PSYCHODRAMA

by

Silke-Katrin Kunze

INHALTSVERZEICHNIS:

GENRES OF DRAMA

DRAMA GAMES 4

DRAMA PEDAGOGY 6

PSYCHODRAMATURGICS 7

PSYCHODRAMA 8

INSTRUMENTS 9

PROTAGONIST-CENTERED PSYCHODRAMA 10

GROUP-CENTERED PSYCHODRAMA 11

ENGLISH EXAMPLE 12

FINALE 15

BIBLIOGRAPHY 16

Genres of Drama 

Drama Games ¹  

When traveling back in time, say six years, I see myself at school, a twelfth grader then, practising for a theater play. Those were the days of "king Kreon" from "Antigone," and there is a great deal of what I would give to live them once more - so much fun and joy, - and what an amount of text to learn! Whereas today? For four years already I am preparing myself to become a teacher. There is a saying, "school is supposed to be fun." I have been to six different schools in my life, where I had to deal with different kinds of difficult situations: several psychological injuries by fellow students causing grief to me. Maybe because I was not easy to be dealt with. It is the responsibility of a teacher to deal with all sorts of students and problems, resulting in the change of lives. In the movie "Mr. Holland′s Opus" the quotation: "A teacher′s job is to encourage his students", is found. Does that not tear the heart? It does, for, how can something partly so emotional be achieved? From my personal experience I say it depends as much on the chosen recipe as on the correct measure of ingredients. Most certainly, do I want my students to live moments of fun and joy, such as I experienced a few years ago. My assistants: drama games applicable to attain educational aims. There are different categories and subcategories to drama games: e.g. figure theater, simulation, charade, mime, dance, magic, as well as fantasy travel. Three major streams are distinguishable from a simulation dividing it into gaming, computer simulation or role play, which is probably the drama game known to teachers and students all over the world. The figure theater also has subdivisions, statue - or puppet theater, for instance. Depending on the age, the students could choose from the latter in between shadow-, finger-, hand- and stick puppets, or even puppets on strings, like Spejbl and Hurvinek. If those are the games, then what can actually be dramatized with them? Much choice: dialogs, everyday situations, fairy tales, feelings, paintings or photographs, poems, songs, stories. Of course, every single one of these has to find the drama game(s), suiting it best. The reason is easily comprehensible: not every drama game is fit for everything just mentioned! By matching subjects with games in class, school is able to turn into an institution of "learning by doing." This phrase reminds me of how I learnt to rope. It must have been in September 1996, when I was on a guest ranch in Arizona. So badly wanting to learn how to rope, I was first shown how to do it and then insisted on practicing on my own. No word can express the pride I felt the moment I had done it correctly for the very first time! A look at different studies similar to this experience show that a positive effect like this is of common occurrence, thus why not teach senior students something about the American legal system and then ask them to apply their knowledge in examples of gaming, because if the same happened to them, they would not only enjoy learning, but also school!

However, all of this may be easier said than done. Many aspects are to be considered in a drama game. Drama techniques, for example, demand a teacher′s attention. They are supposed to make learning fun and have to involve the whole learner! To achieve this, linguistic -, cognitive -, social -, affective - as well as physical objectives need consideration. Aims are: to build confidence and autonomy, to communicate, to coordinate body movements, to develop empathy, to encourage working in a team, to experiment with language, to extend the memory capacity, to imitate actions, to improve pronunciation and intonation, to increase concentration abilities, to learn words, to overcome prejudices, to practice grammatical structures, to provide a positive feeling of experience and development, to reduce anxiety, and to train listening. Yet, despite the long enumeration, this listing is only an extract.

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1 vgl.: Dr. Marita Füchtner (WS 2000/2001) Drama Games in Education, Dresden: Arbeitsblatt, 19.10.2000. & Dr. Marita Füchtner (WS 2000/2001) Drama Techniques, Dresden: Arbeitsblatt, 26.10.2000. & Dr. Marita Füchtner (WS 2000/2001) Drama Activities Æ Drama Games, Dresden: Arbeitsblatt, 09.11.2000. & E. I. Tselikas (1999) Dramapädagogik im Sprachunterricht, Zürich: Orell Füssli Verlag AG.