~Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Results~

Students frequently battle issues of motivation and procrastination when it comes to schoolwork. Schoolchildren report that they have no impetus to get them to care about their assignments or in-class participation. While “getting good grades” is the reward for hard work, it is often not reason enough to keep kids engaged and truly learning. What is lacking is intrinsic motivation. Using other mechanisms to bribe students into paying attention is not the answer. Students should want to learn; they should want do their work. However much of a stretch this may seem, it can be achieved within the classroom walls. It all starts by presenting the material in an inspiring and relatable way, and then proceeding by teaching students that they have ownership over their own education while still pushing them to expand their boundaries. Utilizing many of the integral aspects of the Constructivist Learning Theory, Kids Are Dramatic boosts intrinsic motivation and shows students that they are in control of their academic careers.         

The Constructivist Learning Theory coined the idea that the learner constructs knowledge for himself (or herself) by building a personal schema. This schema is based on the learner’s individual and socially-based learning of the world around himself or herself. Some of the ideas included in this theory define learning as an active process, which takes shape contextually. “We learn in relationship to what else we know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fears,” not passively accept “knowledge which exists “out there” but that learning involves the learning’s engaging with the world (Hein, 1991).” Learners gain knowledge by taking new information and fitting it into a system of meaning; they also learn by constructing a system of meaning out of the new information itself. A new skill or concept is sure to be understood when the learner can transfer that knowledge into a series of various contexts. The idea of transfer is not new to the world of education, however ideas of how to approach and incite it are. “For transfer to happen, research suggests an individual must recognize the wide applicability of a particular skill, principle, or concept and when a particular situation calls for the use of them (Kuhn, 1986).” One tactic for transfer is to ensure that teachers show an eventual implication or connection of the material outside the classroom. Kids Are Dramatic’s plays, especially the current production titled The Pinballs, are centered on topics which are prevalent in our society, yet they do not always find a way into classroom curriculums (foster care, in this case). Furthermore, transfer is induced by making students apply their thinking and knowledge into as many contexts as they can. This is where the art of theatre can be utilized for the act of transferring. As mentioned in the Theatre is Crucial for Critical Thinking post, actors and actresses—over the course of being in several productions—are challenged to consider similar themes and concepts (such as love, heartbreak, friendship, loss, etc.) through a myriad of different emotions and character perceptions. This kind of practice helps to form well-rounded schemas, and it also challenges the students’ perception on how just one situation can be perceived. While this describes transfer in itself, other skills that must be mastered in theatre, including comfort on stage, memorization, portrayal of potentially inexperienced emotions, practice of empathy and teamwork, as well as the art of acting itself, are all skills that can be utilized in everyday life. In order for children to make the most out of what they are learning, it is imperative that they know how what they are learning is relative to their lives and that they are able to take notice of its effects. When students become cognizant of transfer occurring within themselves, and they are aware of utilizing knowledge acquired in school in outside contexts, they being to see the effects of their hard work coming into fruition. Making a connection between hard work and positive effects is a realization which motivates students to look for more ways in which the material they are already learning can be applied to their daily lives. After all, students are learning for their own benefit. If they do not realize this, the greatest wrongdoing is on the part of their educators.

The most important part of the beneficial aspects of theatre, however, is that the actors and actresses—ordinary students—are able to connect with their art and their work. This emotional connection creates a personal drive for students to better themselves, and it directly ties the effort put in by the individual to his or her work and actions. In experiments conducted by Karen DeMoss and Terry Morris, it was found that “students took more responsibility for their learning in their arts units than their non-arts units…students found the arts to bring enjoyment to their learning irrespective of their teacher’s personal style” (DeMoss, Morris, 2002). The added pressure of being on stage for one or two final performances also emphasizes the importance of enthusiasm, energy, and a direct evaluation of talent. The findings in the study conducted “suggest that the arts can play a critical role in the general culture of children’s learning, providing more positive and meaningful connections with academic work, connections that may have ancillary effects on long-term motivation” (DeMoss, Morris, 2002). Theatre embodies all of these aspects as fuel towards students’ intrinsic motivation. Kids Are Dramatic provides students with a safe environment where they are given freedom and opportunity to explore and be constructively critiqued to improve their talents. Because this is an optional, after-school program—though it does demand responsibility and time once committed—the participating actors and actresses choose to take ownership of their time and talent. This is an initial decision, which will prove fruitful in their academic and general achievements. Self-sufficient, intrinsically motivated learners have always been the goal for the education system, and the solution is plain as day: show students how to find these objectives within themselves.  

