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Reflecting on a Music Experience

Report: In my last prac, which was with a Prep class, I introduced two songs to the class. One was ‘If You’re Ready and You Know It’ (based on ‘If You’re Happy and You Know It’) and ‘Cleaning Up the Room’ (based on the ‘Painting the Roses Red’ song from Disney’s 1951 ‘Alice in Wonderland’). I wrote the lyrics for these songs myself, to suit my intended purpose of having smooth class transitions. I sang the songs to the class and after a few lessons, they were singing along.

Respond: I love to sing in the car and in the shower. I don’t, however, always feel comfortable singing in public. Singing in front of the children was a huge step to take, but I somehow mustered the confidence to do it. It became easier each time, especially when the students responded well and sang along (I was amazed at how quickly they picked up the lyrics and tune). I enjoyed writing the lyrics for the song – it was another creative outlet for me to explore and writing is comfortable and familiar to me.

Relate: Reflecting on this experience, I’m very grateful for having taken the chance, as the songs were a useful and engaging tool. With the right class, I can see myself using song in a variety of ways and throughout the school day, regardless of whether I am teaching Music. But, what if I wasn’t so confident? What if I had to teach Music and sing in front of a class? I think about a story my brother-in-law told me; he spoke about a prac teacher who sang in front of his primary school class. At the end of the teacher’s Opera performance, the students all burst out laughing and the teacher left the room crying. No one wants to be that teacher!

Reason: Ultimately, I guess it’s the teacher’s job to create a safe space for everyone to express themselves through song, including the teacher. For me, this involved using a little bit of self-deprecating humour before I started singing and showing the students I was human (when I forgot the words, I’d draw attention to it and say ‘goodness!’).

Dinham (2015) also has some useful tips for the self-conscious singer:

· Take singing lessons

· Teach songs that are familiar to you

· Select songs that are in your voice range and that are suitable for the children to sing

· Place the children close to you, so you don’t need to project your voice.

· Place the better singers in strategic spots around the class, so they can assist with keeping others in tune.

Reconstruct:

Singing and teaching songs can exist outside a Music classroom. Singing made me feel happier, lifted my energy levels and engaged my prac class. Using familiar tunes, creating my own lyrics, and establishing a safe environment helped me take a chance and gain confidence. Hopefully I can do it all over again with a new class! If need be, I’ll take Dinham up on her advice.

#Arts #song #music #education #teaching

These are my top five dances from So You Think You Can Dance. *Excuse the poor quality of some of the videos. It was the best I could find. 5) Kayla & Kapono...

The first minute and 50 seconds of the video above depicts a dance by two dancers from the television show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’. The song used to accompany the dance is ‘Gravity’ by Sara Bareilles – the song is sombre and soulful.

Elements of Dance and Communicating the Purpose of the Dance

Body: As Dinham (2015) notes, our bodies are instruments of expression and can be used in many ways. In this dance, the female and male dancers run, stretch, bend, kneel, stand and use their fingers/hands to make shapes. This means the dance features locomotor and nonlocomotor movements. I found that their bodily movements and shapes complemented the song. For example, when the singer was singing ‘freely’, the movements and shapes were curved and soft. When the singer emphasised words, the movements and shapes became jagged and pointy.

Space: Dinham (2015) tells us that this element refers to where the body moves. The dance features two dancers who repeatedly move towards and away from each other. They are sometimes low to the ground, kneeling, or high in the air, jumping. Their use of the dancefloor is extensive, moving from side to side regularly. Similar to body, I noticed that their proximity to each other mimicked the lyrics of the song. When the singer sang lines such as ‘drawn to me’ and ‘over me’, one of the dancers was literally pressed against the other, restricting their movement.

Energy: Directly related to the body, which produces movements, energy relates to the quality of those movements (Dinham, 2015). They can be sharp, sudden, prolonged, steady or erratic. This is seen regularly in the dance. I particularly noted how the singers created a gliding effect when the female singer fell back into the arms of the male singer, who quickly dragged her backwards across the dancefloor. Again, I felt the dance’s purpose was to connect with the song. When the song became heavy and angry, so did the movements. When the singer seemed soft and whimsical, the movements were light like a feather.

