Course project - Playlearn

These both will be brought into the introduction/preface (haven’t decided if it will be both or one), and also reiterated in the order of experience. I’m struggling at this very moment to know what to write and where. I know there are certain things I need to talk about, and go into detail on, but I’m unsure of how to do it. This is always my problem. The overwhelming feeling of having a lot of difficult work to do, since I am so far behind. It’s over a week after the mid-point presentations and I am still making the final piece. It makes me so scared. I think I will drop the preface and just include everything in the introduction. This is because I feel there is too much overlap, and I am not bound to the normal structure of a book.

I think the structure will be a (I started writing and then got carried away, so here are all my thoughts as they come):

Introduction, outlining the reasons for writing the book, which are, talking in first person, so it as if i am introducing myself to the teacher, and the second person, talking directly to the teacher: 

The intent on writing the book - 

wanting to provide a clear cut lesson plan for those teachers who are aware of the damage the schooling structure is having on their students; are anti-capitalist; want to improve their lessons, but are not sure of how to go about this and fear being told of (or even fired) by their school. 

If they will be as their reason for teaching isn’t making money, but to better education for their students.

Can be taught as part of English, History, Drama or Citizenship lessons,  You can do this without fear of being told off by the head teacher, as this is perfectly subtle for any of those topics. If you do run into trouble, simply say you carried it out under the need for ‘re-calibration of the enjoyment of learning’ ie - ‘the class is in dire need of physical activity’. Do not put blame on the students, like having difficulties with their engagement, as this will result in them being flagged up, potentially.

The methods spoken about in this book can be transferred to any other topic. A script need not be the basis, any text could be acted out. An author could be a character. An academic text could be pulled apart, theories and subjects could become entities with personalities.

Why this is based in the Haitian revolution - 

It is a prime example of history that isn’t talked about, since there wasn’t that much of a positive outcome to the revolution, since the west practically refused to recognise Haiti as a Republic, informally, made trade very difficult, and altogether contributed to Haiti becoming the poorest country in the world. On top of this, the close connection Vodou had to the revolution was immense, and also, not commonly known, as it should. The misconception of Vodou (or voodoo, the Louisiana branch) as a religion, also the bestialisation and image of ‘savagery’ that is portrayed by the west, contributes to the racist perceptions of black people and their culture. All of this is reason enough to dedicate a whole lesson to, and very much coincides with the purpose of the lesson as a whole, to teach critical thinking, and destroying the capitalist education ‘banking system’, half of the lesson plan.

Why the use of script - 

drama is the optimum method of learning because it includes all of the necessary parts that for teaching in an anti-capitalist manner. Those are: experience, collective learning, interaction, imagination, cognitive development, memory, communication, problem solving and responsibility. 

Those are drama in general, but for this script acting experience it includes much more. This will all become clear in the order of experience section. 

Experience is so important to marxist teaching and also understanding Vodou as part of the Haitian revolution, because the point is to have the students see that they can incorporate elements of the of the teachings (this will become clear in The Meaning) into their lives, and they already do. 

Understanding the script - 

The script does not exist to be performed, only read and rehearsed.

Performing defeats the object of trying to understand the characters inside and out, and discussion on how draw on personal experiences to think about how a character might act, after deciphering who they are.

The stage direction decrease in the second half of the play, to allow to push students (with your help) into thinking about a characters tone or action, once they have become familiar with them.

The play is kept short. This is to keep the focus on the purpose of the lesson, discovering the analogy/meaning of the script and experience as a whole.

Method Acting -

Invented by Lee Strasberg in ...

Section that helps get the students into the acting mindset, it becomes serious for them, rather than seeing it as not learning. Although the atmosphere must be kept playful at all times - further discussed a bit later.

Helps to draw on experience even more, as this was the main aspect of the discipline.

Critical thinking - 

Schools don’t teach it.

the ‘banking system’ operates on creating students that exist to be ‘filled up’ with knowledge buy the all-knowing authoritative figure, the narrating subject, the teacher.

The more students accept this dynamic, they adopt it as their world view and never thinking critically about. This is why there is time at the very beginning for students to voice all of their issues with the school system. 