~Theatre is Crucial for Critical Thinking~

Keeping students engaged and participating in class is one of the biggest challenges facing classroom teachers today. A classroom full of glazed-over eyes is not the way into the minds of eager, curious pupils. I argue that students are likely to be far more receptive, in the classroom, if the arts are integrated into the everyday curriculum. More specifically, role-playing or even participating in extra-curricular theatre engages students and increases and improves critical thinking inside the classroom. Wiggins and McTighe (1998) define critical thinking as achieving the “six facets of understanding as: can explain; can interpret; can apply; has perspective; can empathize; and has self-knowledge” (p. 44). These effects occur because of the insight role-playing and theatre give into the perspectives of other characters and settings. Analyzing and understanding the perspectives of others sharpens the skill of critical thinking by approaching common situations from multiple angles. This encourages children to determine benefits and consequences, to understand the principles of give-and-take in a circumstance, and even to become better problem-solvers.

Critical thinking cannot be achieved from textbooks. Rather, it is a strength, which develops from challenging problems of various scales. Theatre involves plays with similar, overarching themes such as love, hate, fear, death, hope, etc., and it introduces various methods of approaching and dealing with said situations. This allows students to challenge their own emotional schemas with those of the characters they play. As students frequently begin to encounter various perspectives, they not only come to terms with their own personal beliefs, but they also challenge their current schemas, testing the boundaries of their perspectives. A more critically conscious and open student body can instill a stronger sense and more positive outlook of self-identity, which thus improves the receptiveness of the students to new information (Marcus Nurius, 1986). Additionally, students are confronted with the concepts of diversity and varying points of view. Comprehending diversity of opinion at such a young age allows students to grow as learners without feeling inhibited by negative peer pressure or the fear of “being different.”

Tangentially, one of the most important techniques to use in getting the most out of one’s education is metacognition. This is a conscious, effortful reflection on one’s own strengths and weaknesses as a learner. Theatre specifically serves as a gateway to such introspection, because the critical consciousness it raises in students provides them with the skills for practicing metacognition. The constant analysis and re-analysis of their skills and the portrayal of their character induce the constant evaluation of their performance. This skill of metacognition is easily transferable to their academic performance as well. It is often more important for students to be able to understand why they got something wrong, rather than merely learning the correct answer.

“It is precisely because the creative act flows from the inside out rather than the outside in that it helps youngsters discover their own resources, develop their own attributes, and realize their own personal potential” (Fowler 1996). The act of creation and characterization gives way for students to identify with their creative choices time and time again, and it gives them the opportunity to become familiarized with their unique stylistic traits. These said facets of creativity are essential in boosting critical thinking, because students are able to pinpoint their own perspectives in a clear way. As these young actors and actresses begin to identify with their own viewpoints, and thus societal roles, they become more comfortable with the idea that everyone has a unique perspective. Critical thinking relies heavily on being able to view one situation through the lens of various points of view, and then to evaluate those consequences.

The combination of each of these forms and usages of knowledge can be powerful, because these characteristics are what make great problem-solvers. Studies showed a direct correlation between the use of theatre or role-playing in the classroom and the rise in the respective subject being taught through the art and/or the students’ overall critical thinking abilities. Additionally, “analysis of these studies indicate in a study by Du Pont [1992] that the use of creative drama to enhance the reading scores of a population of remedial or low-ability fifth grade readers enrolled in a compensatory programme proved effective at the .05 level compared to the performance of two other groups using methods that did not include creative drama” (Eisner 53, 1998).

Kids Are Dramatic is achieving similar changes within its student population. In The Pinballs, the current play the students are performing, social topics such as foster care and abuse are central themes. The actors and actresses are asked to closely analyze the wants, needs, and troubles of their character— temporarily adapting them as their own. Students are often isolated from vital parts of our society as they are forsaken in the classroom. Being able to explore them within the very personal context of theatre gives them a unique insight into the subject matter. It increases their critical consciousness, makes them aware of societal issues, and allows them to better identify their own roles in society. In many cases, students begin to learn that they have a voice and a presence. All of these teachings are essential for students in classrooms to begin to engage in their communities and to bring their curriculum into their real lives (Marcus Nurius, 1986).