1. Drama as a Bridge to
Literacy
Susan Hillyard B.Ed.(Hons)

2. Overview
 The EL teacher = The Literacy teacher
 Whole Drama
 Learning styles
 A “Language for Life”
 The student as ACTIVE learner
 The search for Personal Identity

3. We work in a wordy
world caught up with
concrete kids ( Anon)

4. Fisher’s Model
METACOGNITION
(thinking/inner speech)
reading writing
KNOWLEDGE PERFORMANCE
(learning input) listening speaking (linguistic output)
Linguistic intelligence – the modes of language

5. Cummins’ Quadrant
Cognitively Demanding
Context B D Context
Embedded A C Reduced
Cognitively Undemanding

6. Learning Styles
Visual
Auditory
Kinaesthetic

7. The So-called Four Skills
The Big Q:
What kind of reading,
writing, speaking and
listening?

8. Exercise 1
What do you understand
by the term
Literacy?

9. Literacy
The ability to deal with
words and derive
meanings from them
which relate to the
world in which we live.

10. A Potted History of Literacy
 South Asia: 3.000 + BC Literate minority
 Islamic Countries: 800 AD High rate
 Jewish Communities: Middle Ages, men learned
Hebrew
 Lutheran countries: 1686 enforced literacy
 New England: 17th Century 50% literate, rising to 70%
by 1710
 Wales: 1750 Highest rate of literacy
 England :1870 Govt Financed Education available.

11. The Three Rs
Reading
Riting
Rithmetic

12. A Language for Life……
What Life?

13. Drama is Life
and
Life is Drama( Heathcote)

14. Ex 2: The new ICT life……
What kinds of literacies
can you list that our
students will need to
have in their futures?

15. The New Literacies
 Visual
 Computer
 Spatial
 Body
 TV
 Film
 Internet
 Print
 Art
 Music

16. Scottish Dept of Education
“The ability to read and write and
use numeracy to handle
information, to express ideas
and opinions, to make decisions
and solve problems, as family
members, workers, citizens and
lifelong learners.”

17. The four areas:
1.Personal
2. Family
3. Work
4. Community

18. Five Core Skills
1. Communication
2. Numeracy
3. Problem Solving
4. Working with others
5. ICT

19. UK National Strategy for Teaching
English
“ Drama develops thinking,
speaking, and listening,
reading, writing and critical
analysis through emotional
and imaginitive engagement”

20. Drama
“Drama is the collaborative
exploration and analysis
of meaning through the
enactment of events” ( DfES 2003)

21. Heathcote`s Drama
“Drama is anything which involves
people in active role-taking
situations in which attitudes, not
characters, are the chief concern,
lived at life-rate ( that is discovery
at this moment not memory-based)
and obeying the natural laws of the
medium:

22. The Natural Laws of Drama
1. A willing suspension of disbelief
2. Agreement to pretence
3. Employing all past experiences
4. Employing any conjecture of the
imagination
to create a living, moving picture of life which
aims at surprise and discovery for the
participants rather than for any onlookers.

23. The Spice of Life
 S for Social
 P for Physical
 I for Intellectual (cognitive)
 C for Creative
 E for Emotional

24. Drama is Polysemic
Drama produces multiple
meanings through multiple
signs

25. The Relationship between Thinking
and Drama
High quality thinking High quality drama
Is not routine – the path of Is not just re-enactment of what is known. The children
action is not fully known in make decisions that influence the direction of the
advance drama and they are given ownership, with their
ideas being used to develop the drama.
Tends to be complex – the total Drama explores through role, the same situation from
path is not visible from a the viewpoints of different characters. It is not a
single viewpoint linear process.
Yields multiple rather than Drama is “open”. Scenes can be reworked and replayed
unique solutions in many ways with a multiplicity of solutions and
outcomes.
Involves nuanced judgment Nuance is key to drama. Meanings are arrived at and
and interpretation communicated in a variety of ways, verbal, visual
and kinaesthetic. Each person in an audience and
each participant in the drama will interpret the
drama somewhat differently, depending on their
present understandings and experience.

26. Can involve the application of Drama involves problem solving and the resolution
multiple criteria which of dilemmas both within the drama and in the
may conflict with one process of making the drama.
another
Involves uncertainty – not Drama in education develops. It cannot be known
everything about the task what will emerge in the process as it is interactive
at hand is known and dynamic by nature. It is not about re-
enacting what is known and certain, but about
discovering and exploring what is uncertain.
Involves imposing meaning – Drama is all about finding, making and
finding structure in communicating meanings. It is structured, mainly
apparent disorder by the teacher initially, but as children become
more experienced and develop their drama skills
they are more able to take over responsibility for
structuring their own drama and communicating
meaning to others through performance.
Is effortful – considerable Good drama is an active and interactive experience,
mental work is needed for which is both intellectually and emotionally
the kinds of elaboration demanding for both participants and audience.
and judgements required
Adapted from Baldwin P. and McGuinness C.

27. A comparison between Drama and
Reading
Reading Drama
Prediction The reader predicts what the next In drama children anticipate a
words will be, and looks at the range of responses and check their
print to confirm it own actions to fit what occurs
Cue 1 Readers process semantic cues – Drama students use the second
they have some experience of the dimension – that part of the topic
field where they can use their
Cue 2 Readers process graphophonic experience
Drama students interpret body
cues – they know that letters language and paralinguistic cues
correspond to sounds such as tone, pitch and pace – these
each convey meaning
Cue 3 Readers process syntactic cues – Drama students learn that
they know the grammar of the individual events have wider more
language universal meanings; that drama
operates as metaphor ( Simons & Quirk)

28. Differences between Narrative and Drama
Narrative Drama
 What has happened. What is happening. First-order
Second-order abstraction abstraction (unmediated by
(mediated to us by another) another: we are present at it)
 Summarises drama Elaborates narrative
Differences 1. Involves a private Its interactive nature means
in relationship between reader participants have a shared, public
viewpoint and fiction relationship with the fiction
2. The reader’s viewpoint is Operating directly upon being
selected for him by the present at the fictional events,
writer, who mediates the participants can select their
fiction to him viewpoints
Different 1. Operated through a single Uses multiple sign system in
use of sign sign system (written text) combination
Different 1. Tends towards linear, Dwells in the present moment
use of time sequential development –
onward movement of events (Ken Byron 1986)

29. Forming Objectives
Stage Sequence of mental activities
1. Unreflective Predicting what might happen short
interest in action term
1. Empathising Forming mental images of affect;
forming expectations about
character
1. Analogising Drawing on the repertoire of
personal experiences, making
connections between characters and
one’s own life Adapted from Thomson 1987)
(

30. The Sound-bite
 Multi-tasking
 Zapping
 i-pods
 Snippets of news
 E-mail brevity
 MSN abbreviations
 Interruptions

31. The new BREED
A
new
breed
of STUDENT
demands a
new breed of
TEACHER

32. The Catharsis of Acting Out….
Role adoption seems to allow for
students to put on the mask of
security and to air their private
feelings in the public forum in a
way that responding to print
may not

33. Drama is Life
and
Life is Drama( Heathcote)