Drama Reflective Essay

From participating in the drama workshops I have been exposed to a number of drama teaching and learning experiences. These experiences, along with readings by drama education theorists, have enabled me to realise how beneficial drama can be for children’s development. Drama allows children to express themselves, while also taking on the roles of other characters that they would not have otherwise done. Such learning experiences were evident in the workshop based around the story of Pandora’s Box. Activities in this session included freeze frames, reading a story, blanket roles and improvisation.

The session started out with the class being divided into groups. From here each group was to come up with an act about a locked door. This had to …show more content…
This acted as an igniter to introduce the story of Pandora’s Box. I found this to be effective because it helps the children to understand the story and ‘get into character’, while also involving other areas of the curriculum into the drama lesson. This particular technique integrates reading, listening and interpreting, which are all aspects of the english curriculum. Blanket roles is another great way to have the students working in groups and stimulating their imagination. In this activity the class was again divided into groups. Each group had a role (e.g. Pandora’s friends, family, gods, etc.) and had to come up with answers to the question “should I open the box?” which was going to be asked by the teacher in the role of Pandora. This activity also uses improvisation because the teacher would continue to ask questions (make an offer) that the student would have to accept and answer in the role of their character. This helps the children to think about how other people might react and helps them to engage in the lesson. This is also an effective way for the teacher to evaluate each students involvement in the lesson. This activity was a circular drama that involved having the teacher in