But that’s not right, is it Miss? Colonisation and conscientious objection through drama

Abstract

This paper tells of a short research project in which two primary school teachers and the researcher collaborated to design drama work to help their students navigate challenging journeys. A short case study of practice over 4-6 months, it was documented and considered reflectively in order for the practice to be of use to other teachers. From safe New Zealand classrooms, the two teachers, one with year 6 students, the other with year 8, used drama to look at the tyranny of colonisation and at resistance by conscientious objection. Drama we know has the capacity to help students imagine another’s predicament, expand critical understanding, and support development into informed democratic citizens (Miller & Saxton, 2011; O’Connor & Aitken, 2014.) The two teachers in this study let their students imagine colonisation and resistance, and helped them see with new eyes. The students were challenged to question different perspectives on right and wrong and to navigate their own direction with critical thought and empathy. The teachers and the researcher worked together in the classroom to teach, reflect on, and theorise the drama work. Interestingly, the geographic settings in each case had distinct implications for the theme of distance. A research journey, even in a classroom, can have unexpected turns (Davis, 2010; Dunn, 2016.). In the class who looked through literature at the rights of others in another age, having a rigorous lens turned on their drama work heightened their awareness and responsibility for their own work, and in turn deepened their responses to ideas. In the other class, though colonisation had been the original commendable theme, the students made their own connections to their own lives and community, and revealed a degree of perception and insight that holds promise for the way those students will participate and balance responsibilities as citizens. Both journeys demonstrated some of the invaluable benefits of drama in classrooms – talking, listening, playing, and engaging with significant ideas. In this country, where often drama has become distanced from teachers’ classroom practice, these teachers’ examples can serve as a navigation beacon for others.