Drama and Art in Education

The blend of Drama, Art, and Education has been there since the time Plato started his Academy. He believed that informing a student just about the concept is not enough, a good teacher has to induce the ability of critical thinking and the importance of value education in a student. Drama and Theatre both are pivotal outlets for self-expression and by using drama as a teaching tool, students are involved in every way, be it intellectually, physically, socially or emotionally. The use of drama and art in education leads to holistic learning, accelerates personality development and imparts students with crucial life skills, problem-solving skills, leadership, cooperation and collaboration. Through this blog, we will see the importance of Drama and Art in education, their benefits, role and objectives in the learning process. 

Must Read: Online Learning- Make the Most of Covid-19 Lockdown

What is Drama?

Drama is simply referred to as a form of fiction which is represented in a performance in a theatre, radio or TV, and in any of its performing arts such as plays, mime, ballet, musical, etc. The word ‘drama’ is actually taken from the Greek word ‘drama’/’drao’ which also refers to ‘I do’ or action. Thus, acting or performing action comes in play through theatrical, radio, TV or live performances of a fictional story.

Importance of Drama and Art in Education

Spoon-feeding a chunk of information and students gulping it down without reason can be disastrous for society. To stimulate creativity, smart learning, critical thinking and logical reasoning in students, drama and arts play a pivotal role in the education process. If in a controlled atmosphere, a group of students are asked to replicate a historic scene, students find it easy to remember and understand without having to cram a bunch of names and dates from History. Drama and Arts in education have been inculcated as part of the curriculum at many institutions around the world to promote effective learning. Be it through puppetry or role-play, students learn interpersonal and group communication, and public speaking skills and also the method helps to foster a knack for exploration in them.

Here are the key reasons for the importance of drama and arts in education:

1. Teaches Self-Expression: Children learn about the importance of self-expression through the use of drama and arts in education and through creative expression, their perception and worldview are broader which equips them with the skills to face adversities late in life.
2. Life Skill Training: It imparts students with various life skills like teamwork, compassion, cooperation and collaboration.
3. Learn Constructive Criticism: Children also learn about taking constructive criticism and feedback in a way that helps them become better individuals.
4. Contributes to Personality Development: The use of drama and art in education also accelerates personality development in students.
5. Find their Voice: Through theatre and performing arts, students are able to find their unique ‘voice’ that helps them explore their inner talents, skills and competencies.
6. Problem-solving Skills: Through creative art forms, students learn about the value of problem-solving in every situation as they learn to be in a group, work around various things to thrive as a team and become superb at problem-solving!
7. Learn to Lead: Using drama and art in education also teaches students to don the hat of a leader and imbibe central skills pertaining to leadership and teamwork.

Recommended Read: How Is Technology Changing the Face of Education

Drama and Art in Education PPT

Drama as a Teaching Tool from Kblanken2

Benefits of Drama and Arts in Education

In a world where the need for leaders, influencers and thinkers is imminent and growing, the education sector has added responsibilities to it.  By implementing effective teaching, the quality of education is certainly to increase. The core benefits of using drama and art in educations as tools of education can be summed up in the following points:

• Students become better learners.
• They learn to empathize with other social elements. 
• With the spirit of co-working, they develop an attitude of co-learning.
• Using their leadership skills they help at resolving conflicts at the micro-level and at a larger level as well in society.
• They become torchbearers of critical thinking and encourage the flow of discourse,
• Having understood the core of education, they devise methods for creative learning.
• The students are able to yield better results and act as catalysts for change in society.
• The students comprehend the difference between Education and Experience.

Related Read: Extra-curricular Activities: Importance & Tips

Drama and Art in Education BEd Practical File

Importance of Arts in Education

What is the role of art in education? Arts in education can make learning fun and engaging while also inculcating many important skills in learners like critical thinking, improv, analytical thinking, life skills, teamwork and more. Here is all you need to know about the role of art in Education:

