At first, I felt a little uncomfortable and out of place within the workshop. However, this changed after I realised probably a lot of others were in the same boat. Everyone was very welcoming and encouraging.

What were your most uncomfortable moments?

I mainly felt uncomfortable at times performing unusual activities with people I’m not familiar with. But other than this the class was accommodating and made me feel confident that I could complete tasks.

What were your most enjoyable moments?

I really enjoyed putting the drama elements into practice and having activities such as tableaux to see how certain aspects can be effective within a performance.

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

By having continuous feedback and prompts to improve upon, I was able to see subtle differences that can make or break a performance. I saw that I am able to take feedback and build upon it to improve performances.

How might primary students learn in drama?

Primary students would learn most effectively through a hands-on experience with drama. However, the activities must remain engaging and fun. Drama is an excellent way for students to engage with their creativity and develop self-confidence. 

 

My favourite activity was the Readers Theatre activity, it had interesting prompts and was so sun to do with a group, it made me laugh a lot and I though it would be beneficial in a cross-curricular setting.

Has anything surprised you about teaching dance, drama and or media arts to primary students?

How much confidence kids at this age have when participating in these activities. It was interesting to hear our tutors opinion about how primary school students just throw themselves into activities without hesitation whereas university students(our class) found it difficult to engage our imagination and let go.

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

I would like to try the teacher-in-role activities as it seems like a great way to teach students about narrative and story telling. It would also be a lot of fun for me as a teacher, as I would be moving away from the plain pen to paper teaching style instead immersing myself and my students within a story with the help of a character.

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

I would say that having an idea to build off of allowed for a smoother transition to the planning phase. Something as simple as colours was enough to allow for creativity to flourish. Because the performance wasn’t just one aspect of the arts it required a lot of thinking and planning to ensure the storyline made sense. By having worked on each of the areas of dance, drama and media separately it was easy enough to find links between each and create a final product. This process was also made a lot simpler through aligning certain group members with tasks. It allowed for collaboration and cooperation to be developed within the project. 

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

To participate in dance, you don’t need to be good at dance. I consider myself a hopeless dancer and I am sure I have two left feet but I found that in this unit I was able to participate fully within the dance experience. I think I engaged well with this module as dance wasn’t just about learning a well choreographed routine but rather using movement to communicate meaning.

Why is it the most important?

It has taught me that dance can be used to communicate anything and you don’t need to be a professional dancer to have fun with dance. 

I would develop my competency in media arts education by taking up hobbies related to media arts. For example photography and filming. These are two engaging ways that I could incorporate into lessons. It allows for students to find creative ways to engage with the environment around them,