Validation - this is very important. Destruction of self-respect is what capitalist society feeds on to create a disciplined labour force that succumbs to authority - why the school system is run in this way. You must validate students in anyway possible. Not overly praising where nothing has value, to a degree where a student self-esteem and self worth doesn’t tumble. Criticism in a society where you feel held does bash you to the point of feel helpless, but in our current society it does. 

Vulnerability - 

To destroy the relationship of the teacher as omnipotent scary being, the students must be able to relate to the teacher. 

Show it by opening up; taking part in all exercises; learning alongside the students, learning from them as much as they are from you.

They must feel your humanity.  

Creating an equal space.

The Meaning -

Should not be read beforehand, only with the student so there is a feeling of collective discovery and destroys the notion of ‘narrating subject’, as well as increasing vulnerability. 

It explains each aspect of the script and how it is an analogy for the Haitian revolution and the influence of Vodou.

Explains the experience and why it was conducted in such a way, to learn about the Haitian revolution, but also a much wider understanding of emancipation and consciousness. 

I read an article/essay, I must say, I did not read the entire thing, but nonetheless I gained some useful knowledge for when writing the introduction and/or preface to the book. This will ensure the reader knows why exactly the experience needs to be constructed in schools, however won’t undermine the intelligence of the reader, as for explaining the perils of the education in depth, as it is assumed that a teacher is only reading the book because they have sought out this method of teaching because of there already formed opinions that are in line with the books matters. Here is the link to the article:

http://www.nationaldrama.org.uk/journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/%C3%81sa-Helga-Ragnarsd%C3%B3ttir-and-Rannveig-Bj%C3%B6rk-%C3%9Eorkelsd%C3%B3ttir.pdf

I shall post the main points that I found useful, as I have done with all others.

Constructing an imaginary world allows students to add to their knowledge and helps them gain experience in navigating the world of reality. 

Drama can aid cognitive development as it builds on previous knowledge to create knowledge.

Students have to be interested and see the purpose of learning to solve tasks. In drama methods, students are active participants in their learning. - The main functions are problem solving, building on experience, stimulating, imaginary process and responsibilities.

Social constructivism, put forward in the 1970s, declared students interaction has great influence on learning. Drama focuses on communication and enables a flow of ideas. 

Relating to life experiences is very important.

Somers said drama helps students retain knowledge in their memory.

Students with learning difficulties can learn through their fellow students, as well as improve on their social skills (Cruz 1992)

Can be helpful for students who have difficulty sitting still ( Wolthes 2005)

I recently watched The Holy Mountain, unknowing of its benefits to my project. Those benefits would be symbolism. My second draft of the script is still very character based, of course, this is what I wanted it to be, the Vodou teachings are the entire meaning communicated through the characters. I think the research conducted came from a place of inspiration for the genius symbolism. However, in the context of my educational script reading and rehearsing experience, the intricate and abundant symbolism isn’t appropriate, because watching a piece of cinema is a visual and passive experience, whereas interacting with a script is imaginary. I know that imagery is still very much a part of the imaginary, but the when the focus is on character, to bring in hyper symbolism, what I would describe The Holy Mountain as, deflects from the concrete learning experience (the film is obvious extremely abstract). 

I also looked at Jodorowsky’s Panic theatre, as this seemed relevant. It was quite similar to Brecht’s, I think there was a lot of influence. Nudity, shock-factor and all things radical. However, similarly this didn’t this didn’t go anyway as for informing ways of altering my story.  Therefore I won’t be posting my finding, but they are safely secured in my noggin, I won’t applying of the research. It was interesting nonetheless, and I shall continue the research at a later date, to incorporate it into my IPS, as that is a surrealist video, and so it is wildly appropriate.

Funny that this is incorporated into my project. You know why ;)

I’ll just be describing the techniques I discovered, that were invented by Lee Strasberg. I think I shall be implementing them in a section at the beginning of my book, for the teacher to prepare the students for acting, loosening them up and drawing on their own experiences, which was a technique proposed in the Marxist teaching methods.

Relaxation - For tension to disappear and concentration to be captured. The actor must sit in a straight-backed armless chair and be comfortable, then they have to extend each part of their body, push it to its limits, then release the tensions. And then again. 

