Challenge of the Empty Space. Group Factors as a Part of Drama Education

Toivanen, Tapio; Pyykkö, Anu Emilia; Ruismäki, Heikki

doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.11.256

Cited by 10 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The research project is focused on classroom drama teaching practices (e.g., Toivanen, Pyykkö & Ruismäki, 2011, Toivanen, Antikainen & Ruismäki, 2012Toivanen, Mikkola & Ruismäki, 2012;Toivanen & Pyykkö, 2012a. This article outlines some aspects of drama education that nurture children's creativity.…”

Section: Problem Statement and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This makes creative teaching challenging from the teacher's point of view. The complexity and diversity of creative processes in the classroom drama make it challenging for teachers especially at the beginning of their drama teaching careers (see Toivanen, Pyykkö & Ruismäki, 2011;Bowell & Heap, 2010;Toivanen, Rantala & Ruismäki, 2009;Wales, 2009;Sawyer, 2004Sawyer, , 2006.) Therefore, developing the skills for creative teaching (disciplined improvisation in teaching) should be part of teacher education.…”

Section: Creative Process and Flow In The Context Of Drama Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Creative Pedagogy - Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Drama

Toivanen¹,

Halkilahti²,

Ruismäki³

2014

EJSBS

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Drama education is still a rather young field of science. Thus, there is an obvious need to conceptualize the elements and factors related to drama education fostering children's creativity. What kind of learning environment supports children's creativity? Which aspects of drama education nurture children's creativity? Children's creativity is often referred to as 'little c creativity ', LCC, (Craft 2001). Subjectivity is an intrinsic character when defining children's creativity since it is not determined by society. The article aims to perceive and build a theory of tuition supporting children's creativity in the context of drama education. The objective of this theory-based article is to characterize the terminology of creativity in drama education. Based on prior research, the purpose of the article is to construct a model of tuition fostering children's creativity. This theoretical model is contemplated through drama education. In a creative learning environment of drama the children are provided with rich experiences and their active role in learning is emphasized. Interaction is an essential part of learning process making learning itself a social activity. Creative environment supports children's imagination and inner motivation. In addition, the atmosphere is permissive. These elements also create a potential for group creativity. According to research (Kim 2010), the need to support children's creativity is obvious. Furthermore, children's creative development should be considered on two levels: the individual creativity of each pupil and the group creativity of the whole class. Drama education has the potential to nurture pupil's creativity through its experiential, social and children-activating nature.

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Section: Problem Statement and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Creative Process and Flow In The Context Of Drama Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Creative Pedagogy - Supporting Children’s Creativity Through Drama

Toivanen¹,

Halkilahti²,

Ruismäki³

2014

EJSBS

Self Cite

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“…A few of the eight lessons (marked with *) have been studied in previous research articles. In those earlier studies, the focus was on the structural factors in a group (Toivanen & Pyykkö 2012d) and on the interaction between the teacher trainees and the pupils during drama lessons (Toivanen et al, 2012b). In this study the analysis (see Table 2) was executed by dividing the drama lessons into separate scenes; instructions and waiting time, warm up games, various drama techniques and ending the lesson.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A case study (Toivanen & Pyykkö 2012d) gave some indication about the importance of paying attention to the structural factors in a group especially when a novice teacher starts teaching classroom drama. Based on the findings from partly the same research material (N=6), acknowledging the group roles had a direct relation to active working time, pupils' abilities to follow the norms (drama contract) and the communication (whether the instructions are given through centralized or scattered communication).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Taking the group roles into account means more active working time for the pupils and also directly affects the amount of teacher trainee's actions needed to prevent and solve status conflicts (between the teacher and the pupils or between the pupils) during the drama lesson. (Toivanen & Pyykkö 2012d.) The other case study (Toivanen et al, 2012b) focused on the interaction during drama lessons and the results were that teacher trainees found interactions challenging during drama lessons.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Investigating pupilsâ€™ group creativity in drama - Teacher trainees fostering a creative classroom environment

Toivanen

Halkilahti

2014

IJREM

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The use of drama in education can be seen as a method to support pupils' creativity. Drama work offers possibilities for creative group processes and aims for deeper conceptual understanding by preparing students to create new knowledge. Having said this, it is difficult to determine whether this is true, and in what way if it is true. This article seeks to answer the following research questions: Can the principles of theatrical improvisation be used as an analytic tool to examine the collaboration and emergence of creative ideas between pupils during drama work? To what degree do teacher trainees succeed in supporting pupils' group creativity in drama lessons? The potential complexity and diversity of creative group processes in drama education is challenging for teacher trainees and novice teachers at the beginning of their careers. In this study teacher trainees specializing in drama were observed. Eight lessons were recorded and analyzed using the core principles of improvisation as an analytic tool. The scenes were then interpreted to recognize the characteristics of group creativity (improvisation, collaboration and emergence) defined by Sawyer (2003Sawyer ( , 2006Sawyer ( , 2012. Both authors analyzed and made their interpretations separately. The findings were compared and the few situations where the authors' opinions differed were reconciled by discussion. The research results show that the analysis method based on the principles of improvisation was moderately usable for both exact and more general analysis. Within the restrictions of the case studies, our conclusion is that drama teaching supports pupils' group creativity.

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