Slide

Drama and Theatre Education
教育戲劇和劇場

Text by: Fresco Su
撰文:蘇毅

Drama, Art Education and Me
我、戲劇、藝術教育

Drama is something intriguing. The first time I participated in it was at the age of twenty-five, when a friend who was the president of a college drama club invited me to play a part. In spite of my minor role as an amorous heartbreaker, I attended each rehearsal and became more actively involved as the performance date approached. Our show was welcomed enthusiastically on that day, and I was overwhelmed with delight and pride in the midst of flashing lights and rounds of thunderous applause.

I became officially engaged in the field of drama in 2007, when I became a member of an organisation in Shanghai called Uncertainty Theatre and also got involved in folk theatre group Down-Stream Garage/ Mecooon Space. In addition to daily rehearsals and performances, I staged an annual theatre festival with drama lovers. I embarked on my work at a modern art museum in the same year. Since then, “drama”, “art” and “art education” have gradually become a part of my life. It was also from that moment on that I started the journey of “knowing myself”.

When it comes to “knowing oneself”, I have to mention Thales, an ancient Greek philosopher. One day, he was asked what the most difficult thing was in the world, and he replied “knowing yourself”. Later, famous philosopher Socrates regarded “knowing thyself” as the core of his philosophy research. Montaigne, French thinker during the Renaissance, once said that the most vital thing in the world is to know yourself. “Knowing yourself” becomes an essential issue since it motivates self-observation and introspection; thus, humans are able to separate themselves from others, to define their own happiness as well as the truth and accordingly to control their destiny and achieve life aspirations.

‘Knowing yourself’ tends to be realised with the help of a certain medium or measure. For example, reading an article, watching a drama, experiencing a parting or life and death. Recalling my growth process, having an in-depth understanding of myself and exploring myself are all related to drama. The more I am involved in drama, the more it went beyond entertainment; drama has additional rich functions.

If the constant drama practice allows me to realise the multi-functionality of drama, my work of art education in the modern art museum inspires me to think about how to combine drama with education. When I pulled up the corner of a curtain, I immediately discovered the exciting wealth of treasures hidden behind it. This fascination inspired me to devote myself to research and development in such areas. Under the guidance and help of my directors, I came to study the postgraduate program of Drama and Theatre Education at the University of Warwick in Britain in 2010.

戲劇是件有意思的事,第一次和它接觸是25歲,當時一個好友是一所高校劇社的老社長,他將我引薦過去,在一出戲裡演一個多情的負心人,角色雖小,但也參與每場排練,隨著演出臨近越發投入,演出當天反響熱烈,燈光閃爍、掌聲雷動,快樂而得意。

真正走進戲劇是07年,那年在上海加入一個叫“測不準戲劇機構”的組織,並和上海的一個民間劇場“下河迷倉”結了緣,除了日常排練、演出,每年還和其他戲劇愛好者一起籌辦戲劇節。同年,我進入藝術館開始工作,自那以後,“戲劇”、“藝術”、“藝術教育”這三個詞便逐漸匯成了我的主要生活。也就是從那時起,我開始對一些問題進行思考,諸如“我從哪裡來”、“要到哪裡去”,重新開始“認識自己”。

說到“認識自己”,古希臘哲學家泰勒斯(Thales)有一天被問到,什麽是世上最困難之事,他回答:“認識你自己。後來哲學家蘇格拉底(Socrates)將“認識你自己”作為自己哲學研究的核心命題,文藝復興時代法國思想家蒙田(Montaigne)說:世界上最重要的事情就是認識自我。它的核心意義在於啟動了人對自我的觀察和內省,如此,人才能夠將自己與別人區分開來,定義自己的幸福、真理,從而掌握自己的命運,實現人生。

而認識自己,往往需要借助某種媒介或途徑,例如讀一篇文章、看一場戲,經歷一場離別或生死,回想自己的成長歷程,能夠深入地認識自己、探索自己都和戲劇有關。隨著戲劇實踐的逐漸深入,我越發感受到戲劇除娛樂之外還有更豐富的功能。

