Module 9

In this unit, we discussed how process drama can be used as a tool in an English classroom. Whenever I thought of drama, I flashed back to mindless skits and performances I had to do in my own education experiences. I never thought I gained anything but stress from these poorly planned assignments, but this unit allowed me to see drama in a new light.

I never knew what process drama was before reading Exploring Castles. It isn’t just performing plays like most teachers seem to think. Instead, students assume various roles that they carry out through acting. The castle assignment allowed students to imagine themselves back in medieval times and connect to the historical context. This can easily be extended in an English classroom, where students can play the roles of different characters or authors in order to truly grasp and think critically about these people. When students are able to interact with their learning and actually care about it, they will definitely learn more. I always remember the assignments that I had fun doing, and process drama can get student to retain the information for a lot longer than any traditional approaches.

A huge point that stood out to me during this unit was that process drama provides a safe, nonjudgmental environment for the students. The students aren’t forced to be center stage or put under a spotlight in front of their peers unless they volunteer. The activities we did in class were in small groups where everyone was comfortable participating without feeling pressured. Even the mock trial we did about “The Grocer’s Children” allowed some students to act in front of the class while the rest of the students were able to comfortably participate in smaller roles from their seats. The reluctant participators (like me) are able to contribute as much as they please, and those who enjoy being in front of the class are able to thrive as well.

Structured storytelling is another way process drama can be used in the classroom. We tried this in small groups during class, and I felt it could be a nice warm-up activity, especially for a middle level classroom. Everyone participated and contributed to create a story, and our entire group had a lot of fun doing this. I can definitely see this being used to loosen the students up before a creative writing assignment to get them thinking about ideas.