In the creative learning we use drama as a method of teaching. It is an alternative way of learning. This method, as it is clear from the name itself, borrows a lot of the drama art itself, and these may be used amateurishly or not in a drama lesson, but they are still very important and vital elements for the frame in which we as teachers are going to work. These elements should be included in a drama lesson and considered before planning one. The basic elements are the following:
Human Context: The basic source through which we derive our material for the creation of the imaginative frame is the human being itself. Man with his relationships, his opinions, his prejudices, and his everyday roles is giving us the source in order to choose and find on which imaginative context we are going to work. In drama we have to face “as if” situations that resemble reality. These situations include dilemmas, problems, questions that need an answer and a solution. The Human Context gives us the material to create the drama context.
Drama Context: From this human context which offers indefinite number of situations, we choose one context, one situation that fits the imaginative frame that we would like to work on. For example, a trip to the space where the humans are trying to convince an alien to return with them to the earth. The human context here is the situation where someone is trying to convince someone else to do something. The Imaginative context is the trip to the space.
Roles-Characters: Within this drama context there are characters that act. We choose the possible roles that are going to be involve in the action and we give them certain characteristics. In the above example we do not just have an alien but we have someone who is afraid, hesitating but still wants to meet humans. In this way we give them more concrete roles but we also leave the children space to add from themselves. What and how detailed information we give to the children for the characters depends on us and what we would like to achieve.
Tension: In the dramatic context we have chosen there must be a kind of tension, a problem that needs resolving, otherwise the interest will fade away quickly. As in every kind of drama activity (performance, film, improvisation etc), we need some kind of emotional or intellectual tension but not necessarily coming from a big disaster. The source of tension could be more internal such as an unexpected event, or a dilemma.
Focus: As soon as we have chosen the dramatic context and the tension, we need to find a focus on this tension. A specific question that we would like to investigate through this context.
Imaginative Place: In a drama session we have to choose a place that fits our situation and holds a symbolic meaning as well. We can change the settings within a drama lesson but we need to take care of the coherence. It is important that the students would not be confused and distracted by the place changes.
Time: A drama lesson takes place during a classroom hour. This is the real time but in drama context we are also concerned with the fictional time which can be more flexible. We can move through the past and the future with the same easiness that we would move in the present.. We also have to choose a time frame that fits the drama situation and place. There is flexibility but we have to pay attention not to loose the coherence.
Methexis (Participation): This is the part of drama that connects the art with the learning. While the participants are working in the fictional context, somewhere in their mind realise the real context as well, because they work as themselves and they bring themselves (which is very real) in the drama. This becomes more evident when the teacher stops the drama and reflects out of roles. Through this reflection, what they have been experiencing , becomes more conscious. Children as the audience in the performance live at the same time in the fictional and real world.
Language and Movement : The means of expression in drama is language and movement. We use them not only to express or describe our feelings, ideas and so on but also to make sense of the world around us. What makes these two means distinctive in drama is that the movements, the words, the expressions, always hold some kind of symbolic, powerful meaning. The choice of the ways of expression is more conscious and more powerful concerning the meanings and reminds of poetry. There is no need to overload the expression and speech or ask from the children to move all the time.
Symbols: Part of the drama language include symbols such as objects, movements, sounds, marks. It is necessary to have clear symbols in the sense that the implied meaning is given, even if the children are not consciously aware of that. But we do not need to have the perfectly designed symbols in order to have drama. Sometimes children can find implied meanings where we have not looked. For instance, in a drama lesson that concerns racism if we have a white journalist and a black employee to give a handshake, that could be a symbol of trust and hope.
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