Chapter 4: Presentation of Data and Results
4.7 The contribution of drama to the additional aspects of well-being
well-being
In the Literature Review (Section 2.5.3), I explained how drama can contribute to the enhancement of the aspects of child well-being I had originally set out to explore: Happiness and pleasure; sociability, social skills and skills of working with others; and self-esteem, self-confidence and sense of achievement. My research and analysis of data have revealed further aspects of child well-being: Play; beauty; and children’s voice. Therefore, in this section I will offer the theoretical writings of classic and modern educationalists to highlight how drama can contribute to the additional aspects of well-being. To be more specific, I will explore how drama can contribute:
To children being offered opportunities to play.
To children acquiring experiences of beauty and of aesthetic quality.
To children being offered opportunities to express their voice and to have this taken into consideration.
It is important to point out that in this section I will not present any evidence from my project, even though it is part of the chapter of the Presentation of Data and Results. However, I believe it is essential to provide the theoretical framework of the
contribution of drama with regard to the new aspects of well-being, in the same way I provided the theoretical framework of the rest of the aspects in the Literature Review (Section 2.5). This will set a solid theoretical basis for the in-depth analysis and discussion of my findings in the following chapter (Chapter 5).
4.7.1 Play
The relationship between drama and play is depicted in the early years of a child’s life. Booth reminds us that role play comes natural to them from the time that they can first move about, and that drama is at the heart of their casual play (1994, p. 17). Bowell and Heap agree that it is an innate predisposition for children to take on imagined roles and place themselves in fictional situations in order to understand the world in which they live (2001, p. 37).
The theory of Dewey is helpful in illustrating the connection between drama and play. He argues that childhood play, and the problem-solving skills exercised through play, are vital to the cognitive and emotional development of children (Nicholson 2009, p. 14). He considers play to be pertinent to the arts, and participation in the arts to be a playful experience. Therefore, the arts hold the capacity to help children grow emotionally and cognitively. He advocates that, by introducing the arts into the educational system, students can be helped in making lines between their imaginative worlds and the learning environment (Nicholson 2009, p. 14). In Dewey’s words, the arts follow for ‘a complete merging of playfulness with seriousness’ (1934, p. 279, cited in Nicholson 2009, p. 15).
In his book The Future of Ritual (1993), Schechner makes strong associations between art, ritual, performance and play:
Indeed, art and ritual, especially performance, are the homeground of playing. This is because the process of making performances does not much imitate playing as epitomize it. (1993, p. 41)
For Schechner, play and performance share common ground. They both involve players, directors, spectators and commentators, each of whom has her own passionately pursued goals (1993, p. 27). Also, when activities feed on the underlying ground of playing, they use play mood for refreshment, energy, unusual ways of turning things around, insights and, especially, looseness (1993, p. 42, italics in original). It can be claimed that these elements are evident in good drama.
Winston argues that a spirit of playfulness lies at the heart of drama (2004, p. 9). Things happening in drama are highly playful; for example, people get angry without really being angry, or they die without really dying (Winston and Tandy 2001, p. viii). Its playful spirit is also reflected in the games it largely employs. These allow children to release their energy, connect with others and learn about the rules of social encounter (Winston 2000, p. 101).
4.7.2 Beauty
The work of Winston (2010) brings into light the interaction of beauty and well- being in a drama classroom. He sees the potential of beauty in the ensemble model of teaching, one which fosters the social and artistic abilities of the many, as oppose to that of the few (2010, p. 79). He urges teachers to aspire to the values of the ensemble when organising their lessons and when cultivating the ethos of their classrooms. This will enable them to recognise moments of beauty when they occur. He explains that the social and artistic ideals of the performing arts can be apprehended through the concept of aesthetic necessity, and gives the example of a
student performance in Romania to help us understand it (2010, p. 79). In this performance, a little girl spent much time happily and selflessly supporting those around her rather than focusing on her own performance (2010, pp. 79-80). For Winston, that was a beautiful moment because it reflected the principles of the ensemble approach that children were infused with; ‘shared endeavour and mutual support and consideration’ (2010, p. 80, italics in original). He concludes as follow:
Such are the potential achievements of beauty within the performing arts – joyful, profound, morally significant and reaching far beyond the educational limitations of skills-based curricula. (2010, p. 80)
Winston implies a connection between the achievements of beauty and the intrinsic value of the arts. Children develop skills such as shared endeavour and mutual support through their enjoyment of the arts and the beauty that the arts convey. In contrast, the practices of SEAL and SEE seek to develop similar skills in an instrumentalist way; that is, by setting a series of objectives and by encouraging children to perform exercises that respond to these objectives.
