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Socio-metrics, North South East West

Freeze technique

Postcards – Small groups

Tableaux – Whole group

Tableaux – Small group

Tableaus – Nursery Rhymes

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Creativity is one of the most importing life skills that a student can learn (Robinson, 2006).

Ken Robinson’s Ted Talk video covered a topic that I’m passionate about, posing the question, ‘How can we possibly educate the youth of today when the projections can’t even say what the world will be like in 5 years’ time’ (Robinson, 2006). The idea highlights that we are really trying to help the students prepare for their future and yet not knowing what opportunities we are preparing them for. As a preservice teacher this seems very strange to me that we and the curriculum seem somewhat inflexible in what is taught to students who are bound for a future that is very dynamic. Another point that I liked from his talk was ‘If you’re not prepared to be wrong you will never come up with anything new’ (Robinson, 2006). The idea that we all need to make mistakes to become better as teachers and students is an integral part of learning, that all mistakes are failures. This is a pivotal part in the learning process.

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Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

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The SCSA Arts rational states that students should explore their creative potential in activities that require the student to be creative and self-expressive (School Curriculum and Standards Authority, 2014a). This relates to what Ken Robinson was expressing in his talk about students needing a space to be creative to allow their creativity to flourish (Robinson, 2006). Without these spaces there is no room for growth and utilisation of these skills.

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How did you feel during the workshop?

I felt out of my element compared to other educational areas. I am not particularly inclined to do some arts such as drama. I think with more time the learning process and skills will become less foreign. However, I really enjoyed the activities and they have given me some ideas of what I could do in the future. I can see myself using some of the Tableaux in my future teaching.

What were your most uncomfortable moments?

I think with it being week 1 it was bound to be a little uncomfortable as I didn’t know anyone and I am a shy person. As I’ve already completed a semester of my teaching degree, I expected to be uncomfortable. However, having to come up with ideas on the spot for the Tableaux’s activities was a different challenge. I was not prepared to be so engaged in my first or having to work closely with new people.

What were your most enjoyable moments?

Even though I was initially very shy and nervous, I quickly relaxed and really the group work and activities. The class seems very eager, kind and understanding, making if feel like there is extraordinarily little judgement in the room. This will be beneficial to the group’s progression in the future and gives me confidence to actively participate in all activities.

What did you discover about how you learnt in this workshop?

That learning does not need to be completed through just the reading and writing of notes. Some of the learning can be done through action and reflection, which as something I prefer, as I am more of a visual, kinaesthetic learner and also have dyslexia, so I struggle to read heavy content.

How might primary students learn in drama?

Students learn in drama through making and responding (School Curriculum and Standards Authority [SCSA], 2014g). This meaning the students need to first make and art piece, enhancing creative cognition, then need an audience to provide feedback so they can improve.

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Key ideas expressive speech, onomatopoeia vocals and verbal dynamics

Name game

Hum wave

Hey you! Get out of here

Vocal warm up

Vocal dynamics

Verbal dynamics

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Week 3 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Week 3 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Students that can correctly understand modulative devices (pause, pitch, tone) are able to develop more complex language skills. An understanding of the correct tone and volume for the situation will be build a better story telling ability evoking feelings through tonality (LeBorgne, 2018). This makes their speech more interesting for the receiver and increasing the likely hood that what they said will be remembered (LeBorgne, 2018). This skill is also important for teachers as delivering content to students is a daily event. Mastering these techniques will help our ability to get out point across to the students without the presentations being monotonous. I know I particularly struggle with this, more so when I am reading aloud. This is something I need to practise, as I know how boring it can be to be read to when no expression is used. I plan to practise this by engaging in readers theatre when I read to my little cousins to help strengthen my modulative devices for my future career as a teacher.

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Wendy LeBorgne: Vocal Branding Beyond Words: How Your Voice Shapes Your Communication Image

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Dr. Wendy LeBorgne is passionate about how the physiology and perception of the human voice functions as the single most important aspect of communication. Dr. Wendy LeBorgne presents on the 5 key elements of voice which combine to create your Personal Voice Brand (tm) and influence listeners around you.

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Can you reflect on yourself as a learner?

I have learnt the importance of the Arts beyond the learning outcomes for this week by engaging in further research for my upcoming speech. There are many sources that reinforce the importance of creativity and how this can help students across all learning areas. This is especially evident in the social domain where students make complex social skill progression due to the reflection requirements of the subject and implement them into their interactions outside of the classroom.