Affective Memory - For using own experiences to find an emotion resembling what they have to portray to the audience. Not digging up unpleasant trauma. Using sense memory helps recall affective memory by recollecting sounds, sights, tastes, smells and feelings. Madame Ouspenskaya technique - choosing and animal and mimicking its movement. This helps them think that they do not already resemble the character, but have to become the character.

Doing more research into plays, and the feelings that are wanted to insight, it seemed only necessary to look at Brecht, as he followed Marx’s theories, and created Epic theatre. 

He wanted the audience to think critically about the play, be separate form it, to feel alienated (I would image to teach about our world of alienation). 

Epic theatre works by breaking the 4th wall. There were many ways to do this. Other ways of alienating the audience includes; ensemble; representational props; placards; spass (fun in German), historification, tableaux and discordant music. I can’t be bothered to go into them as most of them are self explanatory, and also because in my research I realised that it wouldn’t be that useful after all.

I thought, since I am trying to transfer/teach/enlighten students to critical thinking, this could be done through the story, rather than the teaching of the story. I remember watching ‘The Never Ending Story’ and the cross over between the narrative in the book and the film story was really exciting to watch; a sort of specialness that only occurred in that film, that made the fantasy feel real. So, like everything else, I did some research. I looked into the film and the book. Again, I’ll talk about the most interesting things I found. 

The story in the book is that the Nothing is destroying Fantasia (Fantastica in the book). This ‘Nothing’ is symbolic of the loss of imagination in the real world. This is interesting because in my story, the symbol for the consciousness of the white supremacists that permeates the minds of the enslaved to never to allow them to be free, is also called a nothingness. What a coincidence. It made me feel quite connected already.

I looked into the symbolism in the film but I don’t feel it is that relevent, other than the nothing.

I know this is not what you want to see from an art student, and I’m ever so sorry. Not. I’m only sorry to myself, why can’t just draw pretty pictures, I really wish I could. 

I found an article written by a teacher, about the real life ways you can subvert the structure of teaching, to cultivate raised self esteem in the students as well as critical thinking, whilst still remaining within the syllabus. I took a ton of notes from this, but I will only share the most important, however this will still be a lot. The link to the article is here:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/29765917.pdf

Things teachers must deal with:

+ The negative feelings students have about being in school institutions + Feelings of invalidation that interfere with the ability to learn. + The painful associations students have with certain topics, such as racism.

The main techniques were taken from multiple examples:

I will just be sharing interesting things I’ve learnt for the proceeding posts, which will be implemented into the teachers notes section of the book. I went back to Darryl’s recommended reading of exerts.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1968)

+ The current education system sees teachers as all-knowing narrators, who ‘fill’ the empty un-intelligent students with their knowledge. The are of course memorising, not really learning. This is called a ‘banking system’

+ Students are filled with a lack of creativity because of this, individuals cannot be fully human without praxis or inquiry.

+ The more students accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they adopt the world view, and therefore never think critically of it. This is their reality.

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom (1994)

+ Teachers should learn just as much as students do, as to grow and be empowered by teaching, whilst creating an equal space. This destroys the narrative of all-knowing interrogators.

+ Teachers must practice being vulnerable in the class room.

Thoughts on Teaching and Learning (1952)

Now that I have a real, although complex and time consuming when I have non, idea, I have to go back to the beginning, and I feel like I’ve said this before, do the project like a normal person. I watched a youtube project-planning video, that I’ll insert here, that taught me how to plan a project of course. So, here I am, after the point at which I should have finished everything, started from scratch almost.

A script can’t be the only thing I produce. There must be more, if I intend it to be taught, well, used in a teaching environment, never acted out, I’ll have to work on what that is, and include lots of additional information. This was outlined in the mid-point presentation.

I realise I slightly messed up with this one as the presentation doesn't stand alone. Any how, here it is.

A group of 4 are cast away from their community, waking up to find themselves trapped in a bamboo cage in the middle of a tropical forest, kidnapped from their community. They never come into contact with their capturer or know anything of how they got there. They barely know each other, only acquainted, from the village they come form. 4 years pass, until eventually, they work out their differences and put their strengths together to come up with a plan for escape.