如果說不斷的戲劇實踐使我意識到戲劇具有更多的功能性,那麽在藝術館從事藝術教育工作便啟發了我思索如何將戲劇與教育結合起來。當我掀開這窗簾一角,我立刻意識到這之後激動人心的豐富寶藏,便決定將此作為今後的研究領域和發展方向。2010年,在藝術館領導的指引和幫助下,我來到英國華威大學(University of Warwick)學習教育戲劇和劇場的研究生專業。

 

Art and Education
藝術、教育

After the one-year postgraduate program, I stayed in Britain and continued to do my research, for the purpose of acquiring more theories on art education and conducting art practice, enabling me to better understand the values underlying art and its relationship with education.

In the recent century, the very concept of art was challenged through the practice of, two significant artists, Marcel Duchamp and Joseph Beuys. The former took a lead to demolish the technical threshold of art in the artistic palace; the latter simply attempted to abolish the distinction between art and life and waved the flag of ‘everyone is an artist’, arguing that art does not need specific material results like exhibitions or performances and emphasising that what counts more is conversation about the world in which we all live.

In that context, then, art does not merely function as an object, nor take beautiful, sacred or abstract forms presented in galleries and museums for a handful of people to appreciate; art’s core value lies in being an accessible platform for people to engage with. It does not mean that everyone should be an artist or the people working in art industry. Dancing is not necessarily for becoming a dancer and drawing is not necessarily for becoming a professional painter either. Art creates various means for people to observe, experience and explore the world and to enrich their understanding of their life, just as Beuys said, “everyone is an artist”.

In terms of education, logic, dialectics, and some scientific principles are supposed to be mastered, yet these subjects are far from enough. In formal education, introspection and observation are often overlooked; these can be reconstructed through artistic education. Young children who are just learning about the world surrounding them are necessarily helped by an artistic approach. The role of teachers, in the mean time, needs to be reconsidered. Teachers need to break free from the stereotype of being top-down information in order to develop more creative pedagogical practices and welcome new academic possibilities.

Art, therefore, should not only serve as a discipline or a ‘game for the minority’, but also be more actively integrated into teaching activities and as a means to acquire and expand knowledge. Art should work as the basis of human life and education.

經過一年的碩士課程學習,畢業以後,我留在英國繼續研究課題,學習更多的藝術教育理論以及進行藝術實踐,這個過程使我愈發認識到藝術所包含的價值以及藝術和教育之間的關係。

藝術存在至今已有三萬多年,而其發生最大的轉變卻是在這近一百年。這一百年裡有兩位重要的藝術家,一位是杜尚(Marcel Duchamp),另一位是博伊斯(Joseph Beuys),其中一個帶了個頭,將藝術的技術門檻從藝術“聖殿”中生生拆走,另一個幹脆直接試圖取消藝術與生活的區別,舉起“人人都是藝術家”的大旗,宣揚藝術並非需要有具體的物質結果進行展覽或演出,而強調人對社會生活的參與,與之產生直接的對話和聯繫更為重要。

在這種背景之下,藝術的價值便不再僅僅作為客體對象,以美的、神聖的或是抽象看不懂的形式呈現在畫廊、博物館裡供少數人所觀賞,它的價值更在於作為一種日常容易接近的途徑讓更多人參與進來。這並不是說每個人都要成為藝術家或藝術工作者,跳舞不是一定要變成專業舞者,畫畫也不是一定要變成職業畫家,跳舞和畫畫只是作為一種途徑,去觀察、體驗、感悟,去豐富自己對世界的理解與感受。這也就是博伊斯所說“人人都是藝術家”的意思。

而對於教育,邏輯、辯證、一些科學原理是必須要學會的,然而那並不是全部,在學校教育中喪失的那些重要的、微妙的有關如何看待世界、認識自己都可以通過藝術得以重建。對於那些尚未成熟的孩子,他們還處於靠聲音、圖形、圖像、交互活動等來了解這個世界的階段,更需要用藝術的方法去進行學習。老師,同樣也需要進行重建,不再是僅僅對信息進行傳遞,更要不斷地變得更具創造性。

藝術因此,不應只作為一門學科或“少數人的遊戲”,它更應融入到教學活動中成為一種途徑和方法來獲取和擴張知識,藝術應是生活和教育的基礎。

The Problems of Our Education
我們的教育問題

Education has remained a big problem for all ages. Even in many western countries, education is sometimes criticised as being too utilitarian and inharmonious with demands of the progressing talents of society. In China, education problems are deeply rooted and it is hard to explore these problems further.

