Global Learning in Drama
Drama is an excellent curriculum area for developing the knowledge, skills and values of Global Learning. The National Curriculum’s Purpose of Study for English states the importance of developing pupils’ spoken English skills and relates this to active citizenship by stating that learning to speak, as well as to read and write, fluently is critical to being able to participate fully in society (National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study, Department for Education, 2013). Drama activities allow pupils to explore themes and issues in an accessible way and can be a powerful basis for reflection, discussion and analysis, key skills in both the National Curriculum and Global Learning. Pupils can explore Global Learning themes through the use of role-play, improvisation and other drama techniques. They can also read, talk about, script and perform plays that explore global issues.
Sample Global Learning activities in Drama are:
Key Stage 2
Mining disaster role-play
●Activity:
Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils and their teachers draw on the ‘Mantle of the Expert’ methodology to explore creative responses to a mining disaster. The class is asked to imagine that 50 people are trapped in a mine that has collapsed in South America. Pupils take on the roles of the fire service, health and safety experts for the mining company, local residents, local media, national politicians and international aid agencies. They work together to problem-solve and collaboratively find ways to rescue the trapped miners.
●Links to the National Curriculum:
In this activity, pupils have the opportunity to ‘adopt, create and sustain’ a role, ‘responding appropriately to others in role’. They also have the opportunity to develop their spoken English skills, including learning to ‘articulate and justify’ their ‘arguments and opinions’, to ‘consider and evaluate different viewpoints’ and ‘use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas’.
●Global Learning themes, skills and values:
Global poverty, development, actions of government, globalisation and interdependence, rights and essential services, actions of citizens, critical thinking, multiple perspectives, enquiry and discussion, communication, teamwork, fairness, agency, social justice, empathy.
Key Stage 3
‘Mirad, aboy from Bosnia’
●Activity:
Pupils read the play, ‘Mirad, a boy from Bosnia’ by Ad De Bont (Longman, 2000), which presents the story of a boy’s search for his missing parents during the Bosnian civil war. After discussing issues the play raises around conflict, refugees and migration, pupils rehearse and perform parts of the text, using a range of drama techniques to convey their understanding of the play’s characters, setting and themes. They are also invited to improvise and script their own scenes that explore their own engagement with the issues.
●Links to the National Curriculum:
This activity creates an opportunity for ‘understanding how the work of dramatists is communicated effectively through performance’. It also allows pupils chances for ‘improvising, rehearsing and performing play scripts… in order to generate language and discuss language use and meaning, using role, intonation, tone, volume, mood, silence, stillness and action to add impact’. This activity also supports pupils’ reading and writing in English, as well as their spoken English.
●Global Learning themes, skills and values:
Rights, actions of government, actions of citizens, critical thinking, challenging perceptions, communication, teamwork, reflection and evaluation, diversity, respect, social justice, empathy.
Further resources
See the National Dramawebsite for some drama resources that address Global Learning issues at Key Stages 2 and 3.
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