Julie Patricia Dunn

Not without the art!! The importance of teacher artistry when applying drama as pedagogy for additional language learning

For more than 30 years drama has been promoted as a valuable teaching tool for language learning. Recent research results have reinforced this position. However, these and other earlier studies reveal that the overall success of the work is dependent, at least in part, upon the artistry of the teacher and the quality of the pretext materials used to drive the dramatic action. This article interrogates the notion of artistry in relation to drama pedagogy and second/additional language learning. It argues that where the application of drama strategies takes place in isolation, in an ad hoc manner or without a keen understanding of how dramatic forms, conventions and elements interact with one another, the work can become purely functional. In these situations the teaching becomes artless, resulting in approaches that do little to add value to existing practices or to the depth and quality of the experience for learners.

Video in drama research: formalising the role of collaborative conversations within the analysis phase

Drama research poses many challenges, due mainly to its ephemeral and spontaneous nature. Many researchers therefore turn to video to support their investigations, but these recordings are not always capable of capturing the richness of the live event itself. In response, this paper proposes that researchers need to explore ways to enhance the value of this video material and suggests that one approach might be to formalise the role of collaborative conversations within the data analysis phase of research work. Here pairs or groups of researchers formally discuss the video data in detail, with these conversations being recorded and then layered on to the video or transcript material. This collaborative approach was used within one longitudinal play study and achieved a number of positive outcomes including opportunities to see ‘other’ in the video texts, the production of enhanced theorising through the creation of a collective identity and the achievement of a layered report. Recent innovations in video analysis software systems and interactive on-line communities now provide further opportunities to extend such collaborative work between drama researchers.

Combining Drama Pedagogy with Digital Technologies to Support the Language Learning Needs of Newly Arrived Refugee Children: A Classroom Case Study

Although significant research has been completed that examines the effectiveness of process drama as a pedagogical approach for developing additional languages and further work has focused on the affordances of digital technologies within drama work, scant attention has been paid to the possibilities which a combination of these approaches might offer. Within this paper we identify these possibilities within a drama-based research project aimed at developing the resilience of newly arrived refugee children. In this series of lessons, the work focused specifically on the role of language as a key aspect of resilience. Based upon a playful, fantasy-based narrative involving a robot who arrives in an English-speaking community but is unable to communicate effectively, the drama and language work intentionally avoided the kinds of responses to resettlement and resilience that apply a deficit model or focus on the challenges of such experiences. Analysis of the data collected across the project reveals that the technology served seven key functions within the process drama. These functions related to language development, information provision, narrative development, identification and the creation of mood. The use of technology also generated opportunities for the children to have agency over their own learning and to create shared experiences with classmates and teachers.

Playfully engaging people living with dementia: searching for Yum Cha moments

In the absence of a cure for dementia, there is an increasing recognition of the need to develop approaches that address its key impacts of social isolation, depressed mood, and quality of life. In response to these issues, a three-year research project entitled Playful Engagement and Dementia: assessing the efficacy of applied theatre practices for people with dementia in residential aged care facilities was developed in partnership with Wesley Mission Brisbane. The paper reports on data collected within the pilot phase of this project, offering an analysis of the play vocabularies used by two applied theatre artists who interacted, using a relational clowning approach, with 17 residents with mid- to late-stage dementia. The analysis, based on two complementary frameworks, reveals useful insights into the key features of the approach, noting those that were effective in generating ‘moments’ of engagement and mutual recognition. How the applied theatre artists spontaneously, reflexively, and sensitively applied these vocabularies, tailoring them to each individuals play preferences, interests, and stage of dementia is also examined.

‘This Time I'll be the Golden Bird’: a call for more child‐structured dramatic play

Although child-structured dramatic play is widely recognised as being important for the younger child, few opportunities are provided for the middle to upper primary school child to enjoy the benefits of this form of drama. Child-structured play spaces are generally only found within pre-primary and infants classrooms, and yet this form of dramatic experience enables the child to generate meanings which are far more individual than those emerging from more structured dramatic experiences such as process drama. The collective nature of process drama limits the individuals opportunity to be playful in their use of form and content. Playfulness is restricted by the structures imposed by the cooperative nature of the medium. However, these very structures and the collective nature of process drama are a key part of its strength and value to the learner. As well, the involvement of the teacher is of key importance in elevating the artistry of the work. How, then, can the gap between child-structured dramatic play and process drama be bridged, in order to gain the most from each? This article outlines a number of options which provide opportunities for children to work in both structured and unstructured contexts, with small group play being used before, during and alongside ongoing process drama units.