Influential British arts educator Sir Ken Robinson said that their education system cultivates people in the same way as we exploit the earth — with the utilitarian purpose. When it comes to today’s utilitarian society, such education is likely to help kids seek financially satisfying jobs in the future, but does not tap into existing personal values, recognise and pursue beauty or discuss about and develop insights into moral and ethical matters. As ‘subjects’ of utilitarian education, students are therefore denied the best things life has to offer.

Despite thirty years of educational reform in China, teachers still focus on imparting pragmatic knowledge which may allow the students to eventually earn a living. School education is college-oriented; the humanities are all but ignored and even art education itself tends to be empty, utilitarian, blind and vain.

In our result-oriented education system, the constant pursuit of test scores turns the art of teaching into something rigid and mechanical. In order to make the effects of teaching easily assessable, either in knowledge-based disciplines or in the humanities, students’ individual understanding and digestion of the world will be ignored and replaced by a single standardised answer, all while they are systematically ranked and defined as either good or bad.

In classrooms, students are often treated as ignorant, while teachers consider themselves owners and authorities of knowledge, transmitting information and imposing knowledge on students without dialogue. However, if students’ personal experiences, feelings and thoughts are unable to merge into learning, they are only passively involved in class. In fact, students should be the real subjects in teaching activities and teachers should act as the facilitators of interpretation. An education system in which students are not subjects and teachers only work as executors of education measures and deliverers of teaching contents not only runs counter to the real purpose of education, but also goes against the changeable relationship between teachers and students, teaching and learning.

Sir Ken Robinson believed that diversity of human abilities should be redefined and uncertain futures embraces innovation more. With high expectations of their kids, parents send them to school, hoping they will learn skills and enjoy a bright future. Actually, kids who used to be different from each other are undergoing a uniform transformation in the education assembly line. Their most valuable uniqueness, talent, imagination and creativity are being erased little by little rather than being developed further.

Our discussions about democracy are mainly conducted from a political perspective; however, far more than a political topic, democracy serves as the foundation of human civilisation and permeates every aspect of life. Education should also be democratic. Only by taking democratic measures in education can we truly carry out humanistic education and make cultivation of aesthetics, creativity and imagination possible; only in this way can children really learn to respect others and work in a team. In this regard, the fundamental contradiction between system and quality education becomes a big flaw underlying in our education.

教育古往今來都是個大問題,即使是“先進”的西方國家,他們的教育也被認為太過功利,不符合社會進步對人才的需求以及對人性的重視;而在中國,教育的問題根結很深,一旦追究下去,便是無力。

英國的肯·羅賓遜(Sir Ken Robinson)爵士是藝術教育領域影響頗深的一位學者,他說到:我們的教育體系培養我們的方式正如我們開採地球的方式,以功利為目的。在一個功利社會的背景之下,此種教育或許可以有利於孩子在未來謀取一份職業,但缺乏對個人價值的挖掘和激發,缺乏對於美的認識和追求,缺乏對道德、倫理的討論和感悟,學生作為受教育的主體“人”,其生命中最具靈魂的部分實際上是被蒙蔽的。

我國教改之路已有三十年,我們的教學重點如今仍放在那些以後可能讓我們得以謀生的實用主義知識之上,學校教學方向直指大學之門,有關“人”的人文主義學科遠沒有在學校得到足夠的重視,藝術教育本身,也往往是形式、功利、跟風和虛榮的。

