168

CHAPTER EIGHT

Arts-making
experiences in Drama
Acting is behaving truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
Sanford Meisner

Chapter Objectives
In this chapter, we explore the nature of drama and the types of drama-making
experiences that contribute to children’s belonging, being and becoming, by:
• introducing drama fundamentals (such as the elements of drama)
• outlining the Australian Curriculum expectations for Foundation onwards
• explaining the types of learning activities that can be part of the program in the
early years, with information about
– the educational value of the learning activity
– the educator’s role
– considerations for inclusive education
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– ideas for planning Drama experiences with children (Sparkers)

– important features of education in Drama (Things to remember).
The Arts curriculum is conceived in terms of arts-making and arts-responding.
While you will find arts-responding activities integrated in arts-making ones in
this chapter, there are several aspects of arts-responding that warrant a separate
chapter. See Chapter 12 for additional guidance about arts-responding in Drama.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 169

INTRODUCTION TO DRAMA
While ‘drama’ may conjure up thoughts of the school play or a recent outing to the theatre,
drama in school is a different beast. It is an educational undertaking designed for the benefit
of the participants rather than for the purposes of entertaining an audience. The scripted
play still has its place, but the real focus is on the drama that emerges from children’s
imaginations (Booth, 2005, p. 7).
For children, drama is an active, social and participatory way of learning. It is strongly

DRAMA
underpinned by storytelling and actively engages children in exploring characters, roles,
situations, feelings, causes and consequences, narrative structures, and social relationships.
Drama can be employed to good effect across the curriculum through all years of schooling.
Its value in teaching children the power of the spoken word and developing their language
literacy skills is well documented (Barrs, Barton & Booth, 2012; Ogura, 1991; Podlozny, 2000).
Children respond positively to the opportunity to be physically engaged, to self-organise, make
their own decisions and actively construct their own learning. When improvising in role with
others, they are collaboratively and co-operatively engaged in making meaning.
Children’s drama journey begins with their self-initiated dramatic play or ‘let’s pretend’
games. For early childhood educators, it is easy to support and then extend this natural
interest through a range of drama forms, processes and techniques such as role-playing,
puppetry, mime, readers’ theatre, play-building and drama games.
For children, being able to imaginatively tell their own stories is an appealing aspect
of art-making across Dance, Drama, Media Arts, Music and Visual Arts. In drama, the
opportunity to become someone else through role-playing, is a special dimension of the
storytelling experience. Role-playing in its many guises (dramatic play, improvisation,
Mantle of the Expert (MoE), Story Drama) enables children to experience and explore the
world by walking in someone else’s shoes or becoming someone or something different. In
the lived through experience of role-playing, children can safely explore different perspectives
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and a variety of situations. By being on the inside of a character, person or situation, children
find deeper understanding and empathy, and the learning is more profound.
Learning through drama may involve children in acting out stories that have been read to
them. They may be asked to consider what might happen next and improvise the following
scene. Alternatively they can study a photograph and create a frozen picture (tableau) to
replicate the scene. When tapped on the shoulder they can say what’s in their mind (mind
mapping) and then, using the photograph as a prompt, improvise what happens next.
They can be experts (event organisers, landscape designers) who have been commissioned
to meet a challenge (organise sports day, design a playground) and are required to assume
these roles to work through projects. In all these explorations, there is no expectation that
children are preparing to entertain an audience (although such events are part of the drama
experience too).

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 170 PART 2: EDUCATING THROUGH THE ARTS

DRAMA FUNDAMENTALS FOR THE EARLY YEARS

When planning drama experiences for children, some fundamental understandings about
the elements of drama, the Australian Curriculum expectations from the Foundation Year
onwards, and several reliable teaching techniques will help guide your decisions.

ELEMENTS OF DRAMA
The elements of drama as described in the Australian Curriculum include role, character,
relationships, situation, voice and movement, and focus. These elements represent the
dimensions of drama creation that can be varied independently of other elements to
change the nature of the drama. Therefore, they are the building blocks of drama-making.
Understanding these components helps develop children’s drama literacy and opens up
opportunities for children to participate in the world of drama in comprehensive and
satisfying ways.
• Role refers to the part being played—the truck driver, the princess, the frog. Roles
establish the dynamics of the relationships between the different characters.
• Character refers to the individual characteristics of the particular truck driver, princess
or frog. Characters have identities expressed in their personality, attitudes and values,
ways of walking, speaking and interacting. Characters are the active agents that bring the
story to life and drive the narrative forward.
• Relationships refers to the ways the characters interact with each other, the
environment and the situation. A drama revolves around relationships.
• Situation is the setting and story context: who is involved, where are they, why are they
there, what is happening, when is it happening, and what is at stake for the characters?
• Voice and movement are important dimensions that give characters their identities
in the first instance. The use of voice and movement also contribute to the shape of the
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drama. Varying the quality of the voice such as shouting or whispering, speaking quickly
or slowly, and speaking in a high-pitched or deep voice are ways of doing this. The same
applies to the non-verbal communications of gesture, posture, and facial expression.
Movement across space or in proximity to others contributes to the dramatic action. Two
characters huddling in the back corner with their heads together conveys a conspiratorial
relationship whereas a character in centre stage facing the audience with head up and
arms held wide conveys a commanding position.
• Focus refers to both the performer’s focus and their concentration on being the
character immersed in the drama, and the essential point or purpose of the unfolding
dramatic story.
• Tension is the force that gives the story its dynamism and holds an audience’s attention:
we want to know what happens next. Tension can be created through a mystery, tangled
relationships, impending doom, or a surprising change of events. Pacing, music and
staging effects such as dramatic lighting can contribute to creating tension.
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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 171

DRAMA CURRICULUM
The Drama curriculum from Foundation onwards builds on children’s previous drama
experiences. From the preschool year, emphasis is initially placed on children’s exploration
of the dramatic elements of role, situation and focus through their dramatic play and
improvisations. As children progress, process-drama is introduced and more attention is
given to children’s use of the elements of voice, movement and focus to develop characters;
and dramatic tension to explore stories and situations.

DRAMA
Besides participating in drama, children reflect on how they employ the elements of
drama to convey their ideas. They also learn about the world of drama and see how their own
activities are related. Their horizons are expanded through opportunities to review drama
from different historical times and cultural traditions. They observe how drama has been
created for different contexts and purposes.
As children move into drama activities where external challenges are given, there are
opportunities for them to show each other how they interpreted the challenge. As they
advance, they can practise presenting small drama performances to each other or an external
audience. They also learn the protocols of being an audience by sitting quietly, watching and
not interacting (unless invited) and clapping afterwards.
The craftsmanship of drama includes practice and rehearsals. When involved in drama
productions children should experience how practice and rehearsals are learning strategies
that contribute to developing the quality of their performance.