Demystifying process drama: exploring the why, what, and how*

Abstract Process drama is a highly engaging participatory form that is capable of generating rich opportunities for learning. This is especially the case when the drama experiences are built upon pretexts that are aesthetically charged and when the work itself is structured and facilitated by educators with a deep understanding of its true nature. However, in spite of a strong research base that supports its value both in the drama classroom and beyond, a number of myths relating to its use and value appear to be limiting its application. In addition, while many drama teachers make use of the strategies associated with process drama, far fewer offer their learners opportunities to engage in the cohesive and sequenced experiences that this form requires. These myths and misunderstandings are explored within this keynote, while examples drawn from three different learning contexts are used to demystify this important form and provide greater clarity around its nature, purpose, application and value.

Child-Structured Socio-Dramatic Play and the Drama Educator

Spencer (2003, p. 3) warns us that, “imagination shrivels and shrinks if it is not nourished by the negotiations that occur between different dimensions of reality” and while drama educators have been keen advocates for, and facilitators of, the type of adult-structured drama experiences that offer children opportunities to explore these spaces, far less attention has been paid to the development of children’s imaginations, creativity and dramatic skills via child-structured dramatic play. This is especially the case for children in formal primary school settings, with Hadley (2002, p. 11) suggesting that play has become “ghettoised” within kindergarten and entry classrooms, out of the reach of older children for whom it is positioned as the binary opposite of work. This situation exists in spite of current efforts aimed at building a “creative class” (Florida, 2002, 2005), for play has become marginalized in these discussions, replaced by discourses focused on the development of creative products that can readily be assessed and shared.

Reflecting Anew on “Dramatic Worlds in Play: A Study of The Dramatic Play of Preadolescent Girls”

“Dramatic Worlds in Play” was a doctoral research project generated to gain a deeper understanding of the dramatic play of one group of preadolescent girls. 1 Conducted within the context of an after-school drama club, this research was driven by a desire to know more about the nature of group dramatic play in older children and an interest in determining the dramatic qualities of this play. This paper focuses on three of the key findings of this research, including detail about how the players constructed private and shared dramatic Worlds as they played, the text creation processes they used, and a brief examination of how the players manipulated the elements of drama within these spontaneously generated play texts, The paper then moves on to explore the impact these findings have had upon my current practices as a drama educator, including in particular the development of a new approach to the teaching ofextended improvisation within a university context.

Three roles, one researcher and a ‘respectful forgery’: confronting the challenges of working alone as a dramatic play researcher

This paper outlines the challenges faced by a qualitative researcher working within a 2-year, longitudinal study of the dramatic play of one group of pre-adolescent girls. Here the researcher, sensitive to the various permissions and conditions necessary for such play to be observed by an adult, opted to work alone in the field. This decision, which resulted in the need to adopt a range of multiple and at times competing roles, generated tensions at the data collection phase of the project. These tensions are described, including those that related to the competition between the researcher urge to collect high quality video recordings and the insights gained by becoming co-player within the child-generated play texts. De Marinis (1985, New Theatre Quarterly, 1, 383) has described video recordings of live drama as being, at best, ‘respectful forgeries’ of the actual events and, as a result of the competing researcher roles used within this study, the recordings collected within this study were even less adequate. For this reason, a ‘thickening’ of the data (Lee & Gregory, 2008, International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 7, 30) was deemed to be required, with a formalised, collaborative analysis approach being adopted. The article concludes with a consideration of options to overcome the challenges of the approach used within this research project.

Analysing Dramatic Structures Within Improvised Forms—The Extended Playwright Function Framework

Abstract Improvised texts are developed for varied purposes; however, little attention has been given to the way improvisations are spontaneously structured. In this article, a playwright function framework designed for the analysis of a wide range of improvisational contexts is described. This analytical framework draws on an earlier model originally developed to understand the collaborative structuring occurring within preadolescent dramatic play—now extended to make it more applicable across a wider range of improvised forms, including process drama and long-form improvisation. Drawing upon the work of key theorists and practitioners from the field of improvisation, the original framework grows from four playwright functions to nine. Discussion about the value and possible applications for this framework is also included.