我們的教育體制,則是以結果為導向,對教學成果評估的快速、精確、標準化的過度追求,使得教學方法機械而僵硬,教育目標異化為績效考核。這意味著為了使教學效果易於評估,無論是知識學科還是人文學科,學生自己對於這個世界個性化的理解和消化將被忽視,取而代之的是標準化的統一答案,學生在被狹隘的方式來進行排名和定義好壞。

在課堂上,學生常被當作一無所知的對象,老師將自己作為知識的擁有者和權威,在缺乏對話的情境下對孩子進行信息傳遞和知識灌輸;而如果孩子的個人經歷、情感和認知無法融入到學習中去,學習只能是處於被動狀態。實際上,學生才應該是教學活動中真正的主體,老師應該幫每一個學習者創造屬於他們自己的模式去解讀世界。當學生不成為教育的主體,老師也只是教育手段的執行者、教學內容的傳遞者,這種教育不僅違背了教育的真正目的,也違背了老師和學生,教和學之間關係可變的本質。

對於不確定的未來,羅賓遜爵士認為未來社會需要重新定義人類能力的多樣化,不確定的未來更需要創造力才能應對。家長總是對孩子的未來充滿期望,而他們所做的僅僅是將孩子送進學校以為他們在那裡學習本領為以後立足,事實上那些原本千差萬別、與眾不同的孩子只是被送進流水線接受統一化改造,他們最為可貴的獨特性、天賦、想象力和創造力不僅沒有被開發反而被一點一點地抹去。

當我們在談論民主,大多是從它的政治範疇來談論這個話題,而實際上它遠不僅僅是政治的,更是人類文明活動的基礎滲透在生活的方方面面,教育理所應當也是民主的。只有這樣,我們才有可能真正地進行人文教育,審美、創造力、想象力的培養才成為可能;也只有這樣,孩子也才能夠真正學會尊重他人以及與他人合作。而在這些這方面,體制教育與素質教育的根本矛盾成為我們教育的一個硬傷。

Characteristics of Drama/Theatre Activities and Essence of Drama and Theatre Education
戲劇/劇場活動的特質,以及什麽是教育戲劇和劇場

Here I return to my earlier discussion of Greece. Theatre and democracy, two of humanities greatest inventions, both originated in ancient Greece. This cannot be a coincidence, there must be a link between the two. If ancient Greeks regarded “who am I?”, “where do I come from?”, and “where am I going” as the ultimate philosophical questions and began the human exploration of the meaning of life from there, they had raised questions about life through drama and accordingly laid a foundation for the development of human civilisation and society long time ago.

Inspired by history, ancient Greek playwrights wrote plays and arranged rehearsals. On stage, actors in character constantly asked the audience “what should I do?” This question in the face of Greek drama’s moral dilemmas and crises spurred the audience to discussion and reflection while providing guidance. Dialogues made participants, both actors and audience, open to the outside world and put everyone into independent consciousness. It was in such an environment that democracy was nurtured. Therefore, dramatic and theatrical activities possess two indispensable elements for the teaching processes—dialogue and democracy.

The practice of drama has developed over the course of more than two thousand years and has, in that time, undergone many changes, but now as then, in the performing arts, the performers are the real subjects of the theatrical activities. Thus, teaching approaches characterised by the twin mediums of drama or theatre allow students and performers to share the same identity and work as the subjects in creating/teaching and learning processes.

As the most comprehensive type among all art forms, dramatic arts includes performing arts, visual arts, sound effect, choreography, lighting and so on. Each field can be designed into a course boasting a wealth of content. Take performing arts as an example. It not only achieves practices of text comprehension, text writing and verbal expression through the form of stage plays, but also realises training of imagination, creativity, aesthetics and physique by means of physical/dancing arts.

The teaching mode with drama and theatre as a medium is mainly divided into two branches. The first one is Drama in Education, which introduces drama elements into classes, such as “role-playing” or a variety of drama games in teaching. It is unnecessary for students to be equipped with acting skills; all they need to do is being willing to engage in games, play parts, experience a story or complete a task by communicating and collaborating with others under the guidance of supervisors. It aims to stimulate students to experiment on their own without right or wrong answers, rewards or punishments. In such a relaxing and safe teaching and learning environment, children are encouraged to show themselves and explore potential capabilities, so that they will take challenges and solve problems in real life with larger confidence and therefore greater innovation.