Time: This element was also obvious in the dance. The pace of the movements was varied, at times slow and steady and at other times, fast and erratic. Unsurprisingly, when the song was fast-paced, so was the energy of the movements. When the song was slow and soft, the movements mirrored this.

Relationships: Dinham (2015) states that this element refers to how a dancer’s movements are related to other people, objects or the environment. As noted above, this dance features two dancers who are, for the most part, interacting physically. Observing the video, it’s obvious these dancers would have had to have practised extensively in order to be perfectly aware of each other’s movements. I feel as though the dance’s purpose (to complement the song) would not have been communicated as effectively with one dancer. This is because the song appears to be about a romance or some sort of relationship.

Dinham, J. (2015). Delivering authentic Arts education. [Cengage Learning Australia version]. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au/lib/uql/reader.action?docID=1990987

Responding Critical Analysis

#arts #education #teaching #dance #soyouthinkyoucandance

Reflecting on a Drama learning experience

Report: My first year of high school was also the only year I studied Drama. In Year 8, I remember performing a few scenes from a play with two other students as an assessment piece. The play was called Aunty Enid’s Mountain Rescue Service and it was a comedic play revolving around elderly ladies. We dressed up as part of the performance. I received a B for the performance.

Respond: Although my memories aren’t crystal clear, I recall thoroughly enjoying the process of rehearsing and dressing up. I also remember feeling a little nervous, but quietly confident. The strongest emotional response I remember, however, is how I felt when I received that grade. I felt dismayed, surprised, sad, unsure and disappointed. I think this experience had some powerful implications about how I consequently felt/feel about Drama and my abilities in the subject area.

Relate: Looking back now and having studied teaching for a year, I am most interested in how I came to feel surprised, unsure and disappointed. Although I can’t remember and it would be unfair to state this definitively, I can’t help but wonder perhaps I never received proper feedback in the lead up to our performance. Were our rehearsals supervised? Were we told how we could improve? Was there verbal feedback provided in addition to the grading (I don’t remember this)?

Reason: As a future teacher, I can understand how difficult it must be to give constructive feedback on any of the five Arts subjects. After all, students are expressing themselves and doing what feels right – this isn’t Mathematics where there is a conclusive answer. However, avoiding giving feedback, although an easy option, can evidently lead to other issues – I wouldn’t want any of my students to have their bubble burst in such a fashion. I note that Dinham (2014) speaks about audience skills being a part of children’s dramatic literacy and that this includes the ability to give constructive feedback. She suggests asking questions such as:

What is the creator’s intent?

What are the features of the creation?

Was the creation effective in achieving its intention?

What was the merit of the creation?

What is your response to the creation?

The notes on guiding a drama appreciation session on page 219 are equally helpful.

Reconstruct: Reflecting on this personal experience helps me be aware of how students can feel as part of the assessment process and how important it is to provide feedback at all stages. I think Dinham’s drama appreciation outline is a useful tool for any teacher feeling trepidation at the thought of critically evaluating a student’s dramatic performance. Furthermore, Dinham’s thoughts also encourage me to include students in the process of providing feedback. However, this should be modelled very carefully – perhaps we could start by covering the elements of constructive feedback (e.g. no personal or hurtful remarks) and what is not acceptable, before watching and evaluating professional dramatic performances as a class.

Reflecting (Drama).

#Drama #Reflection #Arts #Teaching #Plays #Feedback

Technology in the classroom: Creating videos can lead students to many academic benefits - Hani Morgan

This article highlights the many benefits associated with introducing video-making projects into the classroom. As Morgan notes, videos are powerfully motivating and engaging, especially as youth are increasingly being surrounded by visual images and using video as a means of expression.

