Past and present of drama-pedagogy

Erdészné Turcsányi Katalin

Past and present of drama-pedagogy

"Men should at least listen to a little music every day, read a little poem every day, gaze an amazing painting every day and -if it is possible- talk only a few but intelligent words." - Goethe.

Those who want to make their students familiar with some fileds of arts, announce that art belongs to the world of values. Educating the youth is well-supported by the use of art, as it was recognized and preferred by the antiquity as well.

Let us think about the dramatic art in schools that contributed so much to the cultural life of the ancient Hungary. The text of school dramatism had essential moral lessons. Productions were for the aim of schoolwork: for religious and moral education, for studying Latin and for gaining confidence in acting in front of the audience.

It is well-known that "Jesuits put more effort, more than any other societies, to school performances: according to reliable calculations there were more than 8000 performances, declared by the researchers." (Istvan Kilian, A minorita színjáték a XVIII. században. Budapest, 1972:175)

Comenius also found it inevitable to educate art besides educate science. He believed, it is suitable for teaching morals, for developing the personality and deepen the theoretical knowledge.

The reform ambitions at the beginning of the century also prove that teachers of that age were also concerned with art embedded into the traditional subjects or as and extra curricula.

Different movements, human-size pedagogic streams were organized. The historical importance of drama-teachers at that new age was beyond all questions.

Actually, what is represented by drama-pedagogy? Where does it stand among the rank of reform-pedagogy? It is hard to give a clever and precise answer.

What is sure is that by the end of the 20^th Century, drama-pedagogy had summarized the most useful and greatest values of reform-pedagogy streams so far and hopefully, mixed with unique aspect, a widespread pedagogic stream of the 21st Century was formed.

Today we think it is obvious (or would like to think that it is obvious) that drama should be used for pedagogic purposes, where the keywords are game, drama, theatre, activity, emotional development, human culture, communications skills, among the most important.)

The purpose of drama-pedagogy is to develop and educate the personality. For this drama includes arts so that the developing personality could be more creative. Yet it does not educate, on the first place, with theatre but with ideas, thoughts, values, roles. Linguistic formulations were formed, used and tried in imagined settings. Experience is more important than entering into the spirit of a role in drama.

Fortunately more and more people recognize and are familiar with drama-pedagogy. Many teachers, leaders of school dramatism use the method in their practice of education and in personal developmental trainings. Yet a lot are not clearly aware of what the notion exactly refers to.

We, drama teachers welcome any new initiation that allows us to be introduced, like this conference. Our aim and task is to make teachers know about drama-pedagogy and finally, encourage them to use it in their everyday practice creatively.

If we analyze the history of drama-pedagogy, we have to go back to the period soon after the Second World War.

Dr. Erik Szauder, the best- known Hungarian researcher of this topic wrote an article titled "The most famous Anglo-Saxon representatives of drama games" (Reformpedagógiai olvasókönyv. Budapest, 1993.) In his article he introduces the main streams with their representatives, the theoretical backgrounds and the most important compounds of the practical methods.

The theoretical and practical work emerged in the Anglo-Saxon region is due to Peter Slade and his contributions. He emphasizes the importance of a childish personality and children games in the education.

"What Slade thinks the most important task in the teachers` job is to stimulate students with ideas, fantasies, interesting activities." (Szauder Erik: "The most famous Anglo-Saxon representatives of drama games" Reformpedagógiai olvasókönyv. Budapest, 1993:197)

Slade`s teachings have deep effects on the Anglo-Saxon drama teachers and is manifested in their work.

Winifred Ward "mother of the creative drama" says that drama is the best device in personal developments. This theory is valid up till today because dramatic approach helps to get better acquainted with ourselves. It has effects on autognosis and recognition of group cohesion.

Brian Way is not only a drama teacher but a director, actor, scriptwriter and dramaturg as well. His works emphasize the dramatic buildings and its processes. He says that theatrical product and drama are standing opposite. "It is unlucky to direct children towards theatricality because it effects against creativity." His declaration is often questioned.

Dorothy Heathcote is one of the biggest drama teachers today who created her own theory by summarizing the works of her predecessors. The freshness of her method is that she puts the drama teacher into the center. Heathcote considers drama, on the one hand, as a field that creates learning, on the other hand the teacher as a mediator creates the unit of "here and now".

Viola Spiolin puts game and improvization into the center. She thinks that the activity of participating in dramatic games has educational, psychic and social use.

Today we use Gavid Bolton`s "Theory of educational drama" and Jonathan Neelands` "Drama in the service of study" as a manual. Bolton systematizes activity forms of drama in his book. Neelands reveals the work forms in details and the steps of how to plan a drama lesson.

It is important to mention that Anglo-Saxon drama teachers created their methods on the basis of traditions and reform-pedagogy. Their common aim is to fit education to the needs of society. Games were built in their conception and what caries the conception within drama-pedagogy is the drama-game.

Drama-pedagogy reached Hungary in the middle of the 70s, in 1972.

Hungarian pedagogy was strongly centrally-directed at this age although some reform-pedagogy movements were appearing. Drama-pedagogy walked around the official ways because it was used on the first hand at children school dramatism. The two pioneers, Éva Mezei studied in Birmingham at Peter Slade, she gained her experience there and Tibor Debreceni who met English child-drama in Czech Republic. Those are the two who are searching the opportunity to contact the National Pedagogic Institute in the purpose of put drama-pedagogy into the school curricula.

Let us take a look at the Hungarian drama-pedagogy!

Drama has been present in child school dramatism, study circles and in other informal organizations since 1972. Due to the strong rejection against Prussian course method of education, drama pedagogy started to spread widely.

"Drama games for children, the youth and adults" written by Katalin Gabnai, Budapest, 1993, is the first reader in Hungary that is considered to be fundamental. Several articles, referatum, manuals, readers, translations, researches are written by Hungarian drama-teachers and sometimes different values, views and conceptions can be opposed and discussed.

Let us mention that drama-pedagogy has always been strongly connected to the actual social-political system. The founders had the purpose to make the official pedagogic leadership consider this new pedagogic aspect and method to be important and necessary. The leaders, for the time being, are averse to any change.

As the civil society came into existence, it ment new opportunities.

The Hungarian Drama Pedagogy Society has been founded in 1988, by the initiation of Tibor Debreceni. The aims and purposes declared in the Founding Document contained to unite the drama-pedagogic theory with practice and to insert it into the educational curriculum.

After the foundation of the Society, regional smaller workshops have been founded in a great number. Their task is, let alone the above mentioned ones, the local representation. There are more than 20 workshops at present. Moreover, drama-pedagogy is present at educational curricula today (in primary, secondary and higher education).

Still we have to ask the question: how is it present? To answer this is rather complicated.

The Hungarian Drama Pedagogy Society, besides its fundamental purposes, considers as its most important task to be the exploration of the prevailing conditions, to decrease the number of anomalies and the methodical follow up upon drama-pedagogic curricula and educational methods.

Besides all, the Society helps with methodological advice to the less trained teachers within its given technical and theoretical frame.

Drama pedagogy has been present in Hungary for 30 years. Its past was uneven and rough and its present is not devoid of hardship and resistance.

Teachers such as we who have been drama teachers for 20, 10, 5 years, and who are trained by us will continue the way trying to overcome the difficulties with the best of our knowledge.

"It is nor easy in Hungary to step over the Rubicon" says Csaba Debreceni , based on the evaluation of the last decades as a whole, the today educational practices, teachers training difficulties and the present anomalies in the curriculum.

Still I think it is not impossible.