blog : March 2013
Using Improvisation as a Pedagogical Tool in a Differentiated Instruction Classroom
3/19/2013
It was almost 20 years ago that I attended a National Endowment for the
Humanities program for teaching Shakespeare through performance as an
inner city high school teacher. It was at this institute that I learned how critically
important it was for students to learn creatively and kinesthetically. We are
all familiar with Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, but as a
teacher I struggled with the implementation of this theory into teaching and
learning activities. I decided to try out the many techniques that I learned at the
Shakespeare institute with my students. I soon realized that it was essential
for me to ditch the “one size fits all” study guides. My classroom was made up
of diverse learners and I knew that I needed to differentiate the teaching and
learning strategies in my classroom.
As my successes with these students increased, I knew that I needed to increase
my repertoire of drama activities and exercises for the teaching of literacy
skills. I became particularly engaged and impressed with the specific drama
activity, improvisation. An ideal pedagogical strategy for teaching and learning
and meeting the needs of diverse learners, improvisation is both an inherent
structure and flexible. Like most differentiated instruction strategies, the flexibility
stems from simplicity; no props, scenery, costumes, or lighting are required.
The players create everything that is needed from their own imagination. It is
this paradoxical nature that makes improvisation a useful tool for developing
excellent writers, actors, and thinkers. In this stripped - down, bare – bones
dramatic form, there is no limit to what the imagination can conjure into being;
yet the form demands specificity, clarity, and logic if it is to be meaningful to the
audience. The students are the authors, actors, and audience of work that melds
body, voice, and mind through the shared experiences of the players on stage.
I also discovered that drama activities, particularly improvisation, were invaluable
in teaching students how to work together as a team and foster an environment
where risk taking is valued: important qualities for a differentiated instruction
based classroom. I also learned that these improvisation activities are ones that
foster literacy skill development in all kinds of students. It makes sense since
improvisation encourages creation, analysis, and interpretation of text.
The current model for teaching and learning promotes the idea and notion that
classrooms should be interactive, where learning activities are a result of the
partnership between the teacher and the students. Students have a voice in
their learning and are encouraged to be active participants in the classroom.
Unlike the traditional classroom, where the teacher primarily directs activities,
the contemporary classroom, rooted in differentiated instruction, results from the
active collaboration inspired by a common quest for learning.
The contemporary differentiated instruction classroom encourages active
teaching and learning, which are powerful in student development and
achievement because responsibility placed on the students is greater than in a
more traditional teaching paradigm. An active approach such as improvisation is
rooted in cooperation with peers as they make sense of a situation and present
it to the rest of the class. Improvisation is vocally, physically, and personally
demanding and it requires students to make numerous kinds of presentations.
Students are consistently analyzing and thinking on their feet. Improvisation is a
source of deepening self - awareness in students as they find ways to express
their ideas, opinions, and feelings through the physical action of improvisation.
This is why improvisation belongs in a contemporary classroom.
Through the work of improvisation in differentiated instruction and learning,
the development of a student ’s critical thinking is symbiotic to imaginative and
emotional growth as students creatively solve problems through improvisation
activities. Students grow intellectually and emotionally as they speculate, reason,
and predict while experiencing and participating in improvisation activities.
Improvisation can increase student confidence and competence in problem
solving through active and engaging exercises.
If you would like to learn more about improvisation exercises and how to use
these for teaching and learning in the differentiated classroom, I co-authored, The
Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom with Mary Scruggs. In addition, I think
we learn best about the pedagogical power of improvisation by seeing it in action.
The following links are to You Tube videos from my recent presentation at the
Illinois Writing Project at National Louis University. The videos feature teachers
participating in improvisation exercises and discussing how these activities
can teach skills and content. In addition, I explain how improvisation works in
teaching and learning in the classroom.
Writing on Your Feet
Creative Writing in Low Income Schools
Improv Skills Translate to Educational Skills
Using Improv to Teach Adjectives
Narrative Games and Literacy Skills
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