Putting into Practice Teaching English through Drama.

Instructions for Teachers

The oral tradition of storytelling has served to stir the imagination of human kind since time immemorial yet it has been all but lost in our dry, isolationistic digital age. We need to revive the art of storytelling for all, as an essential art form and as a means of emotional and affective communication. This theopractical presentation considers storytelling techniques for teachers and for young learners. Practical strategies will be borrowed from the world of educational drama to develop both vocal and body expression, laying the emphasis on pacing, rhythm and volume, mime, facial gesture, and action. No great resources will be suggested but an understanding of the concept of “The Speaking Body in the Empty Space” will be seen as essential, with the Teacher and the Student being the real resources. Teachers should leave with lots of practical ideas to use in their classrooms when term starts.

In this workshop we will explore the meaning of “Professional Learning Communities”, analyse a number of models and consider the value of planning and launching a PLC in the context of the school environment. We will define PLCs and why they are considered to be important, basing some of these concepts on recent theories of connectivism and trust. Leadership will be seen as a shared experience in a change-ready school. The skills for motivating and inspiring a whole school culture through reference to Maslow and McGregor will be examined while the concept of both Heads and Teachers as learners in their own right will be stressed. Finally, strategies for launching a PLC in school will be discussed.

Performativity will be shown to replace more abstract conceptions of language as a structure of meaning or as a symbol system in creating spheres of interculturality in EFL classrooms . The emphasis will be on the role of language in the concrete, particular transactions of the speaking body in specific contexts and in specific moments of time. It focuses on language as action, and also on meaning as the effect of embodied processes of meaning-making.

This experiential workshop relates the theory and practice of a programme, ‘English in Action’, teaching English through Drama, designed especially for the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Department in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The specific needs and challenges of the population of our 500 students currently in the programme are outlined, from students with ADHD, phobia, emotional trauma, or dyslexia to wheel chair users and students confined to their houses or hospitals with terminal diseases.The theory will be briefly explained, based on sound evidence, while plenty of practice will serve to illustrate the efficacy of the methodology. The participants will leave with ideas for planning the why, the what and the how of teaching English to students with a challenging range of learning difficulties.

This workshop explores the need to use English, with above beginners, as a global language to examine global issues through the practice of critical, comparative, and creative thinking skills related to social values. The framework is based on Robert Fisher’s language learning model of the interrelatedness of reading, writing, listening, speaking, input, output and metacognition. In this awareness raising session the basic tenet underpinning the action is We are all the Same, We are all Different with the emphasis on teaching for diversity. Questioning ourselves comes before questioning the students, and changing our perceptions is a necessary first step. There will be some theory and plenty of activity.

This experiential workshop considers dramatic techniques and games to help students to enjoy literature, to understand more and to develop competent literacy skills. The aim is to offer teachers the tools to lift the text off the page so that it becomes "live" for the students in a meaningful fashion. The kinaesthetic approach, collaborative group work, thematic studies, presentation techniques and interactive learning and teaching will be modelled. By the end of the session the participants should have new ways of approaching literature classes and a number of adaptable practical techniques for classroom use whatever the material or age of the students. The teachers should be able to make literature live for their students.

This session will serve as an introduction to Educational Drama as a discipline for all in the regular curriculum. The premise is that drama is education and that language teaching can be enhanced by good educational practice. English language teaching will be seen as the big E of EDUCATION through a language rather than the small e of just teaching a language as a system. Educational drama will be viewed as a means to developing true communication using role play and improvisation as the nearest form of real-life human interaction.

This experiential workshop outlines the methodology for teaching English through Drama using personalised ActionSacks, designed and constructed by English language teachers. The basic philosophy of a story sacks project used in the regular literacy programme in the UK will be outlined in order to clarify the theory. This methodology can be applied at all levels and for all abilities. An authentic, original ActionSack will be presented with the contents displayed and practical activities will be explored for participants to enjoy and understand the developmental aspects of Process Drama. The participants should leave the session with some new creative ideas for teaching English through Drama with ActionSacks.