The second mode is Theatre in Education. Teachers here are performers, creating dramatic works about topics relevant to students, motivating them to ponder questions raised through performance, spurring them to dialogue and debate. At the same time, the performer-teachers invite students to interact, for instance, asking them for advice and to complete dialogues or to help make choices and decisions, etc. and then continue with performances according to students’ ideas. After the end of plays performed by teachers, discussions are usually carried out. The purpose is to make students be aware of their existence in a larger social context and thus develop a more in-depth understanding of cultural, social, moral and ethical elements and also know how to deal with their relationships with others and the society.

I believe that teaching approaches based in the performing arts such as Drama in Education and Theatre in Education should be explored further by educators. There is plenty of room here to discover and develop new teaching theories and methods and break educational boundaries as well.

由此我要談回到希臘,劇場和民主這兩項人類歷史的偉大發明同在古希臘發源並不是某種巧合。民主的誕生,和劇場之間存在著某種必然聯繫。如果說古希臘人最終將人生的終極哲學問題定在“我是誰”、“我從哪兒來”、“我要到哪兒去”開啟了人類對於生命意義的探索,那麽在更早以前,他們已經通過戲劇對人生發出提問,並為人類社會的文明發展奠定了基礎。

古希臘的劇作家們從現實中獲得靈感,將其改編成本排演成劇,演員在一個個道德困境和決斷危機時向觀眾反復發問“我該怎麽辦,我該怎麽辦?”,使演員及觀眾進行對話和思考,從而對現實生活進行指導。對話使得每一個人向外界敞開,讓每一個人處於有獨立意識和可變性的狀態中,而民主,正是在這樣的環境中得以孕育。戲劇/劇場活動因此具備了教學活動中所必需的兩項重要內容——對話及民主。

人類的戲劇活動發展已有兩千多年,其中經歷了很多變化,但本質上作為一門表演藝術,表演者是戲劇/劇場活動中真正的主體,因此以戲劇/劇場作為媒介的教學方法,使得學生和表演者的身份合二為一,成為創作/教學/過程中的主體。

戲劇/劇場藝術在所有藝術形式裡是一門最具綜合性的藝術種類,它包括了表演藝術、視覺藝術、音效、舞美、燈光等等,每一個環節都能設計成為具有相當教學內涵的課程。例如表演藝術,既可以通過話劇表演藝術形式實現在文本理解、文本創作、口頭表達方面的訓練,也可以通過肢體/舞蹈藝術形式來實現想象力、創造力、審美、形體方面的訓練。

以戲劇和劇場作為媒介的教學方式目前主要分為兩大支系:第一是教育戲劇,即在課程當中引用戲劇元素,例如“角色扮演”或各種戲劇遊戲進行教學。學生不需要有特殊的演技,只需要在導師的帶領下一起玩耍或成為某個角色,通過與他人溝通、協作,共同去經歷一個故事、完成一個任務。這個過程旨在經歷、體驗,沒有是非對錯、獎懲排名,輕松、安全的教學環境使得孩子更加大膽地去呈現自己,挖掘、開發更深層次的能力與自我,從而在現實生活中更加自信更具有創造性地去面對困難、解決問題。

第二個是教育劇場,老師同時作為表演者,針對學生群體當下比較關注的話題,例如早戀等改編成劇,在表演過程中通過對話和爭辯引起學生思考,並邀請學生進行互動,例如向學生征求意見、讓學生代為對話或讓學生幫忙做選擇、決策等,再根據學生想法將表演進行下去,劇演結束後再集中進行討論。其意圖使學生在更大的社會範圍內意識到自己的存在,從而對文化的、社會的、道德的、倫理的各個方面有更深的感知,更加知道如何去處理人和他人,人和社會的問題。

除了教育戲劇和教育劇場,筆者認為以表演藝術作為教學途徑也應成為教育戲劇和劇場的之外的另一重要支系。這個領域是充分開放的,可以由更多的人來擴充教學理論和方法,突破教學邊界。

The Program of Drama and Theatre Education
教育戲劇和劇場專業

Relevant programs have currently been set up in some universities and colleges in Britain, Australia and America, among which the University of Warwick, a Top 10 University in Britain, enjoys highest prestige and first-class faculty in this regard.

