Today is June 26 which means there is one month until the release date of Why Theatre Education Matters: Understanding its Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Benefits. To celebrate this final month of countdown I want to give a preview into one of the major findings from the book.
One of the goals of the Thinking On Stage study (which the book discusses), was to give language and structure to acting classes as they already happened on the ground. I collected data by filming, watching, and analyzing 40 acting classes in high schools across the United States from 2017-2020. Private and public schools, conservatory, magnet and public schools, general and specialized acting classes across 9th-12th grade. One major finding was for every single acting class there are four types of activities; Four ways of organizing space, time, and goals of the acting class.
The first is preparation. Preparation is where students are given activities and exercises to get the mind, body, and voice ready for the work of an acting class. Sometimes this looks like a dance class; sometimes this looks like meditation; sometimes this looks like tongue twisters; and sometimes it looks a little bit like a discussion of theory.
The second type of activity is generation. Generation activities are the kinds of improvisational games, exercises, and activities that you might think of as part of “Whose line is it anyway” or an improv theater team building training. This is where students have to work together to imagine a scene at a bus stop, or to run around making silly noises like they were robots, or to explore the use of the space as if they were seeing it for the first time.
The third kind of activity is interpretation. Interpretation activities are based off of scripted materials or known characters. This is the kind of scene study, discussion of plot and character, and creation of presentable work that looks like a rehearsal for performance.
The 4th kind of activity is reflection. Reflection are formal moments and sit down discussion where the students critique, think metacognitively, and reflect on what they have just done - both for themselves and for their fellow classmates. Reflection periods can take place interspersed with and after any of the other three kinds of activities. Importantly, they can be reflective not just on the activities of the classroom but on other outside feelings activities and situations.
Every single activity we saw across the 40 different acting classes where we collected data fell into one of these 4 categories! It was surprising there were only four, but what is great is that all of the Acting Habits of Mind - the dispositional, multi-skill approaches and mindsets to problems - occurred in and across all types of activities.
And, what this structure provides is a safe space. The use of these four different activities gave students structure and routine to explore and try out the work of an acting class. In fact, 39 out of the 40 classes began with either a Preparation or Reflection period. And 29 out of the 40 classes ended with either a period of Preparation or Reflection. Acting classes do not immediately begin with “everyone turn to page 14 and start reading”. Instead they begin with moments of transition, where the students are invited into the space to spend a few moments shifting out of their regular school day and into the artistic and creative process of a theater classroom. This prepares and sets up the space to be safe for the kind of embodied exploration of emotions and situations that occur in an acting class.
For more information about how these four kinds of activities work psychologically for students, the exercises included in them, and how the Acting Habits of Mind are used and integrated across activities, pick up the book!
Why Theatre Education Matters is available at all major online retailers including bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.com, but if you order directly from the publisher, Teachers College Press before July 31 you can enter S24THEATRE at check out for a 15% off discount and free shipping. If you're interested in a group or bulk order please contact me through ThaliaGoldstein.com and I can help arrange! On ThaliaGoldstein.com you can also find free publicly available resources from the book including an Executive Summary, a Teacher Toolkit and a list of Additional Resources for further reading.