17 minute read
Out of their seats and asking great questions
DUTTON & RUSHTON, 2018
- Mathematical approach 2: Divide the irregular shape up into regular polygons. Using measurements, find the area of each shape and add these areas together.
Creative Arts
Do you think artists (Dance/Music/Art/ Theatre) should be able to express their personal/political opinions through their art?
- Yes. Artists should be able to express any opinions they want through their art. Art can be a powerful medium for social change.
- No. Artists should stay out of the political world. They should focus on making artwork that is aesthetically pleasing.
English
Should the Man from Snowy River in Paterson’s poem have disobeyed the instructions given by the more experienced stockmen?
- Yes. It was a dangerous incline and there was significant risk to horse and rider. Hierarchies are important and the young should defer to experience voices.
- No. The Man from Snowy River was a gifted rider, enjoyed risk taking behaviours, and was seeking to demonstrate his competence to the more experienced stockmen. Languages
Should young children be encouraged to be bi/multilingual?
- Yes. Research evidence shows the benefits of learning more than one language. It supports familial connections and allows a complex, nuanced world view.
- No. Young children should be encouraged to develop skills only in the dominant language of the culture in which they live. This will make it easier for them to make friends and fit in at school.
Having identified a question that might be framed in your classroom, how might embodied pedagogy invite your students out of their seats as engaged, thinking learners?
BRINGING EMBODIED PEDAGOGY INTO YOUR CLASSROOM
Whilst embodied learning can look very differently according to discipline and subject matter, we offer ‘Conscience Alley’ (Ewing & Simmons, 2016) as an embodied strategy that will work effectively across all stages and teaching areas.
What is Conscience Alley?
Conscience Alley is a role play strategy used to identify different perspectives on a topic and explore motivations/ individual intentions related to a question. It involves a ‘questioner’ who is trying to decide on their perspective on a challenging question. Often this question has a moral or ethical dimension but always the question is open and there is no one correct answer. The ‘questioner’ takes on a role appropriate to the question context and walks down a physical ‘alley’. As the ‘questioner’ progresses they are offered differing perspectives by ‘speakers’ who represent the questioner’s conscience. An audience of ‘thinkers’ observe the interactions and think critically about the range of perspectives that have been offered.
The Conscience Alley strategy involves the following steps:
1. The question is introduced, and are students given time to think about/plan possible answers to the question.
2. Select 8-10 students who form two straight lines facing each other (4 students in each line) creating the edges of the ‘alley’.
3. Assign each side of the alley the side of the question they are supporting.
4. The questioner stands at the beginning of the alley and progressively walks down the alley.
5. The ‘questioner’ pauses at each opposing set of students.
6. The ‘speakers’ on each side give their opinion on the subject matter.
7. When the ‘questioner’ has reached the end of the alley they can:
• provide an answer to the question after hearing both sides of the argument or
• articulate their feelings of difficulty/uncertainty if they are finding it difficult to choose an answer to the question.
8. Follow up activities can include:
• the ‘questioner’ describing the impact the conscience alley has had their personal perspective on the question (Was there alignment? Where/why? Were their disjunctions? Where/why?) • the ‘thinkers’ sharing their decision and justifying their choice. Which argument(s) were persuasive and why? Which arguments needed stronger substantiation? Which argument(s) tossed up too many issues and did not sustain a focus? Because students have been assigned an argument card (thereby taking on a role’) these discussions are less personal.
• ‘questioners’, ‘speakers’ and ‘thinkers’ identifying areas for additional research, fallacious arguments, missing/silenced perspectives, contextual factors shaping the perspectives (Choose 1 each run of conscience alley).
• Any other activity suitable to your context.
WORKED EXAMPLE
The worked example below offers a snapshot of how Conscience Alley might work.
Question: Should I/we be doing more towards diminishing our impact on global warming?
PREPARATION
1. Pose questions to your classroom about climate change. These questions should be of an exploratory nature and help students to critically analyse the issues. Questions such as:
• Do you think global warming is an issue for the world today?
• What research evidence supports/ rejects this proposition
• Do you believe people have an obligation to do their part to prevent global warming? Why/Why not?
• Do you think the governments should be held accountable for a lack of action against global warming?’
2. Assign students to two opposing sides of the question.
3. Students write one argument on an argument card and teacher collects these cards.
4. 8-10 students selected to be ‘speakers’.
5. One student selected to be the ‘questioner’ taking on the role of:
• Prime Minister of Australia
• Secondary school student
• Political activist
• Representative from a research funding organistion
• Documentary maker
IMPLEMENTATION
6. Organise ‘speakers’ into the conscience alley set up.
7. Assign one side of the argument to each line.
8. Select and distribute argument cards to ‘speakers’. (Can allow preparation time if desired).
9. Invite ‘questioner’ to frame their question and walk down conscience alley.
FOLLOW UP
10. The ‘questioner’ makes a decision and describes the extent to which the conscience alley has influenced their personal perspective on action relating to global warming. Before I thought/feel …. Now I think/feel …
11. The ‘thinkers’ take a vote and share their decision. Individual ‘thinkers’ can be invited to justify their decision and rate their degree of certainty/confidence.
