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Ask the Expert

Questions & Answers: English & Drama

Kevin Piper has delivered courses for Creative Education for over 15 years now. As well as this he's stayed experienced in the classroom with a number of recent placements leading both a Drama and an English department in an improving inner-London secondary school.

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Question

Most years I look at practitioners such as Brecht, Artaud and Stanislavski with my A level group no matter what specification I am teaching. Any advice on other ones I could study to help them cope with new A level requirements?

Answer

Hi Jasmine- well, with the new specs you are more at less at liberty to choose anyone who works in theatre. However I feel there are perhaps two things we need to take into account.

Firstly what resources are available? Some theatre groups such as DV8 have many resources to buy or download and interviews with Lloyd Newson help understand the aims and theories as well as the practice of the company. There is also the possibility of seeing them at work. It is essential that students understand that the development of theatre is ongoing.

However the second point is that we need to consider the progress of our students into future study, training or work. It may be essential that they study more ‘archetypal’ practitioners, and to see them within a historical context so they not only form ideas for the shape and style of their own work but they also inform the ‘progress’ of their own development as theatre practitioners in their own right. To do this they have to understand some of the fundamental questions theatre gives rise to.

To this end there are a few other practitioners in the twentieth century you could look at.

Peter Brook and Jerzy Grotowski both ask questions such as ‘what is an actor’, ‘what is an audience’. Towards a Poor Theatre is essential reading for anyone studying theatre at higher levels.
Jacque lecoq – focuses on a study of the body and how it moves. Worked with Steven Berkoff. Very interesting to study in terms of physical theatre, masks and commedia! There are a number of useful and practical books available
Etienne Decroux – creator of what we may call the ‘modern mime’. Worked with Jacques Copeau, influenced by Rodin, taught Jean Louis Barrault, Marcel Marceau, Gerard Depardieu and Jessica Lange. Essential study if you are interested in physical theatre
Michael Chekhov- developed the idea of the ‘psychological gesture’ and many other physical techniques.
Meyerhold and Biomechanics- emotion is dictated by physiological process.
Yegeny Vakhtangov – blended Meyerhold’s ideas with Stanislavski’s and introduced wonderful terms such as ‘agitation from the essence’ and ‘fantastic realism’ which involved introducing masks and avant- garde ideas into realistic, character based settings.

The more you research these practitioners the more you realise how much they have in common- how one idea is adapted from another or how two different people working miles and years apart come up with similar conclusions. They might not give us all the answers but they do suggest the right questions.

Jasmine | 27/11/2009

Previous Questions

I have been given the responsibility of implementing the SEAL curriculum in my school- how can I go about it?

As you probably know the SEAL materials are readily available for download on www.bandapilot.org.uk.

There are materials for yrs 7, 8 and 9 under various themes. Most of your yr 7 students will have experienced 6 years at primary school with a SEAL curriculum so this is your starting point. You cannot really be expected to implement everything at once so look at where the greatest need is, i.e.

Yr 7 Adapting to a new environment?

Yr 8 Hormones kicking in?

Yr 9 Not sure where they are going? Bored with school? Even more hormones? Upset because of lack of SAT’s tests!!!

Yr 10 Disillusioned with GCSE’s- lacking motivations?

Yr 11 Careers- wondering what to do next? Just plain scared?

How can this be done in a very crowded ‘new’ secondary curriculum?

Well to begin with we need to realise that SEAL activities encourage a great deal of ‘Personal Learning and Thinking Skills’!

In terms of a venn diagram there is also a huge overlap with PSHE. A PSHE curriculum can be based on a lot of SEAL materials, especially in yrs 7,8 and 9.

The SEAL materials provide assemblies so this makes life easier for senior management- unless they still wish to listen to ‘thought for the day’ on radio 4 or scour TES online for ideas. The Assemblies feed into tutor time/PSHE etc.

Best of all the SEAL materials provide a context for an effective mentoring programme.

At the risk of sounding opportunistic, we do run courses on all these areas!

So what do you do with yr’s 10 and 11 where there are no materials? Well make some! There are plenty of scenarios/stories available on line on various themes that could be good starting points and whatever is happening in their lives is a great resource- but also consider using some primary materials. I was in a school recently where we used the story of ‘The Wobbly Tooth’ from the ‘Red’ set- foundation years. It was used with a group of year 11’s! Underlying a simple story is a very real feat about the unknown. The yr 11’s began by suggesting what we could say to a young child worried about what is happening in her mouth and ended by exploring their own fears of leaving school and going out into the big wide world!

And finally what about the rest of the staff who really feel they need yet another initiative to liven up their days? Well take a look at the ‘purple’ set in the primary materials. These can be used for staff CPD and show how easy it is to change the ‘atmosphere’ in a school. I recently used one of the activities, (throwing a counter into pot whenever you have a say in a discussion- when you run out of counters- shut up- ) and a head teacher decided to use that in the next staff meeting!

Alicia | 27/11/2009

We’re introducing the BTEC First Diploma in Performing Arts this year. This is the first time I’ve ever introduced a new course – what should I do?

Don’t worry – it’s always difficult introducing a new course. Here are some things I think you should try and bear in mind. Do you have appropriate and sufficient space to deliver the course effectively? Schools often have constraints on space available and have limited access to ‘dedicated space. If this is the case, it is sometimes possible to strike a balance by hiring local performance facilities for key events or by organising a smallscale touring project.

Do you feel the nature and demands of such a course are fully appreciated by the school/school management?

