Vygotsky TIPR Content: Theatre
The theatre world loves a bit of drama....ok, quite a bit of drama. We like things to be interesting, emotional, and relevant. The bigger the interest, the more emotional and the more relevant, the better. So, the debate between Piaget's and Vygotsky's theory of development really peaked my interest. There are parts of Piaget that I relate to and make sense to me, particularly his theories on how we classify the information we receive into schemas by assimilation or accommodation. I also love the idea of introducing new material by relating it to an existing schema, that makes perfect sense. The problem with Piaget is that Vygotsky said some stuff, and it's super good! Vygotsky really makes sense in how theatre is performed and taught, so Vygotsky gets my vote and here is why...
The three main components of Vygotsky's theory are that a student needs 1) a More Knowledgeable Other (someone who knows more than you that will guide you), 2) a Zone of Proximal Development (having enough knowledge to understand where a lesson is going but not enough to figure it out on your own), and 3) effective language (the way MKO transmits information to the student). This isn't the entirety of his theory but it's where I will start.
If I may, I would like to do a self critique using Vygotsky's theory about when I taught the theatre class I am observing. I am certified in stage combat, so the teacher suggested we set up a mini unit where the first day is teaching the stage combat, the second day is a work day where the kids create a fight scene with a partner, then the third and fourth days they perform the scene for the class and I have a chance to assess them with my own rubric. The teacher was incredibly generous with this idea and even counted the points I gave them toward their actual grade.
So, let's break down how I taught the class and how it lines up with Vygotsky's three main components. In this class I was the more knowledgable other. I have taught stage combat before and have learned it and used it professionally. I have experience with hand to hand, broad sword, and rapier fighting styles. The students are in the second level theatre class in middle school have worked on stage both alone and with each other. They understand stage direction and have spent the first part of this semester honing their acting skills. They have a solid foundation in acting, being on stage, and understanding how stage movement helps or hinders a scene. These are the basics an actor needs in order to have a great zone of proximal development for learning stage combat. I chose to teach hand to hand first because this is how you safely learn the basics of stage combat. Just like in life, before you put a weapon in your hand you have to practice without it first. If I had started with broadsword they wouldn't have had the basics of stage combat, so that would be out of the ZPD. The language I used to teach the students was simple and ordered. We went over the three main rules of stage combat and then I explained the words I would to use to teach a strike. We used an eye contact (1), set (2), strike (3) system to safely learn the hits. I used words they are already familiar with but gave them new meaning in this context. They became the steps in an order and all students had to reach the steps together in order for us to proceed as a class. For example, when practicing a punch, I would call out "one" and the partners had to make eye contact and be silent, when I called out "two" the aggressor would pull back their fist in preparation to deliver a punch, and "three" the aggressor delivered the punch while at the same time the victim reacted to the punch.
This class is made of 7th and 8th grade students. The impact of their social interactions is monumental. I have seen evidence of Vygotsky's belief that social interactions play a fundamental role in the development of cognition many times in this class. For instance, the students could not do a fight scene without a partner (requires social interaction). Beyond that, they could not have performed a safe scene without eye contact (necessary in personal relationships). They had to practice social interactions buy working together to decided on the reason the fight scene happens and then choreograph it together.
The final piece to Vygotsky's theory that rings so true in theatre is the fact that he says that community plays a strong role in the process of making meaning. Theatre performances become meaningful by an inward out flow. The meaning of a scene starts with the student/actor and flows outward to the people they are working with on the performance and finally to the audience. Here we have a great example of how community creates meaning. On the day of the stage combat assessment a set of students performed a highly humorous fight scene where one of them was a bully who started picking on and eventually beat up the other kid. Even though this was performed in a highly comical way, and both students are viewed as the type who would never bully in real life, we see an opportunity for students to create a scene that they feel has meaning (we know this because they chose the topic of the scene). The goal of all theatre is for the audience to find meaning and relevance in what is being portrayed on stage, which is validated by the audience's reaction to the scene. The reaction leads to catharsis, in this case the emotion is released through laughter. Without the community of the audience, the scene loses it's meaning.
The three main components of Vygotsky's theory are that a student needs 1) a More Knowledgeable Other (someone who knows more than you that will guide you), 2) a Zone of Proximal Development (having enough knowledge to understand where a lesson is going but not enough to figure it out on your own), and 3) effective language (the way MKO transmits information to the student). This isn't the entirety of his theory but it's where I will start.
If I may, I would like to do a self critique using Vygotsky's theory about when I taught the theatre class I am observing. I am certified in stage combat, so the teacher suggested we set up a mini unit where the first day is teaching the stage combat, the second day is a work day where the kids create a fight scene with a partner, then the third and fourth days they perform the scene for the class and I have a chance to assess them with my own rubric. The teacher was incredibly generous with this idea and even counted the points I gave them toward their actual grade.
So, let's break down how I taught the class and how it lines up with Vygotsky's three main components. In this class I was the more knowledgable other. I have taught stage combat before and have learned it and used it professionally. I have experience with hand to hand, broad sword, and rapier fighting styles. The students are in the second level theatre class in middle school have worked on stage both alone and with each other. They understand stage direction and have spent the first part of this semester honing their acting skills. They have a solid foundation in acting, being on stage, and understanding how stage movement helps or hinders a scene. These are the basics an actor needs in order to have a great zone of proximal development for learning stage combat. I chose to teach hand to hand first because this is how you safely learn the basics of stage combat. Just like in life, before you put a weapon in your hand you have to practice without it first. If I had started with broadsword they wouldn't have had the basics of stage combat, so that would be out of the ZPD. The language I used to teach the students was simple and ordered. We went over the three main rules of stage combat and then I explained the words I would to use to teach a strike. We used an eye contact (1), set (2), strike (3) system to safely learn the hits. I used words they are already familiar with but gave them new meaning in this context. They became the steps in an order and all students had to reach the steps together in order for us to proceed as a class. For example, when practicing a punch, I would call out "one" and the partners had to make eye contact and be silent, when I called out "two" the aggressor would pull back their fist in preparation to deliver a punch, and "three" the aggressor delivered the punch while at the same time the victim reacted to the punch.
This class is made of 7th and 8th grade students. The impact of their social interactions is monumental. I have seen evidence of Vygotsky's belief that social interactions play a fundamental role in the development of cognition many times in this class. For instance, the students could not do a fight scene without a partner (requires social interaction). Beyond that, they could not have performed a safe scene without eye contact (necessary in personal relationships). They had to practice social interactions buy working together to decided on the reason the fight scene happens and then choreograph it together.
The final piece to Vygotsky's theory that rings so true in theatre is the fact that he says that community plays a strong role in the process of making meaning. Theatre performances become meaningful by an inward out flow. The meaning of a scene starts with the student/actor and flows outward to the people they are working with on the performance and finally to the audience. Here we have a great example of how community creates meaning. On the day of the stage combat assessment a set of students performed a highly humorous fight scene where one of them was a bully who started picking on and eventually beat up the other kid. Even though this was performed in a highly comical way, and both students are viewed as the type who would never bully in real life, we see an opportunity for students to create a scene that they feel has meaning (we know this because they chose the topic of the scene). The goal of all theatre is for the audience to find meaning and relevance in what is being portrayed on stage, which is validated by the audience's reaction to the scene. The reaction leads to catharsis, in this case the emotion is released through laughter. Without the community of the audience, the scene loses it's meaning.
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