TEACHING TECHNIQUES
There are several techniques that are regularly used to develop children’s engagement in
their imaginative improvisations and role-playing.
• Hot seating: The child in character sits on the ‘hot seat’ and other children question the
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character about their background, behaviour, thoughts and feelings: ‘Since you’re a long-
distance truckie, what types of things do you deliver?’ ‘How long do you drive and where
do you sleep?’ This helps the child immerse themselves in their character. They speak
in the first person and ‘own’ the background, behaviour, thoughts and feelings of the
character they have created.
• Freeze frame: At a signal the children pause in the middle of their drama improvisation.
The teacher taps a child on the shoulder and asks the child a question that relates to the
drama action. ‘Why did you decide to help him?’ ‘What are your options now?’
• Mind mapping: Proceeds like freeze frame, but the questions relate to what’s on the
character’s mind or what they are feeling at this point in the drama improvisation. For
example, when pushing the bogged car the character might respond by saying ‘I am
feeling hot and bothered’.

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• Conscience alley: This is a useful technique when a dilemma is presented to the

character. Class members create the ‘alley’ with ‘angels’ on one side and ‘devils’ on the
other. As the character passes through the alley, the angels and devils on either side try
to persuade the character to their way of thinking. For example, the character faces the
dilemma of whether to hand in the ten-dollar note they have found. The devils offer
comments like, ‘Think of how you could use the money to buy that comic you want’.
The angels suggest, ‘You are a good person and you know what is right’.

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM
In drama, students:
• become aware of role and situation as they listen and respond as fictional characters
• explore voice and movement to create role
• learn about focus and identifying the main idea of the drama
• learn how their ideas can be expressed through role and story (Australian Curriculum,
www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/drama/curriculum/f-10?layout=1).
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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 173

DRAMATIC PLAY AS SOCIAL ROLE-PLAYING

Dramatic play is self-initiated ‘let’s pretend’ play between two or more children. In a fluid
and dynamic context, children develop roles, create their own storylines, improvise dialogue,
interact and also direct. The children decide and control the direction of the play.
When playing together, children are navigating the dynamics of the social world: they
are learning social protocols such as joining in, sharing and taking turns; they are exploring
the nature and dynamics of the relationship between the people/roles by often imitating

DRAMA
what they see around them; and they are learning how to negotiate the shared experience of
playing together and developing their play.
The nature of this dramatic play evolves from simple situational interactions (making
cups of tea, putting fuel in the car) to complex plots where planning and character becomes
more evident. An older child playing a nurse will, for example, usher the injured child into
the nurses’ bay, instruct the child to sit on the bed while they examine the wound, explain
that it needs to be cleaned and that it will sting a little when this is done. The nurse will put
a bandaid on the wound and explain that the wound must be kept clean.
Dramatic play extends through the early years of schooling into the primary school, but it
drifts more and more into the playground as other forms of drama take prominence in the
classroom. However, its important and ongoing role in young children’s education should
not be discounted.
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Figure 8.1 Children explore their social world through dramatic play.

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EDUCATIONAL VALUE
Through dramatic play children are processing their understanding of the world they experience.
They are making sense of it, practising social conventions, exercising knowledge and developing
a measure of control over the situations or events they have observed or participated in.
The play event provides a natural context for children to exercise a range of skills. These
include cognitive skills (sequencing, analysing, imagining), social skills (negotiating, taking
turns, communicating through gesture, posture, expression) and language skills (speaking,
listening, modulating the tone of the voice to express emotions, expressing themselves
spontaneously)
Play is especially beneficial for children learning English as an alternative language
(Konishi, 2007). Within the play experience, children learn new words from each other and
experience words in context where the action and visual cues suggest the meaning of words.
The play context enables children to participate and contribute verbally to the degree they
are able. A young child might only contribute the sounds of the train’s horn ‘toot toot’ or say
‘ta’ when handed their ticket, whereas more experienced language users will contribute more
(‘Here is your ticket’), but all can play together and sustain the story.

EDUCATOR’S ROLE
Dramatic play is educationally rich territory and needs to be encouraged through the
provisions made for it in early childhood settings. There should be ample resources, time and
space for young children to imaginatively and actively create and enact their stories.
Since dramatic play is initiated and directed by children, the educator’s role, beyond
providing resources and oversight to ensure safety, is to be an intelligent and responsive
observer. By adopting the ‘follow the learner’ mantra, you can unobtrusively facilitate
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in ways that extend and develop the play experience. Educators don’t join in the play
experience as such (unless invited) but afterwards can encourage children’s reflections and
extension of the play experience by inquiring ‘What do the princesses do all day?’ ‘When
does the king tour his kingdom to see what his subjects are doing?’
Observing that the children have been playing queens and kings for several days, you may
add some lengths of velvet cloth and ‘jewels’ to the dress-up box, or organise a session where
children can make crowns from light card and decorate them.
When it is time to read a story to children, you might select A Gift for the King: A Persian
Tale by Christopher Manson because it is relevant to children’s play interest. It retells a
folktale about King Artexerxes. This story provides an insight into Ancient Persia and the
role of a king as well as conveying a message about not taking the simple things in life for
granted. Exploring this story with the children will provide them with more material to
develop and process in their dramatic play.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 175

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Dramatic play provides a natural way for children of diverse backgrounds and abilities to
participate because it is a multidimensional experience with physical, social and language
dimensions enabling children to join in to a degree that suits them. Furthermore, dramatic
play is constructed by the children to suit themselves so it will be appropriate to what they
are interested in and can manage.
For children who are not very experienced at playing with others, having a defined play

DRAMA
area such as a rug with play resources on it can help keep them in proximity to others while
they play independently. Leaving children to play together and not interacting with them
yourself increases the chances of children interacting with each other (Gould & Sullivan,
1999). Modelling protocols for joining in gives children strategies for doing this. Strategies
to encourage children with attention deficits to stay and play may include playing a favourite
piece of music and suggesting that children stay in the play zone for the duration.
For visually impaired children, give particular attention to ensuring that the play area has
lots of different shaped things (hoops, blocks, balls), with different functions (saucepans,
bowls, packets, screwtop jars), different textures (hair brush, pot scourer, satin bags), and
things made of different materials (wood, plastic, fabric). Include items that make sounds
(tambourine, dried peas in lidded tins, balls with bells inside) and items that have smells
(containers with perforated lids that contain cloves or cinnamon sticks).
If a less-able child is always assigned subordinate roles (the baby, the patient) it is
appropriate to intervene and gently steer children away from consistently making these
choices (Mayesky, 2014, p. 345).

RESOURCES
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Children’s dramatic play is spontaneous and self-directed by nature, so resources should be

on hand and accessible to children. Make sure the materials are safe for them. For example,
supply plastic cups and empty seed packets.