This includes such important factors as rooming, adequate budget to fund a vocational course (including the ‘buying in’ of external expertise such as workshops with professional performance practitioners), some flexibility in timetabling arrangements ie the provision of double teaching periods wherever possible.

Are you able to take the learners off-site for additional vocationally-related activities, e.g. regular theatre visits, use of other venues for projects, etc.? Have you adequate funding to ‘buy in’ professional touring companies/ specialist workshops and to also provide basic kit for the learners on the course?

Discuss with your management whether or not it is possible to ‘ring-fence’ any specialist funding to support the needs of vocational training and education. Try to think creatively about the range of people and institutions outside the school who may be willing to share their arts experience with your learners. If you have a university or FE college close by, you may be able to arrange mutually beneficial collaborative projects with their performing arts departments. Exstudents who have gone on to study at such institutions or who have gained places at drama school could be invited in for question and answer sessions.

Are you able to deliver the course through an experienced and supportive performing arts team or are you working in relative isolation?

In either case, try to build into your course, opportunities for your learners to meet people from the business and prospective employers. This is quite central to the ethos of BTEC and in many cases can be as valuable (if not more so) as expensive theatre visits.

How can you give the First Diploma its own identity in the school?

Consider setting up a small-scale theatre training company with the learners on the First Diploma as the core members. The company could have its own distinctive name and logo and shows could be marketed under this name (in association with and financially supported by the school, of course). Company sweatshirts and t-shirts could help establish its corporate identity and wearing these for theatre-in-education tours and front-of-house duties could help to engender a real sense of pride in learners for their course.

Alex | 31/07/2009

How can I improve performance in the physical theatre elements of the drama specification?

Good question: getting the physical theatre elements of the specification right can be tricky - which is why we run a course on it!

I've drawn together a few key points, taken from examiners reports and specifications which focus on how to achieve a better grade in performance work:

•Tell a story – keep the audience interested
•Develop characters but also explore theatrical techniques
•Develop a script that can be rehearsed- this does not necessarily mean a script in the traditional sense but could be amore physical script, with columns including visual images, sounds, as well as words
•Concentrate on details
•Have an ending
•No black outs – explore more interesting ways of moving from one scene to another
•Have a super objective and keep checking on it.
•Be aware of assessment objectives – what will examiners be looking for
•Do what you are good at! Do not use the examination as a way of experimenting. Develop skills during the course and rehearsals. Do not do what you cannot do well. Physical theatre as you will see from the course can be a matter of simple things executed with care and attention
•Use physical techniques to help understand the process of rehearsal, ie use large sheets of paper to write down ideas, cut them up and re- assemble to explore the structure and storytelling of your piece.
•Choose a style of performance to suit your theme. Physiological dramas tend to require words (but not always!)
•Be aware of effective theatrical conventions and devices.
•Build tension, create contrasts and conflict
•Study practitioners and watch performances to help develop a style of performance.
•It is an adult audience you are performing to. Be careful of teenage angst issues and ‘in jokes’
•Try out ideas in front of an audience – accept productive criticism and change things!
•Have an ending
•Keep asking questions

James | 30/07/2009

Other Questions

I've got a pupil in my class this year who only speaks Arabic. What can I do?

There is no expectation that a class/subject teacher needs to have knowledge of other languages in order to help pupils/students at an early stage of language acquisition to improve their grasp of English.

Sometimes, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. To be able to say the odd word or phrase in the home language is comforting at the beginning. However, this can lead to over-dependence on the teacher’s being able to act as an interpreter when difficulties arise. Even if this is the case, the task is to help the learner become competent in English, and this will not happen if the teacher intervenes all the time.

The teacher’s first port of call should be the Local Education Authority. Probably the head or a member of the SMT who has contacts in the Local Education Authority would be the best person to approach them. Many LEAs have EMAS sections that provide support, and they can help by sending a specialist teacher to the school to help assess the level of linguistic skill that the learners possess.

As in all learning, one builds on what the learner already knows. However, there will be times when the Local Education Authority has little to offer. This is the case in some areas where the number of learners with these needs has been so small historically as to make it uneconomic to provide help of this sort.

When teaching, staff can use a range of strategies to support English language acquisition by:

•Using peer support
•Giving handwriting practice for pupils whose home language is in a different script
•Supporting pupils’ understanding by continually introducing, explaining and illustrating key vocabulary related to subject content
•Modelling oral and written language to support acquisition
•Using ICT programs to support language skills and to reinforce learning
•Exploiting previously used language to activate prior knowledge and link to pupils' experience
•Integrating speaking, listening, reading and writing in English, and using one
•Language skill to support and reinforce another.
•Reinforcing language learning and understanding through repetition, highlighting vocabulary learnt, summarising and recording what has been learnt and creating opportunities to revisit key concepts through questioning.
•Differentiating activities to ensure that EAL pupils have opportunities for collaborative speaking and listening
•Creating flexible timetabling arrangements to allow more time to be spent teaching certain subjects
•Adapting schemes of work so that pupils are provided with activities that have been customised to meet their experiences, needs and abilities.
•Providing ample opportunities for pupils to hear good models of a range of styles and registers of English
•Providing opportunities for talk, whilst being aware that pupils with EAL may need time before being able or confident to engage in speaking.
•Highlighting key words and give them to the pupil in English and in their home language if this can be arranged

As with all learners, pupils with EAL should be encouraged to become increasingly independent in their learning. If a pupil appears fluent in social English it is still important to plan carefully for language development so the pupil can manage the literacy demands of curriculum subjects. Remember that these pupils have less practice out of school than native speakers.