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Our Program Leverages the Latest Brain Science
and Educational Research to Achieve Success
It is based on the ground-breaking research of Edmond J. Dixon, a teacher, school principal and educator for 27 years who is now completing his PhD on drama and learning at the University of Toronto. He is developing the use of drama not only for young people recreationally, but also it to help improve student achievement in schools, to enhance the quality of life for senior citizens, and give government agencies and private corporations methods to improve their employee training methods. Below is an article he has written reflecting some of his research and how it affects our program:
PLAY WITH A PURPOSE - Research-based Reflections on the Power of Drama
By Edmond J. Dixon
Drama is unparalleled to foster personal growth in young people because it is fun, helps people learn in a “brain-friendly” way, fosters social skills and, if used correctly, uses those skills as the foundation for tangible improvements in competence. Let’s look at each one of these:
DRAMA IS POWERFUL BECAUSE IT IS FUN!
Why is that important? Because it reduces the fear factor associated with successful social interaction. It is estimated that 75% of adults are anxious when they have to speak in front of others; some surveys have found fear of public speaking equal or greater than fear of death for a significant number of people![1]
In his book, One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way, UCLA professor Dr. Robert Maurer describes brain research indicating that situations which require massive change—change that we feel is too hard--trigger one of the most primitive areas of the brain to stimulate a fearful “fight or flight” response. But he points to other research findings that having fun stimulates the cerebral cortex, which is responsible of imagination and higher thought. [2]
When one has fun in an activity there is no fear because of the release of endorphins, the most powerful “feel good” chemical in our body. Because this release causes the person to feel good about the activity they are participating in they are not scared and can learn a new skill that was impossible to learn previously. In fact, they learn these skills without even being aware of it! Time and time again one can observe someone who was afraid of speaking in front of others get up after a series of drama exercises and perform wonderfully.
Most importantly they have fun and always end up thinking: That wasn’t anywhere near as hard as I thought. Actually, It was kind of fun…I can do that! More importantly it opens the door to even greater achievement because it has destroyed the limitations that fear put on the individual. But it only happened because they had fun first…
THE BRAIN THINKS A REHEARSED ACTIVITY IS A REAL ONE
Much of the research today suggests that brain function is divided between the two sides of the brain: the right side being the locus of imagination and creative thought and the left being the logical, organized side.[3] We need both to function at our best, it is interesting to note what can happen if we understand how they function.
When one rehearses an activity in a playful way (i.e. meeting someone new with confidence and presence), the brain takes it as having actually occurred. You can test the truth of this by going to a local movie theatre and watching people during an emotionally sad or exciting scene. Why do people cry or grip the edge of their seats when they’re just light projected on a screen? Because the right side of the brain is fully engaged and they are experiencing it as real in that moment. However, after the movie, the left brain quickly re-engages and reminds them of their life experience so we don’t have people actually trying to jump a car over a canyon after an exciting movie!
But the right brain loves fun and interesting activities and drama adds an additional component that you don’t get in the movies: movement (kinesthetic stimulation). Because movement is our most primitive way of learning, the use of it makes a dramatic activity extremely powerful in helping the brain gain and transfer skills from a rehearsed to a real situation for because of its “kinesthetic” (bodily) dimension that is our most primitive way of learning. When a bodily action is linked to an idea or skill it makes it easier to remember and replicate in any situations-even ones different than where it was originally learned. This means that…
DRAMA IS THE IDEAL WAY TO IMPROVE SOCIAL SKILLS
Because it takes away fear, engages the right brain, and leverages the learning power of imagination and movement, Drama allows for transformational learning. Broadly based, we have identified are 5 major areas where drama can be used in self-development for young people:
- Public Speaking
- Self-Expression
- Understanding and Navigating Social Groups
- Focus, Concentration, Self-Control
- Thinking on your Feet
The reason drama works so well is that it provides a safe, non-threatening environment to practice the skills necessary to be successful in these areas.
If one looks at the school experience, the emphasis is mostly academic. However, in terms of what is important to the child, the social dimension is at least as important as the academic aspect. Ask any parent whose child has had social problems at school if has affected their child’s performance academically and the answer is likely to be yes, if only in the distraction it provided from studies. At the high school level, this is even more true.
And in the world which awaits children—that of work—it is very clear that while academics may play a role in helping prepare someone for a job, it is their social skills that are vitally important in helping them be successful in a career. How many jobs, opportunities, promotions, etc. have been lost because someone has not developed the social skills to navigate well in their place of employment?
And yet, the tragedy is even worse for the millions who lack the confidence to even embark on the path they so desired. Indeed their education may have prepared them well academically, but it fell short because it did not give them a sense of their own personal power. That is where Drama’s effect is most profound…
DRAMA BUILDS CONFIDENCE BY BUILDING SOCIAL COMPETENCE
It is a sad by-product of the self-esteem movement that the idea of self-confidence has become detached from the reasons for self-confidence. It leaves the unrealistic sense that just telling someone that they are good is all that is necessary for them to believe it and become confident. It is part of the reason that drama has been misunderstood as some “airy-fairy” frivolous pursuit that is all about “feelings” not, therefore, about reality..
For confidence to be worthwhile it needs to be build on competence. Anyone who has mastered a skill in sports (i.e. a slaphsot) knows that you will make much more use of a skill after it is mastered and that the more you take slapshots, the more confident you become of your ability to make them effectively in the future.
This is the same approach that is used by the program at TheDramaClub.ca. We identify the skills necessary for confidence and embed them in the fun of our program, using the five dramatic domains of Movement, Non-Movement, Voice, Characterization and Improvisation. All of our presentations and performances use these domains to foster the following specific competencies:
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Speaking in Public
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Volume & Clarity
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Expression in Speech
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Presence when speaking
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Understanding and Navigating Social Groups
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Reading Body language
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Behaviour appropriate to the social situation
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Introducing yourself
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Focus, Concentration and Self Control
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Controlling the body
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Active listening
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Responding calmly to stressful situations
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Thinking on Your Feet
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Impromptu speaking
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Effective questioning
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Responding effectively to the unexpected
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Assertive and Influential
Self-expression
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Reducing your anxiety in social situations
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Making people feel at ease
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Noticing Influencers in group situations
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Copyright © 2009 The Drama Club Theatre Company, Inc.
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So, in conclusion, we see that training in the dramatic arts is anything but frivolous. It is essential to helping young people grow to their full potential. It is time for more young people to “get into the act” so that they can confidently and publicly display who they are in any social situation.
References
- http://www.reasontospeak.com/news/death-pips-public-speaking-as-our-greatest-fear--but-only-just.aspx
- Maurer, R. (2004) One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way. New York: Workman Publishing
- Blakeslee, Thomas R. (1980). The Right Brain : A New Understanding Of The Unconscious Mind And Its Creative Power. Garden City, N.Y. : Anchor Press/Doubleday,1980.
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