Dramatic play areas

While children’s dramatic play will evolve in its own space, one option is to set up an area
or room with child-sized furniture, dress-up clothing (shirts, apron, waistcoat, skirts)
and accessories (hats, shoes, handbags, umbrella), tools of the trade (stethoscope, pram,
saucepans, gardening trowel, broom, steering wheel) and a variety of boxes, hoops, mats,
balls and cardboard tubes. An alternative to having a dedicated play area is a series of tubs
with items sorted into general categories such as clothing or accessories. Placing these on
low shelves, and having written labels and pictures of the contents on the side, makes the
items accessible to children and also encourages them to put items away.

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Play boxes
Specific play boxes extend dramatic play for older children (Bouza Kosta, 2015). These are
play resources organised according to themes and stored in tubs so they can be used for
more directed role-playing in the lower primary classroom. The resources could include:
• A gardener’s box: trowel, gardening gloves, empty seed packets, empty and washed
fertiliser tubs, buckets, watering can.
• A medical centre’s box: stethoscope, plastic syringe, cotton wool, bandaids, bandages,
splints, latex gloves, first-aid kit.
• A scientist’s box: microscope, magnifying glass, tweezers, safety glasses, chemistry lab set,
beakers, funnel, measuring spoons, white coat.

SPARKERS
• Add new items to the dramatic play area from time to time. Bring these to the
children’s attention and speculate about their possibilities. The sparkly length of cloth
might be the night sky, a queen’s veil, the shimmering water, the window curtain, a
garden bed with dew drops over it.
• Include lots of generic items like large boxes, blocks and cardboard tubes that can be
imaginatively turned into anything. A box can be a car, rocket, ship, house, cave, or stove.
• Stimulate children’s play by locating stories to read aloud that relate to their dramatic
play preoccupations. For example, when children are playing space travel games, read
them Astronaut Handbook by Meghan McCarthy.
• Support dramatic play by organising sessions for children to create their own props
such as crowns, necklaces, swords, breastplates, gauntlets, robots, spacesuits.

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT DRAMATIC PLAY

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• Dramatic play is child-initiated and directed.

• Dramatic play is when children play with others in ‘let’s pretend’ types of play.
• Through dramatic play children are processing their understanding of the world they
experience.
• The social dynamics of playing together and various roles in society are simultaneously
explored and learned through dramatic play.
• Dramatic play provides a child-appropriate context for language development.
• Dramatic play facilitates inclusive education because it evolves around the
participants’ interests and its multidimensional nature allows for different points of
entry and participation.
• Make generous provisions for independent, imaginative dramatic play in terms of play
items, time and space.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 177

PUPPETRY
Puppetry is a diverse and widespread theatrical form of storytelling dating back more than
3000 years. For children, puppetry is a natural extension of their dramatic play. It offers an
enticing and enchanting way to participate in the world of storytelling because, as a drama
form, it brings visual and kinaesthetic dimensions—and a little magic—to the process. Puppets
come in many forms and can be easily made by children from simple or recycled materials.
By pulling on a sock puppet, a child steps into the dramatic space. As the puppet master,

DRAMA
they can interact with the puppet directly or manipulate the puppet on the stage of a
puppet theatre. The child is the one who brings the puppet to life and who determines its
personality, voice, role, behaviour and action. In this way, the child has the opportunity to
‘try on’ different characters, safely explore situations or express feelings, doubts and fears
because it is not ‘me’ who is doing this, but the puppet.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE
Puppetry is an appealing way for young children to be storytellers. When they re-enact
stories they have heard and/or create their own stories, they are practising their language and
communication skills while developing an understanding of narrative structure.
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Figure 8.2 Shadow puppets are easily made.

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 178 PART 2: EDUCATING THROUGH THE ARTS

Figure 8.3 A simple screen with light projection from behind introduces the magic and science of
telling stories using shadow puppetry.

This underpins oral communication and written work (Martinez, 1993). Children also develop
their drama literacy as they explore concepts like timing and space to create dramatic tension.
The way the puppet functions as a mediating agent, enabling a child to speak through
the puppet and thus create some emotional distance, is an important characteristic of this
drama form. (This is the reason why puppets are used in counselling and therapy contexts.)
A puppet’s mediating role can help a shy child talk or interact with others.
When children engage in puppet play with other children and enact social interactions,
their social skills are being developed. Educators can also co-opt puppets for role-playing
where various social and behavioural issues are explored with children in a deliberate way.
By exploring these issues through the characters of puppets the topic is less confronting for
children (and adults) and the lessons can be learned without loss of face.
The range of puppets that can be easily created by young children (and adults) is
extensive. The process of making a puppet invites children’s creative invention as they decide
Copyright © 2017. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

on its appearance and character. Constructing and manipulating puppets exercises children’s
fine motor skills.

EDUCATOR’S ROLE
You can use puppets yourself as one of their pedagogical tools when, for example, you are
reading a story to children. A puppet can act out the actions of the story or react to the
unfolding narrative (gasp). A curious puppet can ask questions that children might be shy
about asking: ‘Are there animals in this story?’ ‘Will it be scary?’ A puppet can help children
navigate the structure of a story or speculate about its development by asking children
questions: ‘Who are the characters in this story?’ ‘Where does the story begin?’ ‘What do
you think happened when the third goat trip-trotted across the bridge?’ (Richards, 2007).
A puppet can also read the story to children. The special magic of puppets means that

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 179

children who may be restless during a book reading by the educator, will be enthralled when
the puppet tells the story instead (Servizzi, 2009).
When using puppets as a pedagogical tool, you need to ensure that they interact with
children. When you do this, children’s perceptions of them as characters, interlocutors and
participants in the storytelling process are strengthened. With this guidance children learn
how to use puppets in their own dramatic play in productive and rewarding ways.
Importantly, treat puppets respectfully and confine the use of puppets to the puppetry
experience where they come alive and participate in story making and telling activities, or