I came into this unit with an idea that the Arts are not really important for children, or for my ability to teach children. After these first few weeks I see where it can be especially useful to implement learning the arts to allow cross curricular teaching and make lessons more engaging for the students. I can now also appreciate the importance of honing creativity and artistic ability to allow students to express themselves where they may not be able to otherwise.

Can you gauge your reaction to this workshop, compared to the first?

I think now being in week 3, the awkwardness of doing the activities is less compared to the first week. This allows me to participate without fear of being judged. This has resulted in me particicipating fully, with classmates also doing the same, making the classes fun, while also learning. The differences between learning in this class and some of my other classes is evident with how willing I am to attend and how much I actually take away when I am actively engaged. This is a learning I will take with me when I begin teaching.

What do you think is meant by the concept that students learn by symbolically representing their world through drama?

Symbolic representation refers to the student’s ability to do an action that is related to an event or experience. Students do this through words, symbols, and play. E.g. pretending to be a police car the student might imitate the sirens (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020). Students may not be able to verbalise the things that are going on or how they feel. Representing these emotions of situations through symbolic representation may be an easier way for them to express themselves. This might be students representing their mother by tucking someone else into bed, or caring for a baby doll. These are useful skills for students to understand representation in future texts.

How does drama foster collaboration and cooperation?

One process that involves collaboration and cooperation is group rehearsals. Students are encouraged to not only reflect personally but as a group aswell. From reflections of the rehearsals students make necessary changes to correct or improve any aspect from behaviour, to the content of the performance to technical aspects. From this the students will come together to discuss and negotiate any changes that they feel are necessary, working on their social domain in a collaborative and cooperative setting. Students need to overcome any disagreements and learn how to cooperate with other students they are not friends with. This then relates back to making and responding theme that is frequent throughout the drama unit.

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Week 6 was the first week of online studies. There fore the activities where different to the in class.

Find a year group and find out 3 key milestone they should cover in that year.
Warm up activity

Dance activity (different body movements)

Phone number movements, associate the movements

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Week 6 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Week 6 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Dance is an important part of the arts particularly in its ability to help students develop proprioceptive skills (School Curriculum and Standards Authority [SCSA] ,2014a). Proprioception is a students ability to understand the position of their body through a range of sensors in the muscle and joints (Mennillo, 2019). Practicing exercise such as dance, that challenges balance, helps develop an understanding of the body. This allows development in other areas. such as sport, that utilise the movement of the body in a stable and coordinated way. Students who struggle with proprioception are usually clumsy and will struggle in sports and play. I have always been very athletic, being engaged in sports since I was very young, and thus didn’t understand the deficits that could occur if proprioception was not honed from a young age. Dance is whole body exercise that encourages movements outside of the normal range developing these senses. Dance is a fun way to get students to move their bodies and might be more enticing than traditional sports for some students. I will utilise my knowledge of the importance of dance by making it part of potential morning fitness routines encourage students by participating myself, even though my dancing is very subpar.

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University of California Television (UCTV)

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How do the practical activities inform your personal understanding of the use of dance as an expressive learning process through which educators can facilitate creativity in primary students?

Dance is a device that can be used to demonstrate something in a different form making it an expressive form of the arts. This was used in our phone number dances that we constructed this week. This required us to make different moves and assign them to number 0-9 and then act out our phone number. These moves required us to use some of the elements such as body and space to portray different movements and therefore different numbers. This means we had use our creativity to make movements that contrasted enough that an onlooker could differentiate the numbers. In a classroom you could get student to symbolize animals and tell the students to make a zoo dance that consists of 5 animals. This allowing space for the students to practice creativity and expressiveness. Not everyone’s expression of the same thing is identical and is a key understanding to the arts. My representation of 4 would not be the same as anyone else’s, which is the same as it would be in a classroom setting. Teaching students that just because expressions are different, doesn’t mean anyone is wrong, or anyone’s expression is better. This is an important learning point for myself, and for my future students.

What has been the most important personal realisation in the last few weeks in this unit?

One of my personal realisations over the first 5 weeks of this unit is that drama is fun and it’s something I can see myself doing in my classroom now. In the 1st and 3rd week reflections I talked about my awkwardness and lack of ability to do some of the activities on the spot. I have found that the arts are very open to your own interpretation and that creativity with best intentions can’t ever really be mocked. This has me more open to expressing myself, and not being embarrassed about trying.

Another take away that has been revolutionary for me is the idea of ‘Making and Responding’. This idea has come up frequently in the past few reflections. I think presenting ideas to an audience is a crucial step that is missed in most other subjects and therefore its hard to truly assess a students understanding.

Why is it the most important?

