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.