DRAMA
act as your ‘assistant’. Rather than tossing them in the crate with the other soft toys, keep
them separate. They may have shelf where they ‘sleep’ until you or a child wishes to ‘wake
them up’. Doing this maintains the puppet’s special powers as a medium through which you
and children engage and communicate.
From children’s natural and self-directed puppet play you can begin to develop
children’s performance skills such as encouraging them to explore the puppet’s animation
potential in front of a mirror: snuggling into the child’s neck, covering its eyes, laughing
uproariously, being bashful, quizzical, or thoughtful. When children are invested in the
puppet as a character they will be happy to explore the nature of its voice (squeaky, gruff,
throaty) and its expressive range (whispering, roaring, hesitant). These experiences
provide valuable opportunities for you to encourage children’s overall voice development
and confidence.
Planned puppet performances can be introduced into the program from about Year One
when children are developing a stronger sense of dramatic structure, story and character.
A puppet theatre production involving several characters brings together a broad range
of drama roles and skills such as script writing, directing, acting, stage construction and
costume design. It also provides a context for the exercise of performance skills and
techniques using voice, character development, stage dynamics and tension to create a
theatrical experience. As a distinctive and defined event, a puppet production focuses
Copyright © 2017. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

children’s attention on developing these skills and understandings. Children can extend the
theatrical experience by making tickets to the performance, numbering chairs and ushering
audience members to their seats.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
Children respond well to puppets and in ways that are different to how they respond to
adults—even when the puppet is clearly on the adult’s hand and the adult is doing the
talking. Children naturally and readily suspend disbelief and enter the dramatic space where
the puppet is someone they interact with. It is thought that the appeal of puppets, especially
for children who find the world of social interactions overwhelming, is that the puppets are
visually uncomplicated. Children can focus on essential things, such as the mouth moving
(Servizzi, 2008).
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Using puppets is an effective way of teaching social behaviours such as playing together,
being kind, being helpful and empathising with others. For example, organisations such
as Sunshine Butterflies (Gold Coast in Queensland) and Kids on the Block use puppetry
to raise awareness of disability and spread the inclusive education message. Ensuring your
collection of puppets represents a diversity of people and including ones that use mobility
equipment such as wheelchairs is one way to promote an inclusive culture (Salmon &
Sainato, 2005).
When storytelling with a puppet, make sure that all children can hear. Have vision-
impaired children close to you so the puppet can touch them when it addresses the child.
Sock and stick puppets and puppets on a string can be used by children without fine
motor control. Adding bells to the puppet provides bio-feedback as they jingle with the
movement.

RESOURCES
Puppets are easy to make and the resources required for puppetry are simple and
inexpensive.

Puppet types
There are many different puppet types that can be used by the teacher and young children
alike such as glove (or hand) puppets, sock puppets, finger puppets, shadow puppets, paper
bag puppets, rod puppets, marionettes, and stick or tube puppets. Hand puppets and
marionettes can be purchased from many childhood suppliers but all puppets can be easily
made in the classroom.
Anything that can be slipped onto the child’s hand such as socks, mittens, oven mitts,
and paper bags provides the basis for a hand puppet. The addition of eyes (buttons, stick-
on googly eyes, hand-drawn dots or round stickers) creates an instant transformation.
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Additional features such as mouth, whiskers, beard, or clothing can be added as desired
using wool thread, fabric strips, cotton wool, paper shapes, paint or marker.
Finger puppets usually slipped over two fingers on small children can be made in felt or
from cardboard tubes. Stick puppets are made from wooden spoons and rulers, paint-mixing
paddles or the inner tube from paper towel. A face painted on a wooden spoon and a fabric
sheath tied over the handle creates an instant puppet. Alternatively, characters can be created
on paper, cut out and laminated for firmness if you wish, then stuck on the end of a stick.
The different types of puppets offer different degrees of animation. A sock puppet allows
the mouth to be manipulated and a traditional glove puppet has two hands for clapping and
picking up objects. Figures on sticks and stick puppets are generally limited to jiggling up
and down as they move around—but are good choices for the small hands and early motor
coordination of younger children.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 181

As part of your teaching resources, as well as resources for children, build a collection
of glove puppets that represents a generic range of different people and animals. When
purchasing puppets consider the degree to which they can be animated, or the range of
possibilities they present, as some can’t be manipulated as well as others. Generally avoid
choosing puppets that are specific characters from popular children’s shows and literature as
these can constrain children’s imaginative invention. (It is still appropriate to use particular
character puppets from stories if you are reading that story to children.)
When selecting people puppets consider the nature of the broader community and

DRAMA
build a collection that represents the genders, ethnic diversity, a range of ages, a variety of
jobs, and a range of physical characteristics such as hair type (black and curly, red and long
or blonde and short). Include puppets that use mobility equipment such as wheelchairs.
Animal puppets should be ones that children can relate to, such as pets, farm animals and
indigenous animals like kangaroos, possums and wombats. Dinosaurs and sharks also hold
fascination for young children.

Puppet theatre
While puppets can be used individually or as integral parts of children’s dramatic play, a
puppet performance on a stage is also something to be considered. It creates a sense of
occasion, establishes a relationship with an audience and creates a little magic. A simple
puppet stage can be readily purchased, or made with plywood flats that fold up for easy
storage. Alternatively a stage can be improvised by turning a table on its side, suspending
a curtain on a rod between two chairs, or cutting a window in a large appliance’s cardboard
packing box.
For children, not being visible to the audience helps reduce inhibitions about performing
in front of others. At the same time, a staged puppet performance does present a particular
challenge for children, as they need to project the character through the actions of the
puppet and by the way they voice the character. They must also be able to project their voice
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so they can be heard. These are drama skills and educators, with reference to a number of
excellent puppetry resources, can work with children to develop them. The flow-on benefits
are seen in children’s ability to read aloud with expression and to perform confidently in
front of others.

continued
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SPARKERS
• Children bring their puppet to a book reading so they can speak and respond to the
story through the puppet. You prompt responses by asking the puppet what it feels and
thinks.
• Children use the puppets to perform and retell a story you have explored with them.
• Children read to their puppet.
• Children in pairs read a storybook and act out the characters as they read.
• The class studies a story genre such as fairy tales or legends and then children create
one themselves. For their storytelling, they need to design and use their puppets.
• Create a shadow puppet performance with the aid of an overhead projector. Cut out
the shapes of characters and props in black paper. Attach a piece of florist wire to
each so it can be manipulated on the projector’s plate and the image projected onto
the wall.
• Learn about the Wayang Kulit (Indonesian shadow puppet tradition), and, based on this
tradition, create your own shadow puppet plays.
• Suggest scenarios as a basis for developing puppet plays:
– Toys left outside on a cold and wet night. What do they do?
– Australian animals meet at a waterhole and a lost sheep joins them.
– Teach a crocodile to brush their teeth.
• Sing action songs such as Itsy Bitsy Spider while using puppets for the actions.
• Re-enact any of Aesop’s Fables using puppets as the main characters.

