“In what ways does drama-based instruction support learning for elementary and middle school students?”

“There are nonetheless a small number of plays written especially for young audiences that offer good opportunities for young performers as well as attempting to provide thoughtful and sensitive explorations of disability as experienced by young characters” (Kempe, 2011, p.174). While a great many pieces of literature can be both experienced as a novel or a play, it seems in the educational system we lean towards the former; thus, discussions about the piece are kept to plot and structure. My own experience with drama has been one of stepping outside myself – seeing what the world looks like from another’s perspective. As a learner, this supported my understanding of empathy and that other students learn differently than I, and therefore, require different supports; to experience life from another’s perspective allowed me to support my peers in their learning as well.

Stepping into life as a disabled character, if done correctly, could teach learners about empathy – about how someone who walks differently or learns differently is not wrong. Entering a role as a disabled character could teach individuals a great deal about what makes each and every person unique; that simply because different supports are needed does not mean someone with a disability is any lesser than someone without.

“For example, in the world of education the term ‘special needs’ is used as an umbrella…for physical disability, cognitive impairment, and mental illness. It can also [refer] to people of such intelligence…that they fall outside of what is perceived as the ‘normal range’, yet ‘normality’ [is] a problematic term, though a feature of many successful dramas lies in the way notions of normality are challenged or inverted” (Kempe, 2011, p. 171). This semester of drama forced me to acknowledge my own bias – what is a disability? Before my understanding would have been structured around that term – ‘normal’ – however, this is an incorrect means of explanation. Why is the wheelchair abnormal while the glasses are not? Drama supports a foundation of empathy in the classroom and helps students picture life from another, more marginalized, perspective.

 

Word Count: 346

Collective (5) Blog Posts Word Count: 1245

 

Resources:

Kempe, A. (2011). What Dramatic Literature Teaches about Disability. In                         Key Concepts in Theatre/Drama Education. (pp. 171-175). SensePublishers