Entry 3 part 2

Teaching Focus/Place/space and in a Singaporean Classroom

                As I showed from the video, one of the ways of teaching focus to students is to get them to act out a scene from different perspectives. For this exercise, I will use scenes that are synonymous with the Singaporean context. For instance, using scenes like in a Singaporean hawker centre, MRT train, bus stop or a HDB block of flats may be relatable for the students and they will be able to devise it faster. It can also allow them to critically assess the characters involved. For instance, taking cue from my group’s ensemble piece, while removing the “foreign talent” aspect of it, I can actually get students to enact a scene where there are characters like an old man trying to get a sit from a younger passenger, someone observing them from a far and a news reporter. I will then ask the students to guess which part of the focus of the scene they were. On top of this, we are also exploring some Singaporean Social issues and students begin to see different perspectives and are encouraged to wonder how to negotiate the scene. A questioning process can be conducted after this scene is enacted to get the students to think about how the issues in the scene can be negotiated. The responses from the students can be recorded in journals and this helps to shape them as 21^st century concerned citizens with greater social awareness. A forum theatre understanding may also be developed through this as the format is similar (though there is no acting involved to remedy the situation here) and in the future, this serves as an entry point into venturing into that just to beef up the student’s knowledge on a dramatic style and technique which is part of the Drama O level syllabus.

                Another aspect of focus is the focus in constructing Drama. This is a crucial aspect in the classroom setting as based on my experience during my practicum as students tend to get sidetracked, distracted or restless during lessons and while devising. One of the methods that can be used to teach them focus would be to get a student to lead another using the palm of his/her hand. The other student follows the palm and focuses on it, blocking off any other distractions. This allows the student to understand how good focus allows them to follow through the task at hand and also this helps the students’ relationships and they build trust from this game.

Challenges

                The lesson on focus is a bit tricky as the various angles of focus may be hard for the students to decipher. Thus, it is crucial that before they go into practicing the different angles of focus that they understand it well.  The Normal Academic and Normal technical students may not be able to critically analyze the scenes they depict so I will concentrate more on getting the technical aspects of focus right. Their lower abilities mean that they may struggle to move further on in the lesson so I must take that into consideration and maybe just add some guiding questions along the way for them to identify the rights and wrongs. Also, using a questioning process where students sit down and discuss the issues together may also not work if it takes too long. As identified by David Hornbrook in Education and Dramatic Art, Pupils who enter a drama lesson do not want to spend long periods of time locked in discussion (Hornbrook,2002) . From my previous observations during practicum I find that to be especially true as students tend to get very restless if left sitting on the floor and in discussion for too long. Thus, if my discussions span too long, I should avoid them or do something else like making students discuss in role where they stay in character and exchange perspectives. For the lower Secondary students, I must also be aware that the aim of the lesson would be to teach the students about focus so I will not overtly dwell on issues that invite a lengthy discussion. I will concentrate my effort on showing them the different outlooks of a piece and how it affects it.

References:

Hornbrook, D. (2002). 2 The Players: Dorothy, Gavin and the New Muggletonians. Education and dramatic art (Taylor & Francis e-Library ed., pp. 17-28). New York: Routledge.