M&M&M Analysis Content: Theatre Arts

Quick, name five musicals off the top of your head...go!  Ok, that's not fair, you're not a theatre kid so that might be really hard.  Well, the truth is, it's hard for me too.  I have a degree in theatre and have been involved in many, many productions in a variety of ways, but I would have a hard time name five musicals quickly.  Honestly, I don't love them.  That's not to say I think poorly of them, I was just never the kid that listened to musical sound tracks in the car and if there were auditions for one, I generally passed.  Here's the problem with that as I prepare to have my own theatre class/program, Utah loves musicals!  The big school wide productions in most of the northern Utah districts are musicals, which is what I'm going to have to choose and direct one day.  This could be a problem....

I love the idea the theatre teacher I am observing came up with for teaching her kids about musicals (largely because I have learned a lot about different musicals because of it).  Every Monday is "Musical Monday".  I'll give you two guess what they do on Musical Monday....Ok, I'll just tell you.  The students have worked in small groups to prepare a slide show presentation of a musical of their choice and one group presents their musical on their assigned Monday.  They must have a slide for:

• Title and play write
• Names of Characters
• History of play
• Main plot
• Group song with link to show song
• Female solo song with link to show song
• Male solo song with link to show song

In addition, they have to incorporate a way to have audience participation.

In this particular assignment, the most obvious need in terms of metacognition is to allow the students to choose their platform for presentation instead of requiring a slide show presentation style.  The teacher has set up a good chance for declarative metacognition in that they can choose their musical but I think she can take it a step further by giving them more control of the procedural aspect of the presentation such as they demonstrate songs and dialogue, a story board, or having the audience read some of the lines.  This would require much more effort in the analyzing and planning stages of this assignment for both students and teacher.   The teacher would have to be more involved in the monitoring process when students are working in their groups to enact their strategies for presentation so the conditional aspects of the assignment are met.  The evaluation is the presentation of their musical.  The students I have seen present so far do not show a mastery of the musical.  They have more knowledge about the play than they did before but many do not involve the whole group when presenting, have a poor procedure for audience participation, and do not usually show how the play ends.  

This is an assignment where the teacher can really help students understand how to develop a growth mindset.  Even I fall into the rut of a fixed mindset by saying, "I'm not good enough at singing to be in musicals", which is really how I have felt for most of my life.  If the teacher requires students to put together a presentation that does not involve technology but forces them to utilize their own creativity and skills, I believe it would open up a world of possibility to strengthening the student's growth mindset.  If I were in a group and feeling that old way I felt about not being able to sing well enough, the teacher could give instruction on tone, pitch, and projection.  She could also workshop ways to be involved in a song without feeling too vulnerable such as performing in a chorus number or small group number.  In this way students could build grit by choosing the part of the presentation they are interested in, practicing their part with the purpose to show the class they can do it in hopes of teaching something new.  Suddenly, my internal dialogue is not, "I can't sing" but "I have really improved and have more confidence in being in musicals".

Here is the age-old question that every actor asks him/herself, or the director, or the teacher, or their friend, or even a hobo on the street, anyone who will listen.....What's my motivation?  Seriously, this is the back bone of acting.  Why do we do what we do?  What motivates me to cross the stage, say that line, break out into a dance number?  Motivation is tantamount on stage.  As it turns out, it is tantamount in the class room too.  Students are usually already motivated to be in theatre class because they chose to be there, however, that does not mean they are motivated to put together a major presentation on a musical.  I think the teacher could create more cognitive arousal by asking them to chose the way they will present.  Hopefully, this will encourage intrinsically motivated choices on how they present and what they chose to do to teach the material.  This is my over arching goal in being a theatre teacher, to build self-efficacy.  This process would also strongly support Self-Determination Theory.  Autonomy is supported by letting the students choose the medium by which they present, the musical they present, and the people they work with.  Belonging is supported during the monitoring stage when students work together and with the teacher to create a presentation they are all involved in and can be proud of.  Competence is supported by promoting a growth mindset, and ensuring they will present a musical they have learned, are interested in, and learned a new skill in order to teach the musical.  I think this makes subject matter that may seem boring relevant and fun!  

The parameters for the assignment are clear, but through the process of metacognition, using a growth mindset, and focusing on mastery goal theory, these students walk away with more than just an understanding of musicals.  More importantly, they leave this assignment with increased confidence in themselves.