The program at the University of Warwick aims to providing schools, educational institutions and community centres with courses and teaching methods. Boasting a scientific structure and richly-experienced teachers with wide-ranging interests, it enjoys a considerable flexibility and accordingly satisfies students who come from various academic and cultural backgrounds. Based on students’ professional backgrounds as well as career experiences and aspirations, teachers help them choose topics of term papers and directions of their graduate theses. Through one-year programs of academic study, students are equipped with fundamental theories of drama and theatre education along with teaching and research skills. After graduation, they are capable enough to work as lecturers in the area of drama and theatre education at schools, consultants at theatres, educational officials in governments, head community theatres or apply for PhD.

As a program which integrates academic theories and practice, it attaches great importance to the balance of teaching theory and making artistic work. During my stay there, chairs were arranged in a circle in the first-half class and theoretical learning was conducted; in the second-half period, chairs were all removed and each student was asked to engage in the workshop. Theories were understood by means of practice and teachers imparted drama experience and teaching approaches step by step and hand by hand.

Thanks to a good cooperation with a few drama and educational institutions, including the Royal Shakespeare Company and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, the college arranges workshops and offers students chances to watch dramas from time to time; it also invites distinguished specialists in drama education such as John O’Toole to conduct workshops or give lectures; in addition, it organises students to participate in drama education summits and observe experienced teachers giving class and even assisting them in making practice at local schools. With a variety of teaching and learning forms together with a wealth of practical activities, this program stimulates students to consolidate acquired knowledge, broaden horizons and build resources, thus helping them to lay a solid foundation for their future academic research and teaching.

The principal teacher in this program, Professor Joe Winston, is a leading figure in the field. He is widely published. He takes deep interests in aesthetic education, the role of stories in drama education, application of Shakespeare in teaching and second language teaching with the aid of drama. He has also published many books about drama education, such as Beauty and Education, Beginning Drama:4-11 (which has a Chinese edition), Drama, Literacy and Moral Education 5-11 (also in a Chinese edition) and also edited Drama Education and Second Language Learning. Motivated by a long-term interest in China, he has visited Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou more than once and carried out workshops and other teaching activities there. Exchange with China’s education industry and accumulated experience of teaching Chinese students allow him to develop a better understanding of China’s educational environment and background as well as demands of Chinese students.

Professor Jonathan Neelands, another well-known teacher in the college, serves as the chairman of the Department of Drama and Theatre Education at Warwick and is the prize-winner of the National Quality Teaching Award enacted by the British Higher Education Academy. His sensitivity to education modes under different political systems allows students from different educational backgrounds to have deep insights into education.

Rachel King, a major lecturer, used to be the class manager here. She is quite experienced in dealing with specific problems and urgent requirements that Chinese students encounter in their learning processes. Taking all elements mentioned above into account, Warwick is a second-to-none choice for Chinese students to study Drama and Theatre Education.

I would like to emphasise that as an educational discipline, Drama and Theatre Education is especially created for students who will devote to education in their future career and therefore applicants with only a drama background should think twice.

Since this is an interdisciplinary major, anyone with education or drama background is qualified to apply and applicants with backgrounds in both are preferred. It is not necessary for them to have teacher’s certificates, but they should not only have interests in teaching children, and have interest in working in local schools where they can gain practical experience before going to study in Britain, which will definitely benefit their academic life here. Besides, they are required to submit a personal statement, in which causes for selecting this program are clarified.

MA Drama Education and English Language Teaching (ELT), a new program in teaching English by means of drama, is set up in the college. Applicants interested in it can get more information from the Warwick website.