Through the process of video production, students get to develop their multimodal literacy, meaning they can use various representational forms to make meaning. By making videos, students can also learn about the subject they are documenting and use their final products to demonstrate their knowledge. In addition to this, students get the opportunity to think critically and use their problem-solving skills, learn about the ethical implications of creating a video, express themselves creatively, and engage in reading, writing, speaking, teamwork and organisation.

The article then outlines several types of video products that students can make, including documentaries, interviews and news reports. Morgan also concludes by iterating that the equipment needed for these types of productions are becoming more user-friendly and less expensive.

I found this article quite inspiring and can see many links to the Australian Curriculum. I particularly liked the idea of tapping into students’ interests and allowing them to learn in a different way – creating a video could even be an effective assessment piece. In this regard, creating videos can help students learn about all aspects of the Curriculum, from Mathematics and English to Science and the Humanities. For example, in EDUC7565 in Semester 1, one of our assessment pieces was to create an educational video about a Mathematics topic. This involved not only using technology such as our phones and Windows Movie Maker, but also forced us to think about the content in great depth. Why can’t students do the same? By stepping students through the video production process, the teacher would also be able to make links to the Media Arts component of the Curriculum.

Morgan, H. (2013). Technology in the classroom: Creating videos can lead students to many academic benefits. Childhood Education, 89(1), 51-53. doi: 10.1080/00094056.2013.757534

Engaging Research Literature (Media)

#media #mediarts #video #videoproduction #teaching #technology

Journal Entry 3

Today in our workshop, something that Mitch said stuck with me. We were discussing behaviour management techniques for Arts subjects, such as dance, and he mentioned how Chapter 6 of the Dinham textbook had ideas on how to ensure students treat activities with respect (at least that’s what I remember). Chapter 6’s suggested four rules or SNAPS are indeed great teaching tools, but I was more struck with the idea of treating the Arts with respect.

As someone who has never been drawn to the Arts (probably because I didn’t excel in them), I realise how I as a teacher have to respect the subjects if I am going to teach them well. My students will draw upon my attitudes towards activities; if, for example, I don’t seem to be taking a dance class very seriously, why would my students see it as more than a way to be silly with their bodies? Or as a reprieve from ‘proper’ subjects such as Maths and English? How will they understand the benefits they can reap from participating wholeheartedly and meaningfully?

Bowling for Columbine,Michael Moore,911,Inside Job,Alex Jones,Obama,Birth,Certificate,Jerome Corsi,Long Form,NSA,CIA

The first two minutes of the video above shows a montage from Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine. Although I first watched this documentary years ago, I remember being quite impacted by it and feeling as though my eyes were opened. It’s interesting to now go back, select a scene and analyse how it went about informing/persuading me about something I knew little about.

In these two minutes, Moore has put together news clips and audio commentary to show how Americans responded to 9/11 with fear, and how the sales of guns and alarms increased. He also speaks about the response of political and corporate leaders and how that a public gripped with uncontrollable fear should not have ‘a lot of guns or ammo laying around’.

In terms of the media elements that were used, the use of a montage was quite effective to convey the breadth of information used in a short amount of time. The news clips appear to be drawn from a wide array of sources, showing how widespread the ‘issue’ is and how Moore’s argument doesn’t rely on one, sole source of evidence. The fact the montage contains news clips also indicates that Moore hasn’t fabricated his evidence.

The news clips purport to show everyday Americans, reinforcing the idea that the issue of guns and fear is rampant in public life. It’s important to note that Moore has included clips of individuals who seem rather ridiculous (‘I’m trying to get one for myself and my puppy’) – this reinforces his position that people aren’t responsible enough to have guns and ammo ‘laying around’.

The pacing of the scene is effective, too. It moves fast enough to engage viewers with images, but slow enough to convey Moore’s message. The images/clips used are emotive, with scenes of 9/11 and people shooting guns. This communicates to the audience that the subject matter is serious and should be taken seriously.

Finally, the use of narration ensures the message of the scene is not lost. It’s hard not to see Moore’s point, especially when he uses humour to ridicule some of the country’s developments (‘And what better way to fight boxcutter-wielding terrorists than to order a record number of fighter jets from Lockheed?’).

