Teach Secondary Issue 14.7

Hitting the mark With its capacity to unlock students’ reserves of resilience, articulacy and emotional literacy, drama is a subject that still matters, writes Martin Matthews D rama often exists as an enigma in schools, especially at KS3. It’s a subject that appears sporadically on KS3 timetables, but which can also stretch into the extracurricular realm– that ‘other opportunities’ area of school life. It’s a subject that’s very much present in schools, but also somewhat elusive. Images of the school production will typically adorn corridor walls to celebrate students’ performances, but drama itself will often lack presence in students’ learning diets. Given the push that STEM subjects have seen in recent years, coupled with the EBacc, drama has only become evenmore ‘extra’ with regards to curriculum time. As a noun, ‘drama’ can evoke many ideas as to what it actually means, and what its role on the curriculum ought to be, thus begging the question – what exactly is drama, and what is it for? The ‘other’ space At KS3, drama teachers will often find themselves stuck between preparing students for potentially taking KS4/5 qualifications in drama and the performing arts, whilst also focusing on what drama can do for individuals more holistically. Unfortunately, the latter is often immeasurable, and as such, can lead to drama’s place within school being undervalued. Drama is usually taught in open spaces, such as drama studios, school halls and canteens (though I was once timetabled to teach a Y9 drama class for a year in a science lab). This ‘other’ space, coupled with good teaching can give drama a unique power to develop resilience in students. At the same time, it can also unlock students’ articulacy and emotional literacy, and help them develop capacities that other subjects will rarely explore, or even touch on with comparable depth and immediacy. Yet these capacities are increasingly vital for young people, as they grow up in a complex, high-pressure world. Drama often positions students not just as learners, but as participants who can create, collaborate, interpret and take risks. It can engage the whole person – the intellect, as well as the body – spark imagination and heighten emotions in ways that make its impact both distinctive and lasting. Learning to fail In the open space of the drama class, failure isn’t just predictable, but perhaps essential. Performances aren’t always successful – improvisations can go wrong, and group work often doesn’t go exactly to plan. These failures, however, should become a springboard to learning and developing resilience. In a drama lesson, students will be invited to reflect, revise their ideas and try again. They’ll learn that growth can come from reflecting and reworking, and that mistakes are opportunities, rather than dead ends. This experience can be transformative. A student who might have once hesitated to speak in front of their peers can grow through devising a scene with others, while realising that their ideas have value and that their voice matters. In drama, students should discover that creativity is inherently uncertain, and that confidence comes not from avoiding difficulty, but from embracing it. ‘Creativity’, of course, is notoriously difficult to pin down. As a word, it’s become ubiquitous and overused, to the point where it has no clear meaning. Creativity is an enigma. No one knows where it comes from, though it may, perhaps, be a key part of being human. Individuals may believe they are not creative when comparing themselves to creative greats, while not realising the importance of their own creative practice. What drama can do is enable a creative outlet, often through small acts of creativity that can grow in the open drama space and help a person to grow too. This can leave a lasting impact in other parts of students’ lives, and indeed their experiences across the school curriculum. ‘Soft’ skills In English, students are required to be creative when writing, but creativity in that subject can sometimes be restricted due to the nature of written assessment. Drama spaces aren’t subject to the same pressures, particularly at KS3. Giving students space to experiment, without fear of judgement, can create a safe environment in which risk-taking is rewarded and determination is celebrated. These safe spaces that allow for risk-taking can, and perhaps should be mirrored in other subjects. Questions continue to swirl around artificial intelligence and what role (if any) it should have in schools and across society as a whole. It could be argued that this development, coupled with the earlier growth of social media “In the open space of the dramaclass, failure isn’t just predictable,but perhaps essential” 52 teachwire.net/secondary