Drama strategies for outcomes-based learning in the poetry classroom

[摘要] English: The implementation of outcomes-based education (OBE) in South Africa left a number ofteachers feeling disadvantaged in terms of the knowledge and skills needed to pursue theideals of the educational system. English teachers from Bloemfontein revealed the need forexpanded opportunities to support the existing teaching approaches, particularly in the poetryclassroom. It was claimed that pressure to 'cover' the curriculum together with timeconstraints and excessive workloads has led to a lack of teacher creativity. As a result, casesof learner boredom, indifference and an aversion to the subject were observed. This issue wasaddressed by investigating the connection between OBE and drama-in-education (DIE) and itwas found that the two approaches have a number of features in common.Two Grade 10 English Home Language and two Grade 10 English First Additional Languageteachers were recruited, by means of semi-random sampling, from two different schools inBloemfontein. One teacher from each school was placed into the Control Group and the otherinto the Experimental Group. Teachers were subjected to a seven-month empirical studyconsisting of three phases, namely pre-intervention (Phase I), intervention (Phase 2) andpost-intervention (Phase 3).During Phase I, the researcher conducted a situation analysis to identify the existing teachingmethods in use in four Grade 10 English poetry classrooms, as well as theattitudes/perceptions of the teachers and learners to these and drama methods. The data(gathered through interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations) showed the use oftraditional and OBE methods. While some of the teachers demonstrated a positive attitude tothe existing teaching methods in use, others revealed that they either had a neutral attitude tothese methods (due to a lack of knowledge with regard to alternative methods) or that theyfelt ambiguous about using them. Learner responses indicated that they were indifferent tothese approaches, but that they had an overall preference for OBE methods. By contrast, allfour teachers, as well as the majority of their learners, demonstrated a positive attitude to thehypothetical use of drama strategies in the poetry classroom.During Phase 2, the teachers in the Experimental Group were provided with a short trainingcourse on the implementation of drama strategies in the poetry classroom (the Control Groupdid not undergo training). The data, gathered through questionnaires and focus groupdiscussions, confirmed the positive attitude of the teachers to the use of drama strategies,while revealing a sense of determination to implement these methods in their lessons.Phase 3 aimed to establish which drama methods had been employed by the teachers in theExperimental Group, which methods they found most useful, what their and their learners'attitudes/perceptions were to these methods, and the overall success of the lessons. The datashowed that the teachers and the majority of their learners felt positive towards the use ofdrama methods and that the teachers found sound-tracking, examining archival materials,role-play, small-group drama, interviewing, and discussion-in-role to be the most effectivedrama strategies. Furthermore, the lessons proved successful since the learners demonstratedhigher levels of cognitive, emotional and physical engagement with the poems underinvestigation. In addition, the researcher found that there had been a dramatic shift fromlearner indifference/boredom in the poetry classroom to learner enjoyment as a result of thesemethods. Another objective was to compare the trends between the Control and ExperimentalGroups in terms of their perceptions/attitudes to the use of drama strategies, especially afterthe exposure of the latter group to these methods. Finally, a statistical analysis of the resultsat the end of Phase 3 proved that both groups had made equal progress throughout the studyand that the intervention had made no difference to the results of the learners in theExperimental Group. By contrast, the qualitative analysis showed that the learners in theExperimental Group demonstrated higher levels of engagement with the poems, improvedlevels of enjoyment and a decrease in boredom, indifference and aversion to the subject.

[发布机构] University of the Free State