- Responding Critical Analysis (Media)

In this lesson, students follow and describe a series of steps to program a floor robot. Plan a route to program a robot to follow a path and write a sequence of steps (algorithm).

This resource provides teachers with a learning sequence, including a hook, learning intentions, and links to further supporting resources. The learning sequence has been designed for Prep-Year 2 and involves students learning about how digital technology systems require instructions. Students use Bee-Bots to plan, create and use instructions (a sequence of steps).

Criteria:

User-friendly – The resource is clearly set out, with different sections for the Learning Hook, Learning Map and Outcomes etc. Teachers can easily see links to the Australian Curriculum and there is even an assessment rubric provided! I also really like how the learning intentions have been set out, leaving no room for ambiguity and confusion. The only thing missing is a list of resources required.

Relevant to Curriculum – The learning sequence is linked with (ACTDIK001) and (ACTDIP004) in the Australian Curriculum.

Engaging – The activity outlined by the resource is very hands-on, which students are sure to love. On prac, my Prep class were using Bee-Bots and maps on a daily basis as part of their Maths rotations, and it was amazing to see how advanced they were at programming the robots to move where they wanted to. I also really liked how the resource provided several examples of challenges to keep students interested, such as coding the Bee-Bots to trace the outline of different-sized squares.

Cost – Free.

The Verdict: Well laid-out and providing some great ideas on challenges, this resource is useful and valuable. It supplies just enough information to point a teacher in the right direction, but still allows plenty of space for innovation and tailoring.

- Resourcing (Digital Technologies)

Get your missing card Cool Food Planet is in a galaxy far, far away. The aliens are light years ahead of Earth in their knowledge of food! You have been asked by World Leaders to go on a mission to Cool Food Planet to

This interactive website teaches kids about food production, processing, preparation and storage through a variety of games, activities and information. Users can choose between two age groups: 6-8 years and 9-12 years. The website has been designed for children to use independently; however, supplementary information is available for parents and teachers to support learning.

Criteria:

User-friendly – It is very simple to log in. Students pick their age group and then get to create their character (I love how the character can be tailored for a variety of skin types and appearances!). Once in the website, there is definitely an overload of information, however. It would benefit from less text. Also, the website itself states that it is best used by average ability students, and that low ability students would require support. In terms of teacher support, this page is extremely useful: http://coolfoodplanet.org/adults/teachers/ as it outlines the different sections of the website and corresponding learning outcomes and resources.

Relevant to Curriculum – I found this website through Scootle, while looking at Content Descriptor ACTDEK003 (Explore how plants and animals are grown for food, clothing and shelter and how food is selected and prepared for healthy eating).

Engaging – The website is very visually stimulating and I really like the polls included (what is your favourite way of eating potatoes?). The space theme is sure to delight kids too, as are the numerous games which are aesthetically pleasing and easy to play.

Cost – Free.

The Verdict: Although the website has been designed for independent use, I think it would be a bit of an overload of information for children. As a teacher, I could use parts of the website to teach some fundamentals about food production, and then encourage students to play the games to sharpen their knowledge in a fun way. This resource is definitely a keeper.

- Resourcing (Design Technologies)

Since the earliest times, humans have spent a great deal of time trying to capture the essence of the human face. This can be enjoyable, but it's better if you know how. While our bodies add dynamism to artworks, the face is filled with...

This resource provides step-by-step instructions on how to draw a face. For each step, there is a short video demonstrating the written instructions provide. There are 9 steps in total.

Criteria:

User-friendly – I really like how the written instructions are paired with images/short videos that illustrate them. This is ideal instead of watching a longer YouTube video and having to constantly stop and rewind to see particular sections.

Relevant to Curriculum – In the Australian Curriculum, students are encouraged to express themselves by making and responding to Visual Arts. This subject area involves a wide range of art forms and techniques, from photography and clay modelling to craft and drawing.

Engaging – In terms of the activity that can be completed using this resource, I’ve actually seen an Arts teacher do a lesson on drawing faces with Year 5 students and they were thoroughly enjoying it.

