Young minds in action - exploring the use of drama role play for citizenship education

Drama as a learning medium is readily accessible to young children and it recognises the multi‐faceted nature of children’s expression through verbal and non‐verbal means. This paper reports on key findings from a small‐scale study which examined the use of drama role play in early years settings. It explores how drama role play can help temporarily suspend the traditional power dynamic between adults and children, and the implications this has for implementing citizenship education in the early years. On gender, it considers how the use of drama role play may encourage more assertive role play in young girls. The Applied Educational Research Scheme The case study was supported by the Applied Educational Research Scheme, School Management and Governance Network. (For more information see: www.aers.org.uk). The purpose of this scheme is to enhance and co‐ordinate educational research across Scotland. The research and its findings are intended for policy makers, teacher educators and academics, teachers, drama practitioners and nursery staff. The findings are being presented at AERS dissemination events, at national and international conferences, and published in professional and academic journals. Linda‐Jane Simpson Young Minds in Action 2 Drama Research Introduction ‘Allow us to tell you what we are thinking or feeling . listen to us and hear what we say. ’ U.N. Rights of the Child – No 13 (Unicef 2000) The respectful ideals of listening, expressing and responding, embodied in this basic entreaty are fundamental to the creation of responsible citizens. Encouraging ‘active participation’ and ‘responsible citizenship’ in pupils is central to a number of recent Scottish policy initiatives (LTS Paper ‘Education for Citizenship’ 2002; A Curriculum for Excellence ACfE 2004) and are key concepts that inform the development of citizenship education in Scotland and elsewhere. Teachers are encouraged to involve young people aged 3‐18 in creative active learning, in order to ‘. develop their capacities as successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. ’ Skills for citizenship require a combination of thought, emotion and communication, that are in essence an ability to listen and to respond to other human beings. ACfE uses drama and the expressive arts to give children ‘. ways of expressing responses to personal and social issues, to help young people to question and develop stances and views. ’ Nichols (2007) identifies this means of expression as a recurrent feature of Social Participation programs in Australia – ‘. strategies should enable children to express their particular standpoints, and recognize the diversity of children’s situations and interests. ’ In the early years however, facilitating participation and promoting citizenship presents some real challenges. Young children’s capacity for understanding is often underestimated on the grounds of their innocence and vulnerability, as well as their developmental immaturity (Burman 1994). Building the Curriculum 2 states for Scottish early years practitioners that young children develop as responsible citizens ‘. through encountering different ways of seeing the world, learning to share and give and take, learning to respect themselves and others, and taking part in making decisions’ (Scottish Executive 2007, p.9) Neale defines citizenship for young children as an entitlement to recognition, respect and participation (Willow et al., 2004). The recognition of children as ‘. Young Minds in Action Linda‐Jane Simpson Drama Research 3 social citizens in their own right [in the present] rather than future citizens in waiting’ (Nichols 2007), would require a significant shift in the attitude of some early years staff. It is often the low expectations these key adults have of young children’s capacity for social agency, that is an obstacle to greater participation in decision making. A predominance of linear hierarchical models in the areas of literacy development, socialisation and participation (e.g. Hart’s Ladder of Participation 1992), has contributed to an underestimation of children’s abilities. Children are seen to proceed through identifiable, fixed set stages. With such structured theories of child development, childhood becomes merely a preparation for something better and appears to ignore the citizenship related qualities and skills which children deploy in the present moment. Instead much of early years practice views children as apprentices preparing for the citizenship of adulthood. Constructivist and interpretative theorists suggest that children’s development as social beings is a collective, public process, influenced by peers as much as by adults. Research evidence shows that young children already possess a competency and understanding that is worthy of notice and respect (Gandini et al 2005; Rogoff 1990; Nichols 2007). There are clear indications that where developmentally appropriate means are used to enable children to make outward expression of their ideas, then their views can make a perceptive and significant contribution. School is therefore a particular area where young children need to be conceptualized as competent ‘social actors’ who are able to:  Construct their everyday worlds;  Participate in social processes;  Constitute multiple voices rather than a collective and undifferentiated class. It is important that they are allowed the means to shape and share their own developmental experiences, through participative citizenship in the present. The work done in a time‐based art such as drama, exists only in the here and now. So in role play teachers know to take and use whatever each child’s response is in any given moment. Working imaginatively with young children, one develops an ability to adapt in the moment to whatever choices the children make, and to respect and use those ideas. The story, as the metaphor for the outside world with real people, is a safe place for the children and the adult to role play together, able to be ‘both observers and participants, both passive and active, and where the imagined becomes the real and direct experience’. (Simpson, 2006, p.17). Accepting and responding to each other (the real self), while all the time we are being someone else (the pretend self), is a sophisticated cognitive process which Linda‐Jane Simpson Young Minds in Action 4 Drama Research young children readily and willingly engage in, when they trust the adult. Great insight and empathy can be observed emerging out of the depth of that interaction and sharing. Aims and Methodology The study had three key aims:  To explore the potential of experiential drama role play as a creative approach to citizenship education, in nursery settings.  To compare and contrast children’s active participation in sessions of drama role play, with adult‐led story telling activity times.  To identify any aspects of the teacher’s approach that may influence children’s levels of participation. In order to access parents from contrasting socio‐economic circumstances two different nurseries were included in this study; one in a city location and the other in a semi‐rural area. The research sought to explore the following research questions:‐ 1. How do children respond to two contrasting models of learning; a didactic, transmission model (story telling) and an active, constructivist approach (drama and role play)? 2. What implications do these models have for young children’s learning about citizenship and for the teaching of this subject? The researcher carefully selected themed stories to be used with four groups of 3‐5 year old children. These storylines were chosen because they portrayed a positive citizenship message and role model. The stories provided the opportunity for younger children to reflect on everyday interactions and social scenarios. Here issues included sharing, being listened to, understanding another person’s point of view, and caring for the environment. Two different groups of children in each nursery explored the same storyline, using different techniques: drama role play and the more traditional adult‐led story telling. All the research with these young children adhered to the established ethical guidelines. Special attention was given to gaining written parental consent for the videoing of the children. The consent information explained the purpose of the research, and how the information gathered was to be used. Formal approval for conducting this research was granted by the University of Edinburgh, Ethics Committee. The support of the respective Head Teachers and the co‐operation of the Nursery staff, was also agreed at the start of the project. Young Minds in Action Linda‐Jane Simpson Drama Research 5 The researcher led the activities with each of the groups, and all the children were invited to respond to the story, and to express their understanding of the characters’ feelings and predicaments. While the two drama groups were directly engaged by being ‘in role’ as the actual characters, the two storytelling groups were seated throughout and encouraged to retell the story verbally, after answering some questions about the events. In order to capture both the verbal and non‐verbal interactions of the young children, each group activity was videoed and was analysed by developing a framework of ‘critical moments’ in the action. The meaning of this term is explained within stage three of the analysis section which follows. Analysis of the Data In order to access the evidence from the video tapes I devised a six step process. This allowed me to pinpoint, in relation to the research questions, which were the significant sessions, and the exact times within those, that were worthy of further examination. The six stage analysis process 1. Post session review Immediately following the sessions I reflected with my assistant the camera operator, and noted areas when there was a differenc