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT PUPPETRY

• The educator can use the puppet as a teaching tool; and children can use puppets to
create drama education experiences that progress their learning.
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• With puppets, children readily suspend disbelief and enter the dramatic space. They
will interact with puppets in ways that are different to the ways they interact with
adults.
• A range of social situations can be explored through puppetry. Educators and children
alike find this less confronting than speaking directly about these matters.
• The uncomplicated nature of puppets makes them a good learning tool for children
who are overwhelmed or puzzled by the demands and protocols of social interactions.
• Puppets are good mediating objects for shy children.
• Book reading sessions can be enhanced and extended through puppet play.
• Puppetry provides an excellent medium for developing children’s understanding of
narrative and drama conventions as well as the development of their expressive voices.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 183

PROCESS-DRAMA
Process-drama, which can be introduced in Foundation and Year One, involves children
being immersed in a dramatic context and improvising in an unscripted and unfolding
experience. The goal of process-drama is for children to develop understandings about the
real world through their participation in an invented world. While having much in common
with dramatic play, process-drama differs in that it is directed by the educator and involves
presenting children with a problem to be solved, a challenge to be undertaken, a question

DRAMA
to be resolved or a situation to be explored: ‘The heavy rain has turned the road to mud and
now a car is bogged. Inside the car are the driver and two children who have their school
bags with them. What happens next?’
Within the safety and possibilities of the drama context, children are guided to consider
the implications of the scenario before they assume roles and improvise to explore different
perspectives, possibilities, causes and consequences. In process drama children are not
performing a play. Instead, they are inhabiting the world as different people or personae—as
an archaeologist, an explorer, a geologist, a father, a king, a storybook character—for the
purpose of exploring situations and perspectives. In some schools, process-drama has been
adopted as the primary way of teaching.
A process-drama experience may begin by considering a photograph, painting, newspaper
clipping, poem, song, story or scenario. (This stage is often called the ‘pre-text’.) For
example, children study the photograph of the bogged car with the two children with their
schoolbags in the back seat and are asked to describe what they see in the photograph. They
also speculate about what is happening and how the situation could unfold. Next, in small
groups, they recreate the scene in the photograph as a frozen picture or tableau (a drama
convention). At the teacher’s signal, each frozen picture comes to life and the children
improvise their character’s dilemma:
Driver: ‘I haven’t got a shovel to dig us out’.
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Child 1: ‘I have an important test this morning’.

Child 2: ‘I’ve got the football which my friends and I were going to play with before school’.
The teacher prompts the groups to explore the options for solving their dilemma and
getting help. This may involve writing a note, making a telephone call or passing on a
message. In this way, the drama evolves.
While promoting improvisations, a range of dramatic strategies can be introduced by
the educator to broaden children’s experience and creative application of the conventions
of drama (Bowell, & Heap, 2013). For example, children explore the type of posture
that suits the exasperated father. They discover that when Child 2 jumps to their feet
announcing, ‘I’ll go and get help’, the action reinforces the sense of purpose that their
words convey.

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 184 PART 2: EDUCATING THROUGH THE ARTS

Figure 8.4 Children devise gestures and postures for a drama exploration of bullying.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE
Process-drama is a child-centred drama method focused on the personal growth of the child
rather than the requirements of a theatrical production. The space of the drama provides
a safe way for children to imaginatively explore situations, relationships and problems.
They contemplate dilemmas, investigate the dimensions of different scenarios, find
solutions, explore different perspectives and enlarge their understanding of many aspects
of the curriculum—and of living in the world. Since there is no script, children have agency
in the unfolding trajectory of the drama and this helps build self-efficacy and confidence.
The participatory and active way of learning makes learning more engaging, more
memorable and more meaningful. As the educational theorist, Jerome Bruner (1966) has
suggested, integrating children’s feelings, values and imagination into the learning experience
personalises knowledge and this strengthens learning. When children situate themselves
within the experience, it has an immediacy that makes a direct connection to real-life.
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EDUCATOR’S ROLE
Educators establish the context for the drama and focus children’s participation in
purposeful ways. Your responsibility relates to creating the drama ‘envelope’: the type of
tasks or requirements that will facilitate children’s immersion, active engagement, reflection
and learning (Bowell, & Heap, 2013).
With a clear sense of educational purpose, whether this is a curriculum topic, social
situation or problem solving exercise, you maintain the purposeful progression of the
drama. Rather than directly controlling or directing children’s responses you focus on the
context or the prompts. The children are creating their own learning within the drama
envelope and therefore your role is to ensure that all children are actively involved in the
drama and that no child is routinely relegated to minor or subordinate roles.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 185

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT PROCESS-DRAMA

• The function of process-drama is to create learning experiences for the participants.
• Process-drama is a form of investigation. In the imagined world of the drama children
can ‘practise life’. They can safely explore relationships, scenarios and situations and
transfer their new understandings to the real world.
• Children are well disposed to process-drama through their own innate inclinations to
explore the world through dramatic play.
• Learning is heightened when contextualised. The world created within the dramatic

DRAMA
space provides that context.
• In process-drama, children are personally invested and actively ‘present’ in the
imagined world that has been created. The sense of ownership and commitment this
involves leads to richer learning.
• Process-drama can incorporate reading, research, writing, photography, creating
graphic representations, interviewing and many more activities that are woven into the
reality of the drama.

PROCESS-DRAMA: MANTLE OF THE EXPERT

Mantle of the Expert (MoE) is a form of process-drama developed by the legendary drama
educator Dorothy Heathcote (1926–2011) and Gavin Bolton. Mantle of the Expert conceives
of drama as inquiry-focused learning within the dramatic space. In MoE, children are
positioned as experts who have a problem to address. A MoE experience usually begins
with a commission for the experts (students). The educator also plays a role in the MoE
drama experience. In this role, they commission the experts: ‘Hello everyone. Thank you for
meeting with me today. My name is Ian Block and I am an architect. I am designing a new
primary school building and I am looking for a landscape design firm to design the school
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grounds. I was told there was a good landscape design team in this office, so I wondered if
you’d be interested in this commission.’
The children are now the landscape design experts and, as experts, are empowered to
assume roles of responsibility, explore the topic from a number of perspectives, share their
knowledge collegially, offer advice and make decisions. The role adopted by the educator
needs to be someone who is seeking advice from the experts or is part of the commissioning
process. This advice-seeking needs to be convincing. Part of the preparation for the
experience includes having various props and resources in boxes at the ready. These may
be stationery, drawing boards, reference books, cameras, posters of plants and other items
required to set up the landscape designers’ office.