Cost – Free.

The Verdict: A great way for students to develop their drawing skills, this is a simple and interesting activity that I would do with my students. The steps outlined by the resource match up with what I’ve seen in the classroom, so I’d rely on it. It would be fascinating to see the end results!

- Resourcing (Visual Arts).

How to lead a singing session from Sing Up. A free teaching resource from the Guardian Teacher Network

This resource from Sing Up outlines how to lead a singing session with primary-aged students, students with special needs and older students. It offers practical advice such as how to get students to focus and how to physically position students (standing is better than sitting when singing).

Criteria:

User-friendly – The PDF is bright and colourful, but could benefit from being more concise (big blocks of text aren’t very appealing). The language used is simple and free of jargon, which is ideal for novices like myself.

Relevant to Curriculum – Singing is highly prevalent in the Australian Curriculum’s outline for Music, from Prep through to Year 6.

Engaging – I really like some of the practical ideas, such as the 1-10 volume scale, the cool-down at the end of the lesson, conducting using actions as prompts, and focusing on listening. I think students would enjoy these activities/ideas.

Cost – Free download. I just had to create an account with The Guardian to access the PDF.

The Verdict: As someone new to music education (does learning how to play the recorder count?), I can use all the tips and tricks I can get.

- Resourcing (Music).

Photo Story 3 is an application which allows users to create a visual story from their digital photos. Users can add narration, effects, transitions, titles and captions, and background music, as well as panning and zooming for dramatic effect. Photo-editing tools are also included, such as red-eye removal, Crop and Rotate. Completed projects can be shared with others.

Criteria:

User-friendly – The user interface seems quite straightforward and steps users through the various features.

Relevant to Curriculum – The Australian Curriculum (ACAMAM058) states that ‘students should investigate and devise representations of people in their community, including themselves, through settings, ideas and story structure in images, sounds and text’. An elaboration goes further and recommends students create ‘a sequence of images, sounds and text or a combination of these to clearly establish the beginning, middle and end of a story or event’. Thus, Photo Story 3 would be a simple and effective way to meet this Content Descriptor.

Engaging – Although it doesn’t have the most aesthetically pleasing user interface, the application provides students with the opportunity to play around with exciting features. I think students would love adding voiceovers, background music and captions.

Cost – Free download.

The Verdict: As it’s free and simple to use, I would certainly consider using Photo Story 3 to teach students about digital storytelling.

- Resourcing (Media).

Introducing dance to 1st and 2nd graders. Learn how to introduce the 1st 2 elements of dance, body movement and space, to young students.

The first four minutes of this video presents an activity that can be used as a warm-up and as a way to introduce young students to body, space and movement. At the start of the video, the educator speaks about the five elements of dance, which are body, space, energy, time and relationships.

Criteria:

User-friendly – The video is engaging and easy to view. The activity itself is very simple and as the teacher explains, students can do this activity while at their desks (using only upper body).

Relevant to Curriculum – As per the Australian Curriculum ‘through dance, students represent, question and celebrate human experience, using the body as the instrument and movement as the medium for personal, social, emotional, spiritual and physical communication’. As demonstrated by the teacher, students are encouraged to come up with a movement that expresses how they feel, whether it be tired, excited or other. I really like the idea of students expressing their emotions through movement.

Engaging Material – The activity is clearly engaging the students and I love how they move from being shy to more confident with what they have to do. I also really like how they don’t even realise they are making movements with their body!

Cost – Free. The only consideration is the amount of time it would take to get around the classroom.

The Verdict: I would definitely do this activity in my classroom, especially if I had Prep-Year 2. It could even be a great way to start the year and get to know the students and their unique personalities.

- Resourcing (Dance).

Interactive drama for children aged 7 to 9 exploring Sutton Hoo and the Anglo Saxon treasure ship

This Drama resource from the BBC provides teachers with thoroughly outlined language and drama activities. The resource includes a recorded narrative, story synopsis, an outline of individual and group activities to be completed by students, teacher guidance notes, and even suggestions for assessment. The audio provided directs students on what to do, including making still freeze frames and taking on the role of archaeologists.