The dramatic performance can serve as an experience of beauty to help children flourish personally, socially and emotionally. In preparation for their performance, the desire to create something beautiful acts as motivational force for their collective work (Winston 2010, p. 78). When they appreciate that their dramatic product is beautiful, they long to share it with others so as to offer them a sense of aesthetic pleasure (2010, p. 127). This claim chimes with Scarry’s argument that an experience of beauty cannot be contained within a person; it has to be shared (2001, p. 3). Thompson calls this ‘a desire to share affect’ (2009, p. 144, italics in original):
We accept beauty is in our eye, but we are desperate to locate it in an object (workshop, performance, song) and share that feeling with others. (2009, p. 144).
As mentioned before, children can experience a sense of thrill when sharing their work. It could be argued that this thrill is one of the effects of pleasure derived from beauty, as these are mentioned by Scarry: A rush of adrenaline, the heart beating faster and feeling that life is more vivid and animated (2001, pp. 24-25). Thompson describes the experience of beauty when participating in artistic activities as ‘that moment of pleasurable, world-stopping sensation’ (2009, p. 140).
O’Neill maintains that drama carries the potential to help participants experience what Murdoch calls ‘unselfing’. The former uses the term ‘self-transcendence’ as a synonym for unselfing (2006, p. 81). She believes that drama’s educational value lies in its capacity to promote a shift of focus from oneself to a different time and location (2006, p. 81). She connects drama and self-transcendence as follows:
Although all art contains the possibility of taking us beyond ourselves, theatre and drama demand actual participation in an illusion, which inhibits self-assertive tendencies and facilitates self-transcending tendencies. Cassirer (1944) asserts that art turns emotion into a means of self-liberation and gives us inner freedom. (O'Neill 2006, p. 81)
4.7.3 Children’s voice
McClaren argues that a pedagogy that stimulates dynamic forms of participation positively resonates with ‘the dreams, desires, voices and utopian longings’ of students (1988, p. 168, cited in Taylor and Warner 2006, p. 106). Echoing his argument, Taylor and Warner claim that drama can build on the dreams and voices of children, because it marks their contributions as valid (2006, p. 106).
Winston (2004) illustrates several ways in which drama encourages children to express their views, thoughts and feelings, to have these listened to and to listen to those of others. Firstly, its formal structures allow them the space to perform and to watch others perform (2004, p. 50). In this way, they can communicate their voice to the audience and develop the skills of listening to one another. Secondly, drama can make room for the voice of those who are not usually heard. At a fictional level, this means that ‘marginalised voices can be forced to the centre of attention’ (2004, p. 50). At a classroom level, it means that children who are usually quiet can be encouraged to speak through the mask of a different identity (2004, p. 50). Thirdly, by taking on a needy or provocative role, the teacher can encourage them to articulate their views, to debate and raise arguments, and ‘to pit their wits against an opposing position’ (2004, p. 50).
Rinaldi’s argument regarding voice not being limited to the verbal expression of ideas is relevant to drama, as it allows children to express themselves through various means, such as signs, symbols and codes (2005, pp. 17, 20). Furthermore, we saw how Watson et al. consider listening to children’s voice to be ‘about reciprocal meaning making and about engaging in a dialogic process’ (2012, p. 123, italics in original). This idea is pertinent to the dramatic experience. The ensemble approach requires that the teacher and the participants engage in a democratic dialogue and that they have an equal share in producing meaning.