Guiding Theories

Below I will give you some examples of theories that can help guide your drama instruction. Once you have decided on different drama strategies and activities you want to use in your classroom you will need to have a theory to guide your teaching. I have picked a few of my favourite teaching theories that I have learned in my Drama Educations class to share will you.

Learners Theory

Learners Theory: Dwyer, 1996 

20% of what they hear
30% of what they see
50% of what they read or write
70% of what they discuss
80% of what they experience
90% of what they teach

The Learners Theory is a great way to teach children. The theory describes the ways in which children learn best. As a teacher it is important to keep this theory in mind when working with students. As a teacher we should not just be lecturing at our students all day they need to be involved in their learning experiences. Children learn better when they are involved in the learning process. If children are reading or writing about something they are learning they are retaining some of that information. If they are discussing what they are learning they are likely to retain 70% of what they are discussing. If children experience the subject matter through having hands on experiences with what they are learning they will retain 80% of that knowledge. Lastly, if children are teaching or guiding other students through a topic they are likely to retain 90% of the information that they taught. It is important to keep this theory in mind when teaching drama or other subjects as it shows the way in which children retain information.

Multiple Intelligences  

Multiple Intelligences, Gardner, 1983

The multiple intelligences theory is also another great teaching theory to keep in mind when teaching children. This theory describes the different ways in which students learn based on the learning style that best fits a child's interests. Assignments and activities can be centred around the multiple intelligences. Also in drama activities you can integrate many of the multiple intelligences into the activity to engage all learners in your classroom. Below are some of the activities or skills students in each category may excel at. 

Visual Spatial - Enjoys maps, charts, videos, fonts, puzzles, writing, has a good sense of direction, can manipulate images.
  
Bodily/Kinesthetic - Able to control body, handle objects, balance, good hand eye coordination.

Linguistic - Good use words and language, good speakers, articulate, listening, storytelling, humor, debate skills.

Mathematical/Logical - Use reason, logic and numbers, make patterns, connection, curious about the world, good at problem solving.

Musical - Can hear and reproduce music, think in terms of sounds, rhythm, play instruments, recognize tones.

Interpersonal - Ability to relate to others, group work, often leaders, understand point of view, can relate to how people are feeling.

Intrapersonal - Ability to self-reflect, be aware of own feelings, recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, ability to analyze.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy is also a great theory to refer to when teaching children. This theory incorporates many different learning objectives we have for our students. Each level of the triangle represents a cognitive process dimension (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and re-creating). These cognitive process dimensions pair well with the four knowledge dimensions (factual knowledge, conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge and metacognitive knowledge). As a teacher we want our students to be able to move from that concrete factual knowledge to abstract metacognitive knowledge which we can see progress through the levels of the triangle.

In drama specifically, this learning theory allows students to move from a cognitive way of learning to an affective way of learning and finally into a psychomotor way of learning. This allows students to think about what they are learning, apply and try to understand what they are learning and lastly recreate what they are learning in order to demonstrate their understanding. It is important that children understand and work through this process in order to demonstrate understanding through thinking about what they are learning, applying what they are learning and demonstrating their learning through re-creating the topic in some way.

Below is the types of words that can prompt activities in each level of the triangle.

Re-create (synthesize, invent, construct)
Evaluate ( compare & contrast, rank, judge, critique)
Analyze (compare, contrast, reflect, categorize)
Apply (demonstrate, relate, draw, present)
Understanding (identify, explain, describe, summarize)
Remembering (memorize, recount, think back, recall)