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When teaching media arts, I must ensure that students feel encouraged to express themselves through technology while becoming confident participants in the evolving communication practices they see daily (Dinham, 2023).

Supporting Diverse Learners

Digital tablets are shown to be beneficial for students with Autism as it provides a visually rich way to communicate and find immediate satisfaction (Dinham, 2023). As a pre-service teacher wanting to specialise in special education, my understanding of the capabilities of digital technology will be integral to my success in the classroom and therefore it is imperative I build skills within media arts education.

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Dinham (2023) notes that media arts centres around storytelling where narrative codes and conventions are used to bring a story to life digitally.

Narrative codes = symbolic, written, audio and technical (SWAT)

Voices from the Cape is a great example of how media arts education can motivate students to engage in their learning and find motivation to participate, especially when given the chance to tell their own story. This docuseries examines how First Nations students in the community of Arukun can employ media technologies as a channel for their voice. Agency was a strong theme as the kids were empowered to tell their own story and find ways to connect to community and culture through media arts education.

As previously mentioned, I plan to work in remote communities when I graduate. Seeing the impact media arts had on the young community in Arukun will strongly guide my approach to teaching in rural environments.

https://www.cultureunplugged.com/play/12865/Voices-from-the-CapeLinks%20to%20an%20external%20site

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An important aspect of teaching drama involves developing my understanding of authentic arts education and how it translates into the classroom. Children have an innate sense of wonder and curiosity about the world and drama provides an avenue to channel this imaginative power into an experiential experience where students explore who they are and expand perspectives of different cultures and people (Dinham 2023).

Drama forms that promote this learning include: storytelling, improvisation, role-playing, puppetry and mime.

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Getting Students Comfortable - Warm Up Exercises

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Getting Students Comfortable - Warm Up Exercises

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The Dramatic Contract

The ‘suspension of belief’ underpins all drama activities (Dinham, 2023). Students must be willing to commit to the reality within the internal parameters of drama.

Protocols for Participating

The drama classroom is a safe space for children to explore understandings of their world and the diversity of characters and situations, and all students must adhere to this (Dinham, 2023).

Signals can be used to identify the beginning and end of a lesson i.e. a tambourine (Dinham, 2023). Students must collaborate and be supportive of the imaginary world and their dramatic partners within the time of the tambourine beginning and ending the lesson.

Social Participation

Drama provides a space for students to work together and build awareness regarding how they interact intuitively and compassionately with peers (Dinham, 2023).

These classroom practices positively contribute to students stepping out of their comfort zone and finding reassurance in the exploration of ideas. The teacher’s role is significant in promoting this confidence where their own participation and energy within the space are central to building strong foundations for students to be their most authentic and creative selves (Dinham, 2023).

Warm up activities are a great way for students to get to know each other and slowly build confidence in their dramatic capabilities. They can also be a helpful tool to guide focus and attention back to the task at hand.

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As a pre-service teacher who is studying Special Education, I have an interest in how drama caters for a diversity of learners. The purpose of drama is to provide a space for all children and offers multiple entry points for children of ranging abilities, interests and confidence (Dinham, 2023).

Mime: a powerful drama form that involves acting without words (non-verbal communication). This YouTube video examines various mime activities which focus on exaggerated expressions and movement. One particular activity that highlights how mime caters to various students is using tableaux as a form of storytelling. Students are encouraged to use levels and space to create a frozen picture inviting them to explore drama elements without the pressure of voice, encouraging the group to take ownership of their tableaux and work collaboratively.

(Reference 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAZML7RXsww

Mime provides an opportunity for all students to be involved in the creative process regardless of any speech or physical difficulties.

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Teacher in Role

In my Arts seminar the tutor took my class through a story-based drama on a piece of children’s literature based on a dinosaur inhabited island. The activity included dramatic aspects such as ‘Mantle of the Expert’ where the class was divided into groups with our own fields of expertise, and hot seating https://dramaresource.com/hot-seating/ where the tutor sat in a chair and answered our question while fully embodying her character in the story.

We began the activity by lying on the floor and listening to a soundtrack of jungle sounds. This signalled the beginning of the activity and transported our minds from our personal reality into the dramatic reality.

We also packed our imaginary backpacks using mime actions and followed the teacher through the ‘jungle’ with exaggerated movements to indicate wading through a thick foliage. The teacher is not in a dominant role but rather facilitates the activity to encourage student involvement (Dinham, 2023).

This activity pushed me out of my comfort zone as I had to pretend to be an expert in something I knew nothing about but this only further encourages me to learn more about process drama so I can refine the skill and incorporate it into my teaching. This activity can be used across the Australian Curriculum and provide an outlet for student creativity in education. For example, in a geography lesson based on ‘Place’ I could use teacher in role and mantle of the expert to encourage students to delve into what ‘Place’ means to them on a personal level.

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Dance has purpose and form and is aesthetically designed to tell stories and communicate emotion, ideas and understanding (Dinham, 2023).

Dance education in primary schools builds off creative movement which encompasses the development of body and spatial awareness within children through open-ended activities to encourage self-expression and exploration(Dinham, 2023).

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When teaching choreography, I will introduce the lesson by presenting students with open-ended activities that ask them to explore their range of movement. From there, they will progress into the next stage of stringing together movements by incorporating dance elements such as flow, before presenting their final sequence (Dinham, 2023).

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When students employ media for storytelling, they work with the concepts of representation, languages (codes and conventions), technologies, institutions and audience. This will fuel their education within media arts and remain relevant throughout all stages i.e. storytelling, making and responding. It is important that I possess strong understandings of these concepts if I am to teach students about media as they are the pillars of the subject.

The codes and conventions of media education are the pillars of creation.

This YouTube video can be used to introduce codes and conventions to students:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-zUHkkcq7s

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Dance does not always have to involve the whole body. Some students who are shy or who have limited mobility should also be given the chance to participate.

The Thousand Hand Guan Yin shows how impactful dance sequences can be using only hands and arms https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD7SBgLvjqY.

A teacher's most important duty when creating a dance education program is ensuring that all children are afforded the same opportunity to be engaged in movement to the best of their abilities and circumstances (Dinham, 2023).

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students in Dance

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students in Dance

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Dance is a thriving force within contemporary youth culture where many children find meaning in a setting that doesn't feel like education (Dinham, 2023).

Within First Nations communities, physical activity is embedded in their culture and connection to Country and has a significant impact on self-confidence, wellbeing, pride, stress reduction and self-esteem in First Nations peoples (Biles et al. 2023). It is important that I recognise the importance in creating opportunities for participation in dance for First Nations students as it can provide an avenue for them to express emotions, experiences or understandings without the pressure of voice (Biles et al. 2023).

I am hoping to work in rural and remote regions when I graduate and therefore see it as increasingly important to understand the positive impact dance can have within First Nations communities and their perspective on school and learning.

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For students working with media arts, the centre of their education is telling stories that represent their view of the world. Dinham (2023) notes that while students are making they should be taught about narrative construction and use technology and codes and conventions to facilitate meaning.

David Vadiveloo, the filmmaker from the docuseries Voices from the Cape, demonstrated how teachers can show narrative structure to students. He used a physical display using himself and two students from the class to model the beginning of a story, obstacles that get in the way, and then the end. This helped to engage the class and keep the energy high and is definitely something I will take into my teaching.

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Responding to media productions is where students learn to identify and analyse codes and conventions and how they create meaning. Responding to digital artwork helps students to develop capabilities in their own expression of media art and build awareness around the importance of their participation in the growing world of mass communication (Dinham, 2023).