Criteria:

User-friendly – The PDF document provides an in-depth overview of the activities, their purpose, possible assessment, and how teachers can support their students. The level of detail is amazing.

Relevant to Curriculum – The resource helps students ‘shape and perform dramatic action using narrative structures’ as per the Australian Curriculum. There is definite scope for making links to the Curriculum. The only downside, however, is the subject matter. This resource is clearly designed for students in the UK and therefore is not culturally relevant. That said, it could be used as a source of inspiration and can be tailored to perhaps reflect the role of Indigenous Australians in Australia’s history.

Engaging Material – The audio is a great way to ensure students pay attention and follow directions. The idea of acting as archaeologists and conducting excavations is also sure to appeal to many students.

Cost - Free!

The Verdict: Use it as an exemplar and update the subject matter to be relevant for Australian students.

- Resourcing (Drama).

Pencil 'n' Paper alert!

This feature article highlights the classic TV show ‘Art Attack’ and its host, Neil Buchanan. The author steps through 9 different reasons why they still love Neil and the show. Some of these reasons include Neil’s enthusiasm, the ‘try it yourself’ aspect of the program, and the big art projects that viewers got to see thanks to aerial shots.

Apart from facilitating a trip down memory lane, this article is a reminder of the enduring value of visual arts and the talented individuals who create and showcase art. In the Australian Curriculum, students ‘learn about the role of the artist, craftsperson and designer, their contribution to society, and the significance of the creative industries’. Using ‘Art Attack’ as a case study, students could begin to understand what an impact the show had on a generation of children around the world and how visual arts can engage, excite and inspire.

- Engaging Public Media (Visual Arts)

A Graduate School of Education alumna brings her family history into the dance studio as she teaches children with disabilities the art of movement and the rewards they can reap.

This article documents a special education teacher (Portia Abernathy), her students and her adaptive dance classes.

Abnerathy views dance as an important learning tool for children with disabilities, and speaks about watching young students learn to skip, jump and hop, amongst other things. Taught by special education teachers, physical therapists, professional dancers and professional musicians, the Adaptive Dance Program aims to facilitate students’ engagement with and exploration of movement and musicality. Classes for children with autism and Down syndrome are included.

Students learn how to follow directions, focus, balance, distinguish right from left and work with others, as well as developing their understanding of music and rhythm. Abernathy notes that children develop physically, cognitively and socially in these classes. Her statement below is quite powerful:

“We know that those foundational skills and the feelings of self-efficacy and self-esteem that come from doing something you love and feel like you’re good at are transferable to other settings, so success in one setting can lead to success in other settings,” she says. “In the case of adaptive dance, I think it is more about ensuring that all individuals have access to the same experiences as their typical peers, and this includes dance.”

When it comes to cognitive development, Abernathy mentions how she discovered that tying movement to memorising or learning an academic concept was an effective strategy. This is something I witnessed during the last prac, when Prep students were linking letters and sounds to hand actions (Jolly Phonics).

Abernathy also speaks about her strengths-based approach to special needs students; educators should focus on what students can do and then capitalise on those attributes to promote academic, social and emotional growth.

The article ends with this statement:

“They are excited to come to class,” Abernathy says. “They start waking up in the morning and saying, ‘Ballet.’”

I really enjoyed reading this article and found it quite inspiring. Again, when considering this article and the other articles I’ve reviewed, there are common themes. Through the Arts, students can feel safe and creative and have fun. They can grow in all domains of development. They can gain confidence and pride and feel good about themselves.

The added learning here is that the Arts, and therefore the Australian Curriculum, can truly be inclusive. I love the strengths-based approach utilised by the teacher – there is a crossover here with our Indigenous Education course last semester, which helped me realise the disastrous effects of deficit thinking.

- Engaging Public Media (Dance)

Two education experts offer up best practices for utilizing mobile technology.