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The landscape design team members will organise the office space themselves. As the
project progresses, some team members will run focus groups to find out what children
want in their school playground and consider the needs of children living with disabilities.
Others will investigate the topography and alignment to the sun to inform decisions
about shade and placement of features. The team will develop a plan to scale and devise
the symbols for their plan to represent trees, walls, gravel, and grass. The team will
consider water usage and investigate ways of harnessing water on the site. They invite
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Figure 8.5 In MoE, children assume roles in an inquiry-focused drama.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 187

a horticulturist to advise them about plants. They create a mood board (or perhaps a
Pinterest page) of inspirational landscape design and outdoor play features, which they
discuss as a group to establish their priorities. They create three-dimensional models of
aspects of the design. The design (plan, photographs and models) is presented to parents
and children for their response.
As you can see, each aspect of this landscape design project presents learning and
teaching demands—such as the ‘architect’ teaching the landscape designers how an architect
goes about drawing the design to scale. The maths learning involved in measuring areas and

DRAMA
scaling these to the plan is clearly evident in this example. It is important to appreciate how
the project functions as a vehicle for rich and active learning across the curriculum, and to
plan ways of making the most of the learning and teaching opportunities the project offers.
Mantle of the Expert can be used in real world situations too. In a Victorian junior
primary school, children contributed to the design of a new open teaching space being
added to the school. They had input from architects, colour consultants and furniture
designers. They reviewed and tested various chair designs, developed work flow charts,
planned workspaces, selected colours and generally played a genuine and important
role in the development of the centre. This school was in a low socio-economic area and
academic results had been poor. However, the degree of children’s investment in this project
led to overall improvements in their attendance, learning performance, behaviour and
engagement.

SPARKERS
• The Polar Ice team’s tender to mount an expedition to Antarctic has been successful
and now the team needs to prepare for the trip.
• A TV company has been commissioned by the ABC to film a documentary on Aboriginal
rock art.
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• A team of horticulturists has been brought in to design the school vegetable garden.
• The efforts to raise funds for an archaeological dig in Egypt have been successful and
now it is time to prepare for the expedition.
• The Institute for the Blind would like a garden to be created that can be enjoyed by
visually impaired people.
• The government is trying to decide whether to fill in a wetland and build some
much-needed housing. They need your scientific expertise to advise them about the
consequences of creating these two projects.

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THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT MOE

• Mantle of the Expert is a well-developed process. It has been adopted in a number
of schools and can be used in a variety of ways such as one-off sessions, extended
projects lasting a school term, and school-wide projects.
• The commissions you create should draw on children’s expertise from their daily
experiences. They know about games, food, the difference between kind and unkind
people, right and wrong, good behaviour and poor behaviour, families, festivals and
celebrations, weather, gardens, bush, animals, dangerous animals, transport, shopping,
museums, doctors, dentists, bushfires, and much more. By working from these areas of
strength children are well-positioned to perform their expertise in the MoE experience.
• The project should provide opportunities for children to assign roles and actively
engage with the curriculum content in meaningful ways.
• The teacher is in role, but is not an expert in the area that the children are experts. The
role should be chosen so it allows the teacher to manage the evolution of the drama
and the educational aspects of the experience.
• The teacher is in role and engages with the experts accordingly.
• The classroom environment can be reorganised to represent the context.
• Consider involving children in a MoE project that actually contributes to a real project.
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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 189

PROCESS-DRAMA: TEACHER-IN-ROLE (TIR)

Paintings, children’s imaginative storybooks, stories from history and recent excursions
and activities can be enticing provocations for improvisations that involve the teacher
as a participant in the drama. The Teacher-in-Role form of Process-Drama provides a
unique way of approaching the teaching process. A simple and adaptable strategy is to
cast yourself in the role of a TV talk show host and children in the role of characters from
storybooks or history or recent events they have experienced, such as a visit to the zoo

DRAMA
(Flynn, 2012). As the talk show host, you interview the characters as demonstrated in
the excellent video based on the characters of a book called The Polar Bear Son, an Inuit
story retold by Lydia Dabcovich (https://vimeo.com/46644630). Teacher-in-Role offers
an engaging way for children to bring their learning to life and to revisit experiences to
consolidate learning.
Besides character interviews, TiR can be conducted in a range of scenarios. Your
involvement enables you to keep the drama going and manage children’s participation.
You can do this by the questions you pose, by challenging a decision, by commenting on
behaviour, or expressing expectations, and all while in-role. You can also draw children in
and manage distracted behaviour: ‘Hey Mr Zookeeper, two of your kangaroos (children)
have escaped. They are over there eating the grass. Do you want some help rounding
them up?’
When acting in-role, you can model expectations about using voice, gesture, posture and
language to develop the character’s personality. At the same time, you can weave guidance
into the dramatic context: ‘Well Mister, you say you are grumpy but I don’t think that’s true.
When my daddy is grumpy he humphs and mutters like this …, so I think you are a sweet
old man who’s not really grumpy at all.’
Use a shake of the jingle bells or a phrase (‘harry cazoo/bazoo bazaar/one, two, three/
dramaar’) to signal the drama experience has begun and that everyone is in the drama space.
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Do likewise to exit at the end. For children, this clarifies boundaries, roles and expectations.
Similarly, children need to know when you are in role and that they interact with you as the
character (which is different to the way they would interact with you as the teacher). This
can be achieved by donning an item of clothing (coat, scarf, hat), or picking up an item such
as a basket that identifies your character. Should you need to step out of role, these items of
costume or props must be set aside.
Importantly, when the drama has concluded a reflection and review session should be
held to invite children to consider what they have learned about the subject or situation and
to explore the ways that the drama was convincingly created.

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SPARKERS
• Provocations for TiR explorations can be paintings that have a strong narrative or
historical content. A little research will give you the background information required
to shape your exploration of these paintings with children in a meaningful way. Of
course, these references can be provocations for other arts activities too. Examples
include:
– Tom Roberts – Shearing the Rams
– Tom Roberts – Coming South
– Tom Roberts – Bailed Up
– E. Phillips Fox – Landing at Botany Bay
– Norman Rockwell – Freedom from Want
– Jacques-Louis David – Oath of the Horatii
– Théodore Géricault – The Raft of the Medusa.
• A number of Aboriginal Dreamtime stories and children’s books by Indigenous
authors are provocations to explore the natural world and human’s connection to the
environment. Examples include:
– My Home Broome by Tamzyne and Bronwyn Houston (suitable for ages 6+)
– Dingo Tree by Gladys Milroy and Jim Milroy (suitable for ages 6+)
– How the Birds Got Their Colours by Pamela Lofts and Mary Albert (suitable for ages 4–7)
– Kakadu Calling by Jane Christophersen (suitable for ages 5–9)
• Children’s books about the natural world (science) include:
– Bright Sky Starry City by Uma Krishnaswami and illustrated by Aimée Sicuro
(suitable for ages 4–7)
– Don’t Let a Spoonbill in the Kitchen by Narelle Oliver (suitable for ages 4–7)
– Fox and Fine Feathers by Narelle Oliver (suitable for ages 6–7)
– Home by Narelle Oliver (suitable for ages 6–7)
– Leaf Litter, Exploring the Mysteries of a Hidden World by award-winning Australian
author and illustrator, Rachel Tonkin (suitable for ages 6+)
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– Circle by award-winning Australian author and illustrator, Jeannie Baker (suitable

for ages 6+)
– Sand Swimmers by award-winning Australian author and illustrator, Narelle Oliver
(suitable for ages 7–9).
• Children’s books about history include:
– To the Goldfields by award-winning Australian author and illustrator, Rachel Tonkin
(suitable for ages 6+)
– Papunya School Book of Country and History by the award-winning staff and students
of Papunya School with Nadia Wheatley and Ken Searle (suitable for ages 8+)

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– Meet… Ned Kelly by Janeen Brian and Matt Adams (suitable for ages 5+)
– Meet… Nancy Bird Walton by Grace Atwood and Harry Slaghekke (suitable for ages 4–8)
– Meet… Banjo Patterson by Kristin Weidenbach and James Gulliver Hancock (suitable
for ages 3–5)
– Meet… Douglas Mawson by Mike Dumbleton and Snip Green (suitable for ages 5–8)
– Tom the Outback Mailman by award-winning authors Kristin Weidenbach and
Timothy Ide. (suitable for ages 5–9).

