Academic Writing in Theatre Classrooms
Comments(1) https://blogs.ubc.ca/lled360/2013/11/12/academic-writing-in-english-classes/
Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us Lucy. I am glad that your school advisor provided such a thorough template for essay writing for his students and that you have found his methods for teaching academic writing to be helpful.
As I read your blog post, I began to consider the ways that academic writing is approached in my content area, which is theatre. Drama classes can vary wildly in the amount of writing that students are encouraged to produce, both creative and academic. Some drama classes include very little academic writing and very little writing in general. Many drama teachers prefer not to include much writing for a number of reasons. For some teachers, there is a persistent worry that if students are asked to write that they will not enjoy the class. This is a concern because students may disengage from the course altogether if they become bored and they may even choose not to take the course in subsequent grades. Also, students who are struggling with writing for any reason may feel demoralized by an emphasis on writing in courses in which they are not expecting to encounter this challenge. Another reason drama teachers may fear asking their students to write is that teachers want to encourage oral and kinesthetic skills more than writing, because theatre is a performance art.
These are all legitimate concerns. However, I believe that it is a disservice to students to not incorporate both creative and academic writing into theatre classes, as these skills are absolutely necessary for the professional world of theatre (not to mention post-secondary theatrical training programs). Also, theatre has its own creative and academic writing genres that students need to know how to identify and use. Therefore, I believe that it is essential that students do both informal and formal writing activities in theatre classes. However, the crucial element to these activities is that they must be engaging and enjoyable for the students. If this is the case, the fears teachers have in relation to writing in their drama courses would no longer be valid, as students would be happy to complete the activities and would not try to avoid them. One of the examples of such activities is writing a short review of a performance. Students love to voice their opinions and this activity gives them a constructive method in which to discuss and critique the work of professionals and/or more experienced practitioners. Other examples are character biographies, favorite actor research projects, production proposals etc. All of these assignments allow the students to study and write about a topic that they are interested in and allows them to express creativity and to voice their own opinions. Also, encouraging students to work in groups to pre-write, write, and/or share their writing makes the activities even more enjoyable and promotes oral language, as well as fostering cooperative skills.
I intend to use assignments such as these in my theater classrooms in order to make enjoyable academic writing part of my curriculum.
Melanie Reich
Melanie,
I relate to your experience of hesitation using reading or writing in a fine art course. This sentiment is also felt in the visual arts. There is a sense that we have to keep our discipline as “pure” as possible as to not scare students off to other elective courses.
I agree with you that reading and especially writing should still be included despite the possible consequences. Maybe the consequences can be positive? Writing an artist statement can help students to examine their work more critically, act as a formative self assessment, explain to their teacher their intent, help the teacher understand their intents and as a result, assess more fairly and improve their academic writing skills. Students could also write short paragraphs is response to art examples, peer artwork, and refine their academic note taking skills if utilized during instruction to note down process. It can also be a way for students who are still working on their visual expression, to get ideas on to paper in a non-threatening way.
I think in well thought out activities, writing should be included in the art classroom. It should not become the main focus of the students’ time, but used as a supplement or assessment of their learning.
Kristen