12. ‘Questioners’, ‘speakers’ and ‘thinkers’ identify areas for additional research, fallacious arguments, missing/ silenced perspectives, contextual factors shaping the perspectives (Choose one!)
13. Employ ‘Walk in Role’ and/or ‘Verbal Ping Pong’ strategies to further explore the motivations and perspectives around the issue. Instructions can be found in Tell Me Your Story (Dutton, D’warte, Rossbridge & Rushton, 2018).
Variations for Conscience Alley
There are many ways to tailor/modify Conscience Alley to suit the needs of your class and lesson intentions.
• One or more speakers can intentionally provide wrong answers. This adds complexity to the questioner’s decision and provides and elevates the responsibility of the ‘listeners’ to become ‘fact checkers’. • You may opt to run conscience alley as an impromptu activity rather than allow planning/preparation time. Doing this fosters/assesses students’ capacity to be intellectually nimble and think critically at speed.
• Conscience alley can also function as a pre-test for a topic or to summaries prior learning.
• Further problematising the perspectives on the issue/topic/scenario by interrogating the space between the lines. Ask question such as: Are there hybrid perspectives that incorporate aspects of the opposing perspectives? Are there contextual factors that might preclude a Yes/No answer?; If you had to negotiate a compromise position, how might this be achieved? What would it involve?
• Nurture cognitive wellbeing by inviting students to make possible links to real life scenarios. This creates opportunities for students evaluate aspects of their lives.
• Repeat conscience alley with new participants, and the same or varied question.
• Run parallel conscience alley scenarios in a large venue. Students video their group’s product. Share and compare.
• Use conscience alley as a pre-writing activity to scaffold the planning of key argument and supporting evidence. The PEEL/PEAL/PETAL elements can be created by forming a second/third line of ‘Speakers’ who offer the supporting evidence/analyse as desired.
WHAT IS THE CURRICULUM AND RESEARCH JUSTIFICATION FOR EMBODIED PEDAGOGIES SUCH AS ‘CONSCIENCE ALLEY’?
Imagination is a means through which students can assemble a coherent world and cultivate empathy (Greene, 1995). With its process-oriented approach to learning and scope for safely exploring a range of perspectives, embodied pedagogy aligns with the Australian Curriculum General Capabilities of Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability, and Ethical Understanding (ACARA, 2014).
For example:
• Critical thinking is at the core of most intellectual activity that involves students learning to recognise or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw reasoned conclusions, and use information to solve problems. Examples of critical thinking skills are interpreting, analysing, evaluating, explaining, sequencing, reasoning, comparing, questioning, inferring, hypothesising, appraising, testing and generalising. (Critical and Creative Thinking)
• Processes of inquiring into ethical issues include giving reasons, being consistent, finding meanings and causes, and providing proof and evidence. Interrogating such concepts through authentic cases such as global warming, sustainable living and socioeconomic disparity can involve group and independent inquiry, critical and creative thinking, and cooperative teamwork, and can contribute to personal and social learning. (Ethical Understanding) • Personal and social capability involves students in a range of practices including recognising and regulating emotions, developing empathy for others and understanding relationships, establishing and building positive relationships, making responsible decisions, working effectively in teams, handling challenging situations constructively and developing leadership skills. (Personal & Social Capability)
Embodied pedagogy such as Conscience Alley involves adopting a ‘role’ which functions both to enable the taking on a new viewpoint, and to create a safe space between personal views and the views potentially held by others. Whereas a classroom debate can easily slip into emotional, non-evidence-based arguments, structured role play strategies position students away from their personal stances and shift the dialogue to a more intellectual, distanced exchange. The physical layout of drama-based strategies can enact and/or symbolise the nature of the topic. The questioner in Conscience Alley is positioned between opposing lines or speakers. This creates a visual image of the opposing perspectives and signals the nature of dissenting viewpoints. The symbolic tug of war experienced by the questioner as they walk down the alley physically and metaphorically enacts the internal dialogue we engage in when faced by a complex question informed by multiple possible arguments.
