Entry 8 Part 1

Through the Ensemble devising, I managed to learn more about Group Dynamics:

1.The importance of a good rapport:

This was rather important as it was because we all worked so well that our piece was a success. There needs to be a good level of understanding amongst members. In my previous work, there were times where there were clashes with members over ideas but i found out that such clashes only hinder the process.

Thus, in a classroom setting, it is vital for me to get students to work well together when they are working on their Group pieces for Coursework (O levels) or when they have group projects to do (Lower Secondary). The methods of doing so that i identified is through listening to everyone's views and being tactful when dismissing or rebutting their views. It is also important to emphasize teamwork where the Strong-headed members of group are not encouraged to make all the decisions. Instead, everyone has to be involved in the thought process. I would agree that it is hard to achieve this as a teacher but with tuning into discussions in classroom hours, I can get a sense of what is going on. Also building a teacher-student rapport is crucial as it gets me to understand the character traits of students to see how they function in a group. Also, as mentioned earlier, I must prevent fights or attempt to solve misunderstandings if need be.


2. Technology

As I mentioned earlier, the use of technology was done by our group through the usage of facebook. I found this useful. Here is the journey we took and my feelings and thoughts over why I would translate this to a classroom setting (click on link directly below):

Our Facebook Journey and reactions

3.Constant questioning

I did say that I did not want clashes or misunderstandings in the groups but i would want to encourage constant inquiry. One of the reasons why I felt my group worked well with each other is due to the constant questioning process of our group where we asked each other questions and conversed freely amongst each other. We did not hold back our questions to prevent it from become an issue in the future.

As a teacher, I would have to encourage students to question their own work and their peers' contribution. After all, they need to tie up any confusions or doubts they have as, at the end of the day,they will need to retain this knowledge for their Written Examinations. As a teacher, if I do not see questions being asked I will trigger it off by asking questions by myself. In a sense, I am using a democratic classroom management approach where there is "multiple perspectives being taken in" as mentioned by Edwards (2011) in his book on effective classroom management. With my questioning and the polite way i phrase my questions, other members of the group may follow suit and continue the questioning process long after I have left the group of students. That said, this may not always happen and politeness is subjective so constant monitoring is a must and also basic etiquette, manners and class rules must be properly defined to prevent the questioning process from getting heated up. Students must also approach lessons with an open-mind.

4.Audience Awareness

Another realization I developed is the need to understand the Audience's point of view when devising. Everyone should take turns directing a piece. In that way, multiple points of views can be developed and the case will rarely arise when the audience do not have a bearing of what the play has set out to achieve

In a classroom, it is vital for students to perform in front of the teacher and their peers for evaluation en route to their final product. This helps them to see some loose ends that they may not have realized.




5.Understanding the Elements of Drama

Lastly, there is a need to understand the Elements of Drama. As I have mentioned in my previous post, a good understanding will allow for some elements to start emerging in our piece when we start devising.

Sometimes students are lost in their devising process and it is vital that they understand the facets of Elements of Drama to help them get through. I mentioned how my ensemble group subconsciously played around with mood and atmosphere through music. The same way I hope that students will end up doing the same. They can develop a realization of this later on when they question their process. With good Elements of Drama knowledge, they will be able to start putting in elements into their performance like as if it were second nature, thus enhancing it further. This can only happen if they have good knowledge and understanding of the elements.

There is a chance that as a teacher, I will not have enough time to drill the concepts in fully. Thus, I must keep the students paying attention to particular aspects of their performances where they may improve and give them prompts like "How would you symbolize this better?" etc.. I would however want them getting the knowledge and concepts in well as it is vital for their examinations as I have mentioned before.



References:
Edwards, Clifford H., and Vivienne Joy Watts. "Democratic Classroom Approach." Classroom discipline & management. 5th ed. Milton, Qld.: John Wiley & Sons, 2011. 124-142. Print.