目前英國、澳洲和美國都有一些高校有相關專業設置,其中排名英國前十位的英國華威大學在該專業上享有最頂尖級的聲譽和師資配置。華威大學的該專業方向主要是為了學校、教育機構及社區中心提供教學課程和方法。該課程結構科學,老師教學經驗豐富,涉及領域廣泛,使之具有相當靈活性來面對各種來自不同教學和文化背景的學生。任課老師會根據每個學生過去的專業背景、職業經歷以及未來的職業發展方向幫助他們選擇每門課程的論文題目以及畢業論文的研究方向。學生通過一年的學習,預期可具備基本或相當的戲劇和劇場教育理論基礎及教研技巧,畢業後可作為學校教育戲劇和劇場領域的專家講師、劇場的教育部門顧問、政府的教育官員或社區戲劇工作者,也可以申請博士繼續攻讀博士學位。

作為一門學術理論和實踐活動高度結合的課程,該專業十分重視理論學習和實踐的配比和平衡。筆者在學習過程中,每堂課通常開始半堂課將椅子圍成一圈進行理論學習,後半堂便把椅子移走以工作坊的形式讓每一個人參與到其中,本堂課所學的相關理論通過實踐來加深理解,老師手把手地將戲劇經驗及教學方法傳遞給學生。

由於華威與外界一些戲劇及教育機構有著良好的合作關係,例如皇家莎士比亞公司(Royal Shakespeare Company)、伯明翰話劇團劇院(Birmingham Repertory Theatre)等,院系會不時組織交流工作坊和演出觀摩;院系還會不時邀請國際上其他傑出教育戲劇從事者,例如約翰·歐突爾(John O’Toole)等來為學生開展工作坊或進行授課;此外,院系還會組織學生參加相關的(戲劇)教育峰會,及去當地學校觀摩教學經驗豐富的老師進行現場教學,並協助有意願的同學選擇當地的學校進行教學實踐。多樣的教學形式加上豐富的業內活動使得學習生活立體,大大有助於學生鞏固知識、開闊眼界、結識同行、建立資源,為今後從事學術研究或教學工作打下基礎。

該專業的主要授課老師喬·溫斯頓(Joe Winston)教授是該領域的領頭人物之一,他在各種專業期刊上有諸多發表,眾多文章被國內外該領域認作最具職業及專業性的學術文章。他的學術研究領域包括美學教育、故事在戲劇教育中的角色、莎士比亞在教學上的應用以及用戲劇來教第二語言。他出版過眾多教育戲劇的書籍,例如 《美和教育(Beauty and Education)》、《開始玩戲劇:4到11歲(Beginning Drama: 4-11)》(已有中文譯本)、《戲劇、語文與道德教育:5到11歲(Drama, Literacy and Moral Education: 5-11)》(已有中文譯本)以及參與編輯的《教育戲劇及第二語言學習(Drama Education and Second Language Learning)》。溫斯頓教授一直以來對中國十分感興趣,他曾屢次造訪北京、上海、廣州開展工作坊及教學活動。數年來通過與中國教育行業的交流以及對中國學生的教學經驗的積累使得他對中國的教育環境、背景以及中國學生的需求有了很好的了解。

另一著名的授課老師喬納森·尼蘭茲(Jonothan Neelands)教授是華威大學教育戲劇和劇場專業的主席,也是英國高等教育學院所設立的國家級優質教學獎的獲得成員。他對不同政治體制下的教學體系具有相當的敏銳度,使得來自不同政治環境背景的學生對教育能夠產生更加深入更有針對性的理解。

另一主力講師瑞秋·金(Rachel King)曾做過課程負責人,她對處理中國學生在學習過程當中出現的具體問題和需求有非常充分的經驗,這使得對於中國學生來說,華威成為選擇學習教育戲劇和劇場十分理想之地。

