Here are 5 top tips for teaching Drama:
1. Make sure you position yourself in the classroom so that you have a clear view of the students at all times. With students moving around a comparatively large space, you need to be alert to potential accidents.
2. Arm yourself with drama games as starter activities to prepare the students for the physical activity to come, reduce self-consciousness and foster a creative play mindset. A useful resource is the Jessica Swale Drama Games books from Nick Hern Books.
3. Update your subject knowledge regularly, by attending as much theatre as your finances will allow and becoming familiar with as many plays as you can, both traditional and more current fare. This will give you a rich resource bank to draw from, and avoid you getting trapped in a ‘deadly style of drama teaching’ where the students are not exposed to new and diverse material.
4. Plan your theatre trips in the school calendar well in advance to give yourself a deadline to work to but also plenty of time to organise bookings, paperwork and risk assessments.
5. Involve as many members of the school community as you can in your productions. It may take a village to raise a child, but it also takes a school community to stage a major school production! Who can sew? Build sets? Sell tickets? Choreograph dances? Supervise backstage? Control the Lighting and Sound desks. Play in the Orchestra? Cater for interval refreshments? It is a logistical quagmire, so readily and thankfully accept the help of any member of staff that wants to be involved.
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