• Creativity: The use of arts in education makes children more creative and imaginative through various co-curricular activities.
• Motor Skills: Arts also imbibe students with useful motor skills especially in younger children as they learn to hold a colouring brush or draw different shapes, etc.
• Improves Academic Performance: As students are able to learn better with engaging artistic learning methods, the role of art in education is also to improve academic performance.
• Confidence: Different forms of arts help learners discover their talents and foster their creativity thus making them more confident about their unique abilities.
• Perseverance: Arts require immense practice and endeavours to find one’s creative spirit thus it also fosters perseverance in children.
• Focus: By boosting the creativity and imagination of children, art in education also improves focus thereby making children more active in the classroom.
• Accountability: As children learn to be a part of a group through performing arts and other forms of art, they learn about accountability and how important it is especially in a team.
• Collaboration: Similar to accountability, arts help children learn the essence of collaboration in every art form whether it is performing arts, working individually or supporting the talents of other children.
• Decision Making: As children get busy in different artistic activities, they need to think on their feet whether it is playing a character in a play, drawing or sketching something or even creating a story, their decision-making and critical thinking skills are thus boosted.

Drama and Art in Education PPT

The importance of art education from DELGADO CONCHA

Objectives of Drama and Art in Education

Here are the key objectives of Drama and Art in Education:

• Students will learn about theatre and performing arts and transform simple stories into wonderful scripts.
• Students will be equipped with key critical thinking skills, performance skills, speaking and writing skills, public speaking skills and teamwork.
• Through drama and art in education, students can also be imparted the knowledge of pronunciation, intonation as well as storytelling.
• Language learning skills are also strengthened through the use of drama and art in education.
• Students will also know about body language, impromptu performance and presenting a story in front of an audience.

Theatre in Education

Storytelling is a powerful tool to facilitate learning in a meaningful manner. Since theatre itself is a potential driver of bringing impactful change in society, it can play a crucial role in utilising drama and art in education. Using theatrical musicals as well as dramas, learning can be carried out in an interesting manner. It caters to different learning methods as it adheres to VARK, which is a famed teaching model by Neil Fleming and emphasises the use of

• Visual
• Aural
• Read/Write
• Kinesthetic Sensory in education.

Through creative stories and theatre dramas, a multi-sensory experience can be curated thus making learning a fun and engaging process.

Check Out: Self-Learning: Process & Importance

Want Free Career Counselling? Click Here!

How to Use Drama in Education?

The element of Drama used in the process of education may vary for institutions depending on the approach they use and the goal they aspire to achieve. The common form of Drama implemented in the process of imparting education is ‘Role Play’. 

A role play involves a group of students in a controlled atmosphere where they replicate a scene from history or from a play or a movie. The students are given the roles of the characters of the event. They not only learn to understand the mentality of the characters but also learn behavioural psychology, based on which they make critical judgements. To help the students immerse in the scene and understand its essence, the use of costumes and sets is made. The activity not only helps them become better thinkers and storytellers in the future but it also develops in them the confidence to engage with others in healthy interactions. For future filmmakers and dramatists, this activity turns out to be the cornerstone of their careers.

Learn All About Pedagogy!

Other than role play for utilising drama and art in education, you can also explore the following types of co-curricular activities to engage children and carve out a better learning experience:

• Mime Exercises [Using drama to act out different concepts]
• Create literary sketches
• Charades
• Improv
• Writing a story from their favourite drama’s characters
• One-word story
• Break the fourth wall and help the characters [to facilitate critical thinking]

Check Out: Educational Movies

Implementing Art in Learning

Making use of art forms is the best way to attract young students to learn. It is hard for a teacher to tell a student in kindergarten about the benefits of education. I bet even Francis Bacon reciting his iconic essay ‘Of Studies’ to a group of kindergarten students would fail terribly to convince students at a tender age to read. In order to start the learning process for a student at a young age, art is the best tool. The graphical representation of texts, assigning a picture to an object and telling a story through motion graphics or toys has proven to be effective in exposing young students to educational journeys. Some of the prominent activities you can practice with children to help them learn better are:

• Painting & Drawing
• Using visuals to learn something
• Transforming complicated concepts into rhymes and songs
• Using puppets to explain a concept
• Creating stories from a single word

Explore Child Development & Pedagogy!

We hope that the blog has helped you understand the importance of Drama and Art in education. A number of institutions imbibe art and drama in their courses to make them more coherent and rich. Let our experts at Leverage Edu help you choose a course that is best suited for you.