筆者在這裡想特別提醒,教育戲劇和劇場專業是一門教育學科,特別針對未來職業規劃是教育方面的同學而設計,僅有戲劇背景但無從事教育行業計劃的申請者需要謹慎。

由於這是一門跨學科專業,任何具有教育或戲劇相關專業、從業背景的人都可以申請,兩者兼具為最佳。申請者並不需要具有教師資格證書,然而申請者除了需要對從事少兒教學有相當興趣之外,學校建議申請者在赴英學習之前最好能夠在當地找一間學校工作一段時間以獲取一些工作經驗,這樣會很有利於碩士期間的學習。此外申請者在申請該專業時需向院系提交一份個人說明,解釋為何選擇申請該科目。

另外,院系今年開設了另一門用戲劇方式來進行英文教學的碩士學位課程--戲劇教育與英語教育(MA Drama Education and English Language Teaching (ELT)),有興趣的同學可以去網站搜尋相關信息。

Conclusion
結尾

Currently being applied in various teaching areas like Chinese literacy, foreign languages, history and geography and etc., drama and theatre education is particularly vital for humanities. Drama’s unique democratic and open way of teaching helps it not only become humanised, motivational and acceptable in teaching, but also play a constructive role in developing children’s personality, emotion-management ability, teamwork, critical thinking and morality; its colourful, wide-ranging teaching methods as well as art elements inside make it inevitable to foster children’s aesthetic, curiosity, imagination and creativity.

Due to long-term development of art and education concepts, a large amount of manpower and capital spent in research and practice, changes in productivity and production relations and the constantly progressed society, we have no excuse to confine our kids to the conventional teaching and learning mode, such as blind recitation, imitation and copy. Those who say “not to make a bet on kids” and “so much afraid of taking a joke of kids’ future” are actually lazy intellectually. Everyone needs to face the laws underlying social growth, seek means to bridge the gap between institutional flaws and future demands and cultivate imagination, creativity and aesthetic so as to adjust to the uncertain future.

Wealthy practical accumulation of drama and theatre education together with a solid theoretical foundation endows it with considerable possibilities in the future, which makes sense for both educational programs set in governments, schools and educational institutions and those students who determine to treat education as their life-long career. Huge possibilities and rich innovation incorporated in theatres enable them to yield something as big as the civilised system of democracy and also nurture greater wisdom and feelings which are a must in the establishment of a more advanced human civilisation. I hope more people would benefit from it.

教育戲劇和劇場目前在眾多教學領域都有研究和應用,例如語文、外語、歷史、地理等基礎學科,其在人文學科裡的作用尤為重大。它所特有的民主、開放的教學方式,使之不僅在的教學上更加符合人性,更容易激勵學生和讓學生接受,還在孩子成長過程中更為重要的性格養成、情緒管理、團隊合作、批判思想及道德倫理方面有著重要的建設作用;其豐富多彩的教學方法及其本身包含的藝術內質,使孩子在學習過程中審美、好奇心、想象力、創造力等方面的培養和提升也成為某種必然。

藝術和教育觀念長期的發展,大量人力物力在研究實踐上的投入,生產力和生產關係的改變以及社會不斷前進的步伐使得我們再沒有更多理由停留在一味背誦、模仿和復制的舊有教學模式中。那些聲稱“不敢拿自己的孩子作賭注”、“不敢拿孩子的未來開玩笑”的人,與其說不敢讓他們的孩子去接受風險不如說是他們自身知識上的一種懶惰。所有人都需要面對社會發展變化的必然規律,找到一個途徑去彌補制度缺橫和未來需要之間的斷層,去培養和提升想象力、創造力以及審美,從而適應今後不確定的未來。

教育戲劇和劇場長期的實踐積累以及它所具有的堅實理論基礎使得這個領域在未來的發展具有相當的空間和可能,無論作為學校、政府、教育機構的教育項目或是那些有志投身教育的學生的職業規劃都是具有相當意義的。劇場所蘊藏著極豐富的可能性和創造性,它既能孕育出大到民主一般的文明制度,也能孕育出人類邁向更高文明所需要的更高的智慧和情感,願有更多的人能夠從中獲益。

 

 

                   

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