The importance of this realisation is that students need to have space to practice their skills. This space needs to be comfortable for them to try and be able to give constructive feedback to enhance their own and their fellow students’ abilities. There is now a higher possibility of me implementing arts activities in my classroom such as improvised drama this benefitting my students across all learning domains.

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Warm up consisting of a walk, spin, stretch and spin.

Universal writing activity: pretend to have a isle in front of you and paint the first letter in your name on it.

Online Activities

Find a piece of music or a story that you could choreograph a dance too

Choreograph a dance that mirrors Meryl Tankards’ idea of using everyday action in her dances

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Week 9 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Week 9 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Choreography within a group is a good way of fostering collaboration. In some of the other subjects it is hard to try and implement activities that have as much of a focus on collaboration. Collaboration helps students develop the more complex social interactions e.g. having to negotiate with others who may not agree  with you or having to be sensitive when telling someone they need work on something. I will give my students a chance to choreograph a dance in groups, including their friendship circles and randomly allocated groups. In friendship circles there is often a leader and it will be interesting to watch my students take on different roles within the group, particularly in randomly assigned groups were there are potentially more than one natural leaders and how they overcome conflict. This will then allow me to see social interactions that are both encouraging and concerning and be able allow me to helpl these students work on these issues in other contexts. This will help them in their social domain when working on other collaborative tasks in the future.

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Wayne McGregor: A choreographer's creative process in real time

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We all use our body on a daily basis, and yet few of us think about our physicality the way Wayne McGregor does. He demonstrates how a choreographer communicates ideas to an audience, working with two dancers to build phrases of dance, live and unscripted, on the TEDGlobal stage.

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The skills most relevant to media arts applications are those related to artistic expression (p. 213, Delivering Authentic Arts Education).

The use of media art software allows you to better understand and excel in the artistic process (Dinham, 2016, pp. 213). Media software does not have to be complex, with applications from PowerPoint to I-Movie and Photoshop all aiding the understanding and production of media arts (Dinham, 2016, pp. 213). Understanding media arts in simpler programs can then make the move to more complex programs more simple and allow the creator to fully utilise all techniques available. Being able to understand layering or the effects of light allows the creator to seek these tools within their application rather than just playing around with it to produce a subpar product (Dinham, 2016, pp. 213). Active planning and design before starting design within the program as well as constant editing and adjustment allows for the best possible.

What do you know about media arts? What technical skills in media arts do you feel confident with?

Media arts processes are something I am comfortable in using. I used video enditing throughout media classes in highschool and as such am comfortable in video editing, being able to put pieces of video together and cut pieces out. Throughout highschool and university I have made a number of powerpoints and am comfortable layering voice audio over slides, adding effects and inserting links. In high school we analysed media arts in the form of still images and video, assessing SWAT codes and the different elements used to present ideas and themes, such as long shots setting scenes, and low angles representing the superiority or fear of the overarching figure. Beyond high school I have used media arts in my hobby of photography. I use shot type, exposure, and shutter within my shots express what I intend to in my photos.

How do you plan to develop your competency in media arts education?

Understanding the programs that primary school students use, eg. Powerpoint and video editors will allow me to appreciate the abilities of these programs and the depth of design possible. Practising with my powerpoints, making sure they are not too busy or overwhelming with effects and text, or too boring and bland with typical black and white theme, will help me teach my students in the future not only how to use the technology, but how to get the best outcome. My photography has also improved with more knowledge of shots, lighting and space with my new knowledge and with further practise will help me refine and practise my skills to get the best possible shots.

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Week 12 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Week 12 Content Implication For Future Teaching

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Being part of the audience is pivotal to a students development of the arts as it allows them to view and interpret different art pieces. This increases the understanding of elements used in each arts section while also allowing the students to practice the vocabulary that is associated with each arts area when reviewing and responding (SCSA learning objectives, ACADAM009, ACADRM036, ACAMAM063). Watching other interpretations of themes or ideas allows students to explore other avenues to present their own themes and can serve as inspiration for their own creations. This leads to a well-rounded idea of how the different elements can be used in different ways to convey ideas. Students who are audience members can also expect to follow audience etiquette which is not only impacting their ability to pick up on the elements during a performance but also increasing their ability to take in information and listen well in other content areas.  As a teacher I will clearly outline expected audience etiquette for any presentation, including my own. This encrouages students to actively listen and engage with content. Asking students to respond to other students performances verbally, will allow students to reflect on their on their own understanding of the performance as well as practise social development by being polite.

This is something I plan to utilise in all courses, for example having students reiterate what I have discussed in a lesson in their own words or present a synopsis of another students performance, highlighting important technical or symbolic elements.

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Looking back - what was your favourite activity in the unit?