Embodied learning such as Conscience Alley has been shown to contribute to positive academic and wellbeing outcomes for all students (Dutton & Rushton, 2018; Ewing, 2010; 2012; Ewing & Saunders, 2016; Lee et al., 2015). Too often, however, drama-based strategies are perceived as the province of learning in English and Drama and are thus eschewed by teachers delivering learning in other subject areas. The research evidence challenges this assumption with embodiment and enactment having been shown to be ‘important precursors to other ways of knowing and therefore can facilitate … deep learning across the curriculum’ (Ewing, 2012, p. 9). Learning through drama provides ‘ways of coming to understand and make connections across different kinds of knowledge’ (Ewing, 2010, p.7) and the physical kinaesthetic dimensions promote student engagement (Lee, Patall, Cawthon & Steingut, 2015; Rothwell, 2011). Furthermore, the connection between language development and the use of drama as a pedagogical approach has been well established (Dunn & Stinson 2011, Stinson & Winston, 2011; Ewing, 2012). Drama-based strategies empower students to be heard in role and, in so doing, feel safe to have their voice heard. This is especially the case for students who are learning English as an additional language or dialect (Dunn & Stinson, 2011; Dutton & Rushton, 2018; Piazzoli, 2011; Stinson & Freebody, 2006). Conscience Alley affords all students the opportunity to practise expressing a perspective thus developing their confidence and fluency in shaping assertive, persuasive arguments. The impact to student wellbeing of empowering student voice has been well established.
FINAL REFLECTIONS
All teachers in Australia find themselves positioned in the movement towards increased regulation and accountability. Research highlights how high-stakes standardised tests, such as NAPLAN and the NSW HSC, can challenge the ways teachers situate learning in their classrooms (Berliner, 2011; Brass, 2015; Cormack, & Cromer, 2013; Comber, 2012; O’Mara, 2014). Often, we can respond to explicit or implied ‘advice’ by changing our pedagogy to strategically prepare our students for these tests (Brass, 2015; Comber, 2012; Dutton & Rushton, 2018) with some teachers claiming ‘we just don’t have time for any creative stuff’ (Dutton & Rushton, 2021, Unpublished). Attitudes such as these lead to diminution in classroom activities that foster critical and creative thinking, and that support cognitive well-being with the consequence being student having insufficient ‘space to play’ (Williams, n.d) with ideas and experiences relating to their lives and world. These shifts are not supported by curriculum documents or research evidence and can have unanticipated impacts on student learning. Lawrence (2012) argues that “promoting and practicing embodied pedagogies often means breaking through boundaries and challenging dominant ideologies and epistemologies” (p. 76). In this article we have provided a research-informed justification for one classroom strategy to achieve this. We have argued for the implementation of embodied pedagogies as normalised teaching practices and have offered ‘Conscience Alley’ as an effective embodied activity that can be used in your classroom tomorrow. Those of us who implement these research-informed embodied approaches know that, rather than detracting from high quality learning, the strategies instead support students’ critical thinking, cognitive wellbeing, and engagement. So, let’s get our students out of their seats and asking great questions!
Additional resources
Open Education Resource (n.d) Embodied pedagogies. http://embodiedpedagogies.com/ Dutton, J., D’warte, J., Rossbridge, J., & Rushton, K. (2018). Tell me your story: Confirming identity and engaging writers in the middle years. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA). Chapter 2 ‘Affirming identity through drama pedagogy’. NSW Government (n.d). Conscience Alley, NSW Government website – Education. https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-andlearning/learning-from-home/teaching-athome/models-of-teaching/contemporarylearning-and-teaching-from-home/ learning-from-home--teaching-strategies/ conscience-alley References
ACARA (2014). Australian Curriculum (nd). https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au Berliner, D. (2011). Rational responses to high stakes testing: The case of curriculum narrowing and the harm that follows. Cambridge Journal of Education, 41 (3), 287–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/030576 4x.2011.607151 Brass, J. (2015). Engaging in education policies through governmentality studies. English in Education, 50 (2), 9–14. Comber, B. (2012). Mandated literacy assessment and the reorganisation of teachers’ work: Federal policy, local effects. Critical Studies in Education, 53 (2), 119. Cormack, P. & Cromer, B. (2013). High-stakes literacy tests and local effects in a rural school. Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 36 (2), 78–89. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy & Education. https://nsee.memberclicks.net/assets/ docs/KnowledgeCenter/BuildingExpEduc/ BooksReports/10.%20democracy%20and%20 education%20by%20dewey.pdf Dunn, J. & Stinson, M. (2011). Not without the art!! The importance of teacher artistry when applying drama as pedagogy for additional language learning. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 16 (4), 617–633. https://doi. org/10.1080/135 69783.2011.617110 Dutton, J., & Rushton, K. (2018). Confirming identity using drama pedagogy: English teachers’ creative response to high-stakes literacy testing. English in Australia, 53, 5–14. Dutton, J., D’warte, J., Rossbridge, J., & Rushton, K. (2018). Tell me your story: Confirming identity and engaging writers in the middle years. Sydney: Primary English Teaching Association Australia (PETAA). Ewing, R. (2010). The Arts and Australian education: Realising potential. Melbourne: ACER Press. Ewing, R. (2012). The imperative of an arts-led curriculum: Lessons from research. NJ (Drama Australia Journal), 36, 7–14. Ewing, R. & Saunders, J. (2016). The school drama book: Drama, literature and literacy in the creative classroom. Sydney: Currency Press. Ewing, R. & Simons, J. (2016). Beyond the script: Take 3 Drama in the English and literacy classroom. Newtown: PETAA. Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the Imagination. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Lawrence, R.L. (2012). Coming full circle: Reclaiming the body. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 134, 71-78. Lee, B., Patall, E., Cawthon, S. & Steingut, R. (2015). The effect of drama-based pedagogy on PreK–16 Outcomes: A meta-analysis of research from 1985 to 2012. Review of Educational Research, 85, 3–49. Nguyen, D.J., & Larson, J.B. (2016). Don’t forget about the body: Exploring the curricular possibilities of embodied pedagogy. Innovative Higher Education, 40 (4), 331-344. NSW Government (n.d). Cognitive well being strategies, NSW Government website – Education, https://education.nsw.gov.au/ student-wellbeing/whole-school-approach/ wellbeing-framework-for-schools/cognitivewellbeing-strategies O’Mara, J. (2014). Closing the emergency facility: Moving schools from literacy triage to better literacy outcomes. English teaching: Practice and Critique, 13, 8–23. Piazzoli, E. (2011). Process drama: The use of affective space to reduce language anxiety in the additional language learning classroom. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 16 (4), 557–573. Rothwell, J. (2011). Bodies and language: Process drama and intercultural language learning in a beginner language classroom. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 16 (4), 575–594. Stinson, M. & Winston, J. (2011). Drama education and second language learning: A growing field of practice and research. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 16 (4), 479–488, Williams, G. (n.d). Unpublished lecture content, University of Sydney.
Junior School - Learning through play
FRIEDRICH FROBEL
BY ANNA PLANT
WHAT IS PLAY?
Play is all about giving children time and space to let their imagination go. As their imagination unfolds, we witness role play and relationships unfolding between an object, toy, creation and the child who has breathed life into them. You see how children are interpreting their world into the play. The child seems to process so much of what they have experienced into play. In a way, it allows their brain the time to reflect on and capture the events and beyond that emotions they have felt.
When a young person is involved in play, we see incredible skills unfold. They have to negotiate the space and tools available to them, they have to take into consideration the imagination of the other children present. This requires higher order thinking skills such as communication, concept development (where children build ideas on top of another idea) and releasing control (where turn taking naturally develops skills in flexibility and translation). The skill of translation involves taking onboard the ideas of others and incorporating these into your own, which leads to further skills in design and innovation. “Play is the highest expression of human development in childhood, for it alone is the free expression of what is in a child’s soul.” – Friedrich Frobel (as cited in ACECQA, 2020)
“Child’s play may be highly enjoyable, but it is not trivial. To grow and thrive, children have to play. Active, physical play is a primary way that children learn about themselves and the world around them. It is essential to the healthy development of their minds and bodies and to cultivating the complex personal and social skills they need to make their way in the world.” – Sir Ken Robinson
Most researchers and educators identify that play is hard to define. I believe it is something an educator needs to grow into through personal experience. For me, play is imagination given the freedom to create and design. Play takes different forms including unstructured play, guided play and intellectual play (Sahlberg, 2020).
WHY IS PLAY SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Essentially, play lets imagination go! Play enables ideas to be massaged and developed. It relies on creativity in order for it to move, for the play itself to progress. It is not stagnant, which makes play intriguing and exciting for all involved. Play draws you in and engages you because it is asking your imagination to ignite. According to the Official Journal of the American Academy of Paediatrics (Ginsberg, 2007), paediatricians agree that ‘play allows children to use their creativity while developing their imagination, dexterity, and physical, cognitive and emotional strength. Play is important to healthy brain development’.
In order for play to occur, two ingredients are required; both time and space. Time to allow for thinking for those ideas to be massaged and developed in order to test those ideas and designs and the time to draw feedback to recreate or innovate. This is when the brain is firing on all cylinders as it is constantly having to reframe and reconsider. Time is also needed for pause and reflection. Space is essential and can be considered in terms of physical space and space in time. Physical space is necessary in outdoor and indoor spaces. Spaces for models and creations to be left to come back to. Space to be on your own or with a group. We were interested in seeing students use words like ‘rush’, ‘crowding’ and ‘stress’ when we asked them to describe the timetable which brings us to understand how space in the structure of a timetable is also important.
Image above: Year 3 children play with Heidi the Hedgehog at lunchtime and bring other objects into the play. Evidence of joy and social interaction are present here.
Image below: Year 5 students find such joy and achievement in designing a game of riding on a tyre with poles to push it along. This element of play evolved and developed as the ideas of these two girls grew.