This article covers the use of apps and mobile devices in the classroom and provides tips for teachers on how to implement them. Quoting Pearson Education, the article states that 72% of American elementary students and 66% of American middle school students want more mobile device usage in classrooms. The author goes on to note the findings of a research survey, which showed that 30% of general educators had received training on apps, but 87% wanted to have some sort of app training.

The first step for introducing apps into your pedagogy is identifying what kind of app you’d like to use. The article suggests troubleshooting and trying to find an app that will make your life easier, especially if it addresses something that is taking up too much time. Alternatively, teachers could ask their students what they would like to change. Several messaging, assessment and classroom organisation apps are named.

The second step involves finding an app and testing it out. A handy tip is to check out app reviews from fellow teachers (Common Sense Education and EdShelf are two sites suggested for this purpose). When testing, educators should think about how the app will be used and misused.

Finally, teachers have to ensure their chosen app(s) actually supports their teaching and the curriculum. It can’t be randomly used. The article also ends with a very important point: if using an app or setting a task that requires technology to be used at home, the teacher should be aware of their students’ access. The teacher featured in the article explains at the start of every school year, she gets her students to write down what devices they have, if they have access at home and what kind of devices they know how to use. This will ensure that no students are disadvantaged if they don’t have access or knowledge.

While the steps laid out in the article are very simple, they are also quite effective, especially for educators who may be apprehensive or unsure of how to incorporate apps in their classroom. I particularly liked how the article stressed that apps must be chosen carefully and not simply inserted to meet an ICT requirement (ICT is a general capability in the Australian Curriculum).

The idea of using apps in the classroom is also a very valid one, especially when considering the presence of Digital Technologies in the Curriculum. Through this subject, students are encouraged to ‘become innovative creators of digital solutions, effective users of digital systems and critical consumers of information conveyed by digital systems’.

Apps could be used to develop students’ confidence with and understanding of digital technologies, but also as a tool for critical analysis. Asking students to compare, contrast and evaluate apps would be a useful exercise, as they would have to decide on what criteria matters and how to objectively apply them. They would also have to think about the purpose(s) of the apps and how well the apps are meeting that purpose(s).

- Engaging Public Media (Digital Technologies)

Politicians and industry use buzzwords such as ‘creativity’, ‘collaboration’ and ‘imagination’. So why are we taking all the fun out of learning?

This Guardian article discusses the place of creativity and play in children’s learning. It starts by describing a classroom in which students participate in a drama exercise and how an often disruptive and erratic student becomes calmer and self-confident as he plays a role. The authors also highlight how buzzwords such as ‘creativity’, ‘imagination’ and ‘collaboration’ are commonly used when politicians speak about equipping young Australians for the 21st century. Despite this, it seems that the education system is designed to push creativity out of the curriculum and instead focus on literacy, numeracy and testing.

Understanding the needs of the future is imperative and indeed, the article mentions a study which showed that future workers will need to have increased creative and social skills to compete in an increasingly technology-driven world. Honing critical thinking, collaboration, problem-solving, communication and empathy in students is definitely possible – studies show that these skills can be fostered through fun, play and creativity in the classroom.

Educational drama allows students to take on the perspectives of others and develop their empathy and compassion. It also helps students understand how non-verbal communication such as facial expressions and body gestures can result in self-expression and be used to understand others.

Interestingly, the article highlights how drama is used to deeply engage students and how learning literacy has been hidden in drama strategies. In my post about designing technology, a similar idea was put forth, where students were learning science and technology ‘by stealth’. The commonality here is that subjects or topics that would otherwise potentially not be appealing to students are being packaged in different ways. This is an interesting pedagogical tactic, I think!

In terms of the Australian Curriculum, this article clearly argues for a balanced curriculum which allows students to benefit from a wide array of subjects and learning areas. Some of the benefits associated with the Arts were summarised in my first Journal Entry and bearing this in mind, it’s hard not to agree with the article’s position.

- Engaging Public Media (Drama)

#theatre #drama and dance #culture #stage #australian education

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