One of my favourite activities that we did while still on campus was the improvised drama activity. The reason I enjoyed this activity was because it included all the students well, so no one feels left out, unlike activities I did in drama at highschool. No student had an inherently small role. The improvised drama activity considered of student-oriented actions. It allows free creativity and nothing is right or wrong. I was also able to see where this activity could be used in school lessons and be a great asset to teachers, making an incredibly fun lesson for students and driving further engagement.

Which dance, drama or media art strategy are you keen to try out with a group of primary students?

I am keen to try the use of tableaux in my classroom. I think that tableaux are easy enough to use for any age level. Now looking back on the tableaux that we did the first and second week I can now understand how these small activities use a lot of the drama elements in an easy and fun way. This makes it beneficial for students to get an understanding of how the drama elements are used to facilitated the representation of an idea. These skills can then be used down the road of students who pursue the arts later in their schooling years and in other domains such as social interaction when necessary.

Can you comment on the process of devising a dance, drama and media arts performance as a group?

The process of making of these arts components as a group is an enjoyable experience. Working in a group is hard as everyone has slightly different ideas of what they want to present and a different way of working. I like to start things early and get them done so I am not worried about them, which is not the same for everyone. Part of working in a group is coming to agreements on expectations of every group member, but as we are all adults, this relies on the self-motivation of group members. Everyone having different ideas that we can pick and choose from allowed us to produce a polished project that is better than any individual member could create. Overall it is really fun to workshop ideas with members, laugh about the not so great ideas and come to conclusions and a product that we are really proud of.

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I think over the course of this unit I have learnt the required content and am comfortable with how to implement these topics and techniques into the classroom. The importance of the arts from an educational standpoint shows that student make development not only within the arts area but across their education and development. I have learnt to appreciate the arts, not just dismiss it as ‘fluffy’ subject. I understand how easily arts subjects can be implemented into the classroom and the importance of teaching the arts from a young age. I will take the ideas that have been presented to me in this unit and take them forward into my future career.

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American Psychological Association. (2020). Symbolic Representation. https://dictionary.apa.org/symbolic-representation

Bhide, H. [University of California Television (UCTV)]. (2017, Aug 5). What is Proprioception? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMm7G0il5oc

Dinham, J. (2016). Delivering Authentic Arts Education, Cengage Learning Australia.  ProQuest Ebook Central. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ecu/detail.action?docID=4787747.

Keung Ma, H. (2013). The moral development of the child: an integrated model. Front Public Health, 1(1). 1-57. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3860007/

LeBorgne, W. (2018, February). Vocal branding beyond words: how your voice shapes your communication image. [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/wendy_leborgne_vocal_branding_beyond_words_how_your_voice_shapes_your_communication_image

Lovering, C. (2020). Lecture 4: AED1260 arts in education 1: week 4 [PowerPoint slides]. Department of Education Primary, Edith Cowan University.

McGregor, W. (2012, September). A choreographer's creative process in real time [Video]. TED Conferences.https://www.ted.com/talks/wayne_mcgregor_a_choreographer_s_creative_process_in_real_time/discussion#t-479109

Mennillo, M. (2019). The importance of proprioception!. Occupational therapy for children https://occupationaltherapychildren.com.au/the-importance-of-proprioception/

Robinson, K. (2006, February). Do schools kill creativity?. [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014a). Aims. Government of Western Australia https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/the-arts/dance2/arts-overview/aims

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014b). Cross-Curriculum Priorities. Government of Western Australia. https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/the-arts/arts-overview/cross-curriculum-priorities

Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014c). Foundation to year 10 curriculum: Dance. (ACADAM009).  http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=ACADAM009

Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014d). Foundation to year 10 curriculum: Drama. (ACADRM036).  http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=ACADRM036

Schools Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014e) Foundation to year 10 curriculum: Media Arts. (ACAMAM063). http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/search?accContentId=ACAMAM063

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014f). The arts rational. Government of Western Australia https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/the-arts/dance2/arts-overview/rationale

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2014g). Ways of teaching. Government of Western Australia. https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/the-arts/arts-overview/ways-of-teaching

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2020). ATAR syllabus year 11. Government of Western Australia https://senior secondary.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/576703/English-Year-11-Syllabus-AC-ATAR-GD.pdf

Shonk, K. (2020). Top 10 negotiation skills you must learn to succeed. Harvard Law School pon.harvard.edu/daily/negotiation-skills-daily/top-10-negotiation-skills/

Tustin, R. (2019, July 12). The Role of the Audience in Theatre. Study.com https://study.com/academy/lesson/the-role-of-the-audience-in-theatre.html.