Behaviour is an ongoing challenge for many teachers, particularly in a subject such as drama. This post engages with several ways to manage behaviour in drama lessons.
Some Strategies
- Rehearse Routines using ‘Do It Again’
- Set and Stick to Groups
- Less is More, When it Comes to Timings
- Be a Stickler for Audience Etiquette
- Deliver and Depersonalise the Policy
How to Manage Behaviour in Drama Lessons
One of my behaviour superheroes, Tom Bennett, always asserts that as educators we are equally teachers of behaviour as we are our subject specialisms. It is every teacher’s duty to teach students how to behave. After all, if they are not behaving, then they aren’t learning. However, mastering how to manage behaviour in drama lessons is a recurring obstacle for me in my trainee teacher journey. This post presents several strategies which have helped me so far.
Rehearse Routines using ‘Do It Again’
Every behaviour management book, blog post and internet article emphasises the importance of building consistent routines in the classroom. Therefore, I am not going to waste any time by repeating this vital piece of information. Instead, I would like to suggest that as drama teachers, we can rehearse routines with students, using a Doug Lemov strategy. In Teach Like a Champion, Lemov introduces the idea of ‘Do it Again’ and it has become an effective way of managing behaviour in drama lessons.
‘Do it Again’ is very simple. The technique involves asking learners to repeat a routine instruction until it meets your standard. For example, I often give instructions such as, ‘When I say go, everyone is going to move, in silence, to sit in our drama circle. You have 10 seconds. Go!’ Usually, some low-level disruption occurs during this transition. Therefore, I stop the class, make my expectation to move in silence crystal clear and then get them to repeat. This is an easy technique to implement, which signals to students that you are a consistent and reliable adult.
Set and Stick to