This workshop will explore possibilities of transforming adolescent aggressive tendencies, through constructive channels, into positive, cooperative and creative behaviours. The emphasis will be on active work and raising awareness of group dynamics to establish a caring community.

This presentation concerns itself with the necessity of introducing real literature to foreign language learners rather than the diluted curriculum of basal readers, abridged versions and guided readers which act as so-called complementary resources to the inevitable textbook. Literature, with a small "l", will be viewed as an effective and affective means to language acquisition and not as a separate subject or an add-on. The question of authenticity will be explored not only in relation to literature but in relation to the teacher and the curriculum.

This presentation explores the varieties of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) programmes that go under this umbrella term and explains the original four Cs of CLIL: content, communication, culture and cognition. The advantages and disadvantages of implementing a CLIL approach in the curriculum will be compared and some of the learning strategies to develop the cognitive domain while teaching a foreign language will be explained. The changes required in terms of professional development for teachers and changing roles for students will be explored and the efficacy of introducing a CLIL approach for bilingualism in a globalised world will be promoted.

This introductory workshop, for coordinators and heads of departments, compares new leadership skills with old management skills in the administrative office. We will look at existing structures and consider the current calls for change in educational settings. We will analyse the needs of organizations, the nature of the change process and question to what extent you and your school are on the change-ready paradigm. We will examine a number of theories through the reflective process and look at the notion of creative leadership.The thrust is on forging sound relationships through listening, developing a system of effective communication and modelling natural authority rather than authority by position. 

This experiential workshop outlines the methodology for teaching English  using personalised ActionSacks, designed and constructed by English language teachers. The basic philosophy of a story sacks project used in the regular literacy programme in the UK will be outlined in order to clarify the theory. This methodology can be applied at all levels and for all abilities. An authentic, original ActionSack will be presented with the contents displayed and practical activities will be explored for participants to enjoy and understand the developmental aspects of Storydrama. The participants should leave the session with some new creative ideas for teaching English  with ActionSacks.

This presentation, on creative games in the language classroom, will explore teacher beliefs about the nature of creativity, break down myths about creativity being difficult and only for the gifted few  and will suggest strategies for getting students started on the process of creative speaking. There will be lots of strategies modelled for teachers to find their creative selves and to tap into the creative nature of all students. This will be a reflective plenary which will offer teachers food for thought for changing their classroom practice.

Presentación: La Semana de Educación Especial, Inglés en Acción, Ministerio de Educación, Buenos Aires, octubre 2011.

This PIPP examines the power of the Arts in education to empower the individual to construct a more equitable and sustainable society. We will explore recent changes in global educational paradigms and seek a vision for a better global society taking into account the Earth Charter, worldwide movements for a more creative curriculum and the necessity for a  transformative education for all. We will analyse drama as a social art and in particular its capacity to develop empathy. There will be little theory and lots of practice to test out this notion of the power of the arts to empower. The teachers should be able to put into practice many of the activities in their own classrooms whatever the level or age of their students.

This PIPP traces the development of a project based at the Ministry of Education in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to teach English through Drama for children with special needs,  for inclusion. It explains the rationale, summarises the theoretical background and presents the basic curriculum of using ActionSacks.

This experiential workshop relates the theory and practice of a programme, ‘English in Action’, teaching English through Drama, designed especially for the Ministry of Education’s Special Education Department in the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina.The specific needs and challenges of the population of our 500 students currently in the programme are outlined, from students with ADHD, phobia, emotional trauma, or dyslexia to wheel chair users and students confined to their houses or hospitals with terminal diseases.The theory will be briefly explained, based on sound evidence, while plenty of practice will serve to illustrate the efficacy of the methodology. The participants will leave with ideas for planning the why, the what and the how of teaching English to students with a challenging range of learning difficulties.