an incredibly enjoyable experience for the children and a really proud moment for those that get to take part; many of whom are the children that never get picked for anything or aren’t high achievers. It can be very inspiring and exciting but can also teach a lot through the message of our play’s story.
Do you think it is an important part of education incorporating theatre into learning?
Absolutely. Children really respond to theatre. The music, the costumes, the performance are all play, which children do naturally. Every child learns in different ways and you will find many children that find it difficult to perform in a classroom situation excel performing on a stage. Theatre is also a very disciplined environment where everyone’s full commitment and effort is integral to the outcome of the performance. There’s a great sense of everyone working together and supporting each other and this is an invaluable thing for children to experience. It’s great to see children who may be deemed as troublemakers perform wonderfully on stage. These children sometimes just need someone to believe in them, give them a sense of responsibility and let them express themselves.
What do you think could be developed and improved upon when taking a show to a school?
Preparing the schools better for our arrival. If a school or the teachers are not really on board with the show throughout the performance it can be incredibly challenging to keep the children engaged or stimulated. Many of the teachers aren’t informed beforehand of our coming or what exactly we’ll be doing and can be a bit unsupportive which makes our performance and work with the children more difficult. Timings are also a crucial thing when performing in schools. Performances at schools that are organised and prepared for us are incredibly smooth and hassle free for all.
What ethical issues have arisen whilst taking part in the show?
Today’s Britain is an incredibly multicultural country, embracing people from all over the world who practice all different religions. When I look at the children in the audience and the multicoloured faces staring back I see a sea of young faces, I don’t see a sea of different coloured faces or religious beliefs. However, we have on occasion, experienced issues with teachers who believe we have chosen children to partake in the show based on the colour of their skin or told that we need to be aware of the amount of a particular religious sect in the school and act accordingly. It’s terribly difficult in today’s society to say or do anything without being seen as politically incorrect. It’s difficult because children pick up on this negative vibe and that’s how racism and bigotry can be developed from a young age. Children are incredibly innocent and usually oblivious to there being any issue if their skin is a different colour. For example during one of my workshop sessions a little white boy pointed at a little black girl and said ‘Her face is black.’ which didn’t appear to bother any of the children. He was merely stating it as a fact, as if I hadn’t noticed. There was no malice in it. However, if an older person said such a thing they would be considered a racist.
How does taking a show to a school hall differ from taking the children to a theatre?
A theatre can be an incredibly intimidating place for a very young child. Bringing the performance to the school puts the theatre in their own environment in which they’re comfortable and safe. It means they can fully get involved and enjoy the experience on their own level instead of being more distanced from the performance, as they might be in an actual theatre space. It’s also more of a personal experience. The children are aware the show is just for them and their own friends which means they are more confident when performing knowing their peers are there supporting them and no strangers are watching.
What would you say were the pros and cons of performing at the school instead of a typical theatre setting?
Pros:
* The children are in their own environment where they are more comfortable and confident.
* The show is easily adapted to your audience’s specific needs and preferences.
* The atmosphere is more relaxed and on a level with the children.
* The show can be all about the children, they feel more included.
* You really get to know your audience on a personal level.
Cons:
* You can never guarantee you get the desired space to perform. Every school hall is different and audience sizes change, you don’t know in advance, so you have to assess and perform accordingly.
* You don’t know what the acoustics in the hall will be like until you arrive so have to adjust your singing accordingly and you’re not miked so it can be a strain on the voice, particularly in larger schools.
* You don’t have a theatre manager or crew so all the set and preparation has to be done by yourself.
* Sometimes access to your performing space within the school is awkward or is being used for another purpose and you can’t have access right away.
What have you learnt first hand about theatre in education whilst performing at the schools?
Performing at schools has made me realise how important theatre in education is and how integral it is to a child’s development. As I said before children learn in different ways and we need to continue to develop and encourage different teaching techniques to insure we stimulate a child and improve their learning. Education is not all about maths, english and science but also about personal development. Children spend the most important years of their development in schooling, and education is incredibly influencing. It is as much the environment they are educated in and the experiences they get out of things such as theatre performances that add to this development. Albert Einstein said ‘The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.’ Children need to be encouraged and inspired, and partaking in and enjoying theatre within their school environment does just that.
Name: Kate
Occupation: Primary school teacher.
Do you think it is an important and valuable part of education incorporating theatre into learning?
I believe that incorporating theatre into learning is highly valuable to educating children. I have always tried to incorporate as much drama as possible into the curriculum I deliver and think that theatre is an obvious progression from this. When children have the opportunity to perform in a production, their confidence thrives and they learn that everyone has an equally important role to play.
Would you be interested in having a theatre company visit and perform at your school? If so how would you feel it would benefit the children's education?
We have had theatre companies such as Riding Lights in to school and the children has been enthused by what they have seen. We would definitely welcome theatre company visits in the future, as I believe that for children to see what the finished product can look like, gives them something to aspire to as young actors. I also think it helps them to access the creative side of their brains, to allow them to use their own imaginations to create endless possibilites, especially those who find story telling challenging.
How much is theatre encouraged in your school? And what do you currently have on your curriculum that is geared towards the creative subjects?
Performance and drama are encouraged to a large extent and we are currently working towards the Arts Mark award for schools, which requires us to prove that we are
dedicating at least 12% of our curriculum time to the arts and creative subjects. We always try to promote creativity troughout the curriculum, eg. Art through History, Drama through English.
How much would you as a school expect to pay for a performance and workshop?
Apologies but I have no idea what the going rate is for a day's workshop - between £200 - £300??
Their responses definitely gave me food for thought and possible leads to follow with developing further my inquiry. I was totally unaware of the scheme with "The Arts Mark Award" this I feel it is an excellent idea and is in place to encourage positive affects for the importance of the arts in education. It is great to see that schemes have been designed to support the arts, and that schools are taking up the offer by dedicating at least 12% of their curriculum time to the arts and creative subjects.
From my research I was interested to see how much a school was prepared to pay for a performance and workshop. The amount this particular school teacher would estimate is less than half what the going rate for this service is. With our current climate there is limited amounts of money to go around and therefore theatre in education is a cut that has been most noticeable. The general reaction from teachers and pupils from the schools is a positive one, they generally feel that theatre in education is a vital part of learning for their students. If the schools feel so strongly about theatre in education why are the government not giving the support and funding to help it continue. One school I visited put on their own show to raise enough money to pay for a theatre company to perform, this highlights the fact some schools feel it a really important part of their students education and are prepared to go out of their way to fund such an activity.
Great that you have had such in depth discussions with practitioners outside the BAPP programme...thanks for sharing what they said. I haven't conducted an official 'pilot interview' yet but have found speaking to friends and colleagues invaluable. How did you find the process of planning and conducting the interviews? Did you come across any problems or did anything unexpected happen?
ReplyDeleteI think for me Stephanie it is about wording questions correctly without making them suggestive or making an assumption.
ReplyDeleteI found this interesting to read especially if they thought incorporating drama into education was important. Given me some food for thought with preparing research for my inquiry.
I thought that it was necessary to do some background work to enable me to fully understand other peoples perspective into the importance of theatre in education. My main reason for the in depth discussions so early on was to see if there were any other possible routes to go down with my enquiry. I started off with general questions then decided to tailor them accordingly. The only wall I came up against was that some people were difficult to get hold of and therefore I still have not got all the responses back that I require. Nothing came as a surprise most of the answers came back as I would have imagined however I learned of organisations such as "The Arts Mark Award" and other useful companies that I am currently looking into deeper.
ReplyDelete