DRAMA
THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT TIR
• Teacher-in-Role lends itself to exploring children’s stories and ideas, dilemmas,
conflicts, attitudes, behaviours, feelings and events contained within them.
• While the role you adopt needs to enable you to direct and teach along the way, it
shouldn’t always be an authority figure. You can be the nosey neighbour, the bystander,
the newspaper reporter, the TV camera-person or similar character who is present,
observant, and happy to ask questions or share their views and opinions.
• Use an item of costume (hat, shawl, jacket) to signal your entry into the role. Remove
the item when you return to your teacher role. For children, this clarifies boundaries,
roles and expectations.
• Use a shake of the jingle bells or a phrase (‘harry cazoo/bazoo bazaar/one, two, three/
dramaar’) to signal the drama experience has begun and that everyone is in the drama
space. Do likewise to exit at the end. For children, this clarifies boundaries, roles and
expectations.
• Teacher-in-Role lends itself to exploring historical events ‘on the ground’. For example, you
may be the cabin boy on a sailing ship transporting convicts to Australia and the children
are convicts, officers and sailors. Appreciating that different personal stories exist within a
grand historical narrative is an important perspective for children to develop.
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STORY DRAMA
Story Drama is an approach to improvisation and role-playing that uses literature as its
inspiration. It was developed by David Booth. While acting out stories is a well-established
drama process that should be regularly employed with children, Story Drama introduces a
variation that takes the drama experience in a different direction.
The expressed intention of Story Drama is to move beyond the actual text. The shape and
dimension of the story (the issues, characters, situation, moral dilemma or spirit of the
story) provide the concrete reference point for dramatic exploration. This exploration might
involve imagining what happened before the events in the story (that is, the back-story or
prequel we know from movies), what happens next or where the character is in ten years’
time. Exploration of themes such as generosity, courage, and honesty can be set in motion
by excellent stories such as The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken,
which offers inspiration for exploring the theme of generosity.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE
In these drama explorations, children are improvising and role-playing. When doing this
they are drawing on their own experiences (their own stories) in order to explore and make
sense of the fictional story. As the drama experience progresses children are generating
new understandings by weaving the two narratives together (Booth, 2005, p. 13). They are
actively engaged in meaning-making. When children are visible and active in their learning
processes, when they ‘become their own teachers’ (Hattie, 2009, p. 22), the quality of their
learning is richer and the insights more profound.

EDUCATOR’S ROLE
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Your role is to choose and present a story that is ripe with possibilities. A story may
be chosen because the characters and context are vividly described, or the dilemma is
distinctive, or the underlying theme emerges clearly.
Having chosen a good story, such as one of those suggested below, your next role is
to lead children through the exploration of the story and its themes. Some preparation
beforehand is required so that you have a developed understanding of the possibilities of
the characters, dilemma or theme for the age group. There needs to be some correlation
between the story and children’s own life experiences because a key feature of Story Drama
is that children draw on their own experiences to make sense of the concepts being explored.
Identify key questions that will focus the development and direction of your exploration.
For example, when the underlying theme is about working together your key questions may
be, ‘What can be gained by working co-operatively?’ and ‘How does it feel when you have to

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work together?’ The questions you ask children in the process of exploring these key ones
should prod children’s thinking about the big themes and ideas.
Plan learning activities that help children ‘experience’ the theme. For example, each child
creates a human statue about ‘running’, then in pairs, then in threes and then in fours
where they have to amalgamate their individual ideas into one statue. This involves working
co-operatively and afterwards children can consider how they achieved success: ‘We took a
bit of everyone’s sculpture and used it in the group one’. Strategies such as ‘freeze frame’,
‘hot seating’ and conscience alley (described on p. 171–2) can be used to progress children’s

DRAMA
thinking and immersion in characters and roles.

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
All forms of improvised drama are immersive experiences where children learn by being.
Every child plays a role and contributes to the unfolding action. Therefore, these learning
experiences offer inclusive contexts for children to learn. Being embodied processes children
are able to draw on their strengths in different ways. They can participate mainly through
their actions, gestures and interactions or they can draw on their verbal capabilities more
strongly. The dimensions of the drama also enable children to have roles that suit their
interests. A process-drama built around a sheep station means that children can be the
pastoralist, part of the shearing team, the cook, the wool classer, the stock agent, the fencing
contractor, part of the mustering team, the governess, station kids, or station hand.
As with all forms of drama activity it is important to ensure that no child is routinely
given subordinate roles.

RESOURCES
Copyright © 2017. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
• Design a Pram by Anne Fine and Philippe Dupasquier involves the interactions between
characters (suitable for ages 5–8)
• Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks is a fable on trust, loyalty and friendship (suitable
for ages 6+)
• I Love Me by Sally Morgan and Ambelin Kwaymullina is an Indigenous story that explores
being special in your own way (suitable for ages 2–3)
• Is There Really a Human Race? by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell explores the
important things in life (suitable for ages 4–8)
• The Empty Pot by Demi is set in China and explores the theme of honesty (suitable for
ages 4–7)

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 194 PART 2: EDUCATING THROUGH THE ARTS

• The Hero of Little Street by Gregory Rogers is a wordless story that invites children to
consider what they might find if they stepped into the scene in a painting in an art gallery
(suitable for ages 4–8)
• The Killer Cat Runs Away by Anne Fine is an unfolding adventure that children can extend
(suitable for ages 0–5)
• The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau and Gail de Marcken explores the theme of
generosity (suitable for ages 4–8)
• Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak explores self-regulation (suitable for ages 3–5)
• Would You Rather by John Burningham is a fun book that involves children in making
choices (suitable for ages 5+).

SPARKERS
• Begin with a behaviour you would like to explore (honesty, cooperation, loyalty) and
search online for young children’s books with this theme.
• It will become evident from reading sessions that children love certain stories. Choose
a story that has made a strong impression on the group and also offers a good starting
point for Story Drama development.
• Use different drama forms such as mime or puppetry to develop the improvisation.
• When children have explored a story theme through an improvisation, ask children
to change roles and retell the story. It is important to discuss with children how
participating in different roles provided them with insight about different perspectives.
• Would You Rather by John Burningham invites children to explore options, such as
‘Would you rather drink snail squash or eat mashed worms?’ Children can explore the
merits of these options through improvisation.
Copyright © 2017. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

THINGS TO REMEMBER ABOUT STORY DRAMA

• Story Drama is a different process to acting out stories that children have read or had
read to them.
• Story Drama involves children in extrapolating from the story using imaginative invention.
• Children need to draw on their own experiences to make sense of the themes they are
exploring in the story. Seeing the story in the context of their own lives is a key factor in
this process.
• The educator has an important role in creating an educational process whereby
children develop their understanding of the story and its possibilities.
• Story Drama is an active and embodied way for children to explore the world.
• The active and embodied nature of learning through Story Drama makes the learning
more meaningful for the child.
• Story Drama is a search for meaning and insight in an embodied way.

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 CHAPTER 8: ARTS-MAKING EXPERIENCES IN DRAMA 195

SUMMARY
Drama education is focused on children’s learning and development as individuals rather
than on performing for an audience. That is not to say that performance isn’t part of drama
education but rather that it is not the driver of drama education.
The roots of drama are found in children’s ‘let’s pretend’ games and so drama comes
naturally to children. The embodied nature of drama allows children to have a lived through
experience that gives them insights into the nature of the socio-cultural world and the
dilemmas of life.
There are a number of drama forms that feature in early childhood education. These
engage children in exploring ideas and developing their own drama through improvisations.
They include dramatic play, puppetry, different forms of process-drama such as Mantle of
the Expert (MoE), Teacher-in-Role (TiR), and Story Drama.

Learning Activities
1 Explain how the quote by Sanford Meisner at the beginning of this chapter represents the
key ideas in this chapter.
2 In a small group, select a painting of an incident as a starting point and develop your own
drama improvisation to develop the story.
3 Select one of the children’s books or artworks suggested in the chapter as a provocation
for a drama and devise a drama learning experience for a nominated age group.

Further reading
Barrs, M., Barton, B. & Booth, D. (2012). This Book Is Not About Drama … It’s About New Ways
to Inspire Students. Markham, ON, Canada: Pembroke Publishers.
Bowell, P. & Heap, B. S. (2013). Planning Process-Drama: Enriching Teaching and Learning
(2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Copyright © 2017. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Crepeau, I. M. & Richards, M. A. (2003). A Show of Hands: Using Puppets with Young Children.
St Paul, MN: Redleaf Books.
Engler, L. & Fijan, C. (1997). Making Puppets Come Alive: A Method of Learning and Teaching
Hand Puppetry. New York, NY: Taplinger Publishing Company.
Farmer, D. (2012). Learning through Drama in the Primary Years. Drama Resource.
Taylor, T. (2016). A Beginner’s Guide to Mantle of the Expert: A Transformative Approach to
Education. Norwich: Singular Publishing.

Online resources
Arts Toolkit: Drama: This web site has been developed for K-12 teachers in Kentucky USA,
but is useful for teachers anywhere. You’ll find many resources such as lesson plans, idea
cards, videos, glossaries and other features that can support drama education.
www.ket.org/artstoolkit/drama
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 196 PART 2: EDUCATING THROUGH THE ARTS

Child Drama: The website of Matt Buchanan, a child drama specialist with drama lesson
ideas organised by ages, topic and content as well as a collection of plays for children that
he has written. www.childdrama.com/index.html
Drama in the Elementary Classroom: Downloadable PDF that provides practical ideas
for implementing drama experiences. www.cengage.com/resource_uploads/downloads/
0176503668_322620.pdf
Mantle of the Expert: This website is the central location for information, guidance and
resources on the Mantle of the Expert (MoE) approach. www.mantleoftheexpert.com
Story Drama: A website with resources, lesson plans and ideas for conducting Story Drama
in the classroom. https://sites.google.com/a/asu.edu/story-dramas/Home
Wonderteacher: Excellent site that promotes the idea of wonder in education along
with arts-integration, inquiry-based learning and more. This link takes you directly
to the section on teaching children to use puppets. http://wonderteacher.com/
teaching-children-to-use-puppets
Aussie Educator: Indigenous Education Resources: A curated collection of links for
enhancing the Indigenous content and perspective in the classroom. www.aussieeducator.
org.au/resources/teaching/indigenousresources.html

Chapter references
Barrs, M., Barton, B. & Booth, D. (2012). This Book Is Not About Drama … It’s About New Ways to Inspire Students.
Markham, ON, Canada: Pembroke Publishers.
Booth, D. (2005). Story Drama: Creating Stories through Role-Playing, Improvising and Reading Aloud (2nd ed.).
Markham, Ontario: Pembroke Publishers.
Bouza Kosta, J. (2015). Growing Artists: Teaching the Arts to Young Children (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Bowell, P. & Heap, B. S. (2013). Planning Process-Drama: Enriching Teaching and Learning (2nd ed.). New York,
NY: Routledge.
Bruner, J. S. (1966). Toward a Theory of Instruction. Cambridge, MA: Belkapp Press.
Flynn, R. M. (2012). Dramatic Approaches to Teaching. Retrieved from http://dramaticapproachestoteaching.com
Copyright © 2017. Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Gould, P. & Sullivan, J. (1999). The Inclusive Early Childhood Classroom: Easy Ways to Adapt Learning Centres for All
Children. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. New York,
NY: Routledge.
Konishi, C. (2007). Learning English as a Second Language: A Case Study of a Chinese Girl in an American
Preschool, Childhood Education, 83(5), 267–272. doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2007.10522930
Martinez, M. (1993). Motivating Dramatic Story Re-Enactments. The Reading Teacher, 46(8), 682–688.
Mayesky, M. (2014). Creative Activities and Curriculum for Young People. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing.
Ogura, T. (1991). A Longitudinal Study of the Relationship Between Early Language Development and Play
Development. Journal of Child Language, 18, 273–294.
Podlozny, A. (2000). Strengthening Verbal Skills through the Use of Classroom Drama: A Clear Link. The Journal
of Aesthetic Education, 34(3/4), 239–275.
Richards, A. (2007). The Story Is Just the Start. Retrieved from www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/
article_view.aspx?ArticleID=200
Salmon, M. D. & Sainato, D. (2005). Beyond Pinocchio: Puppets as Teaching Tools in Inclusive Early Childhood
Classrooms. Young Exceptional Children, 8(3), 12–19. doi: 10.1177/109625060500800303.
Servizzi, K. (2009). ‘Fixing Puppets So They Can Talk’: Puppets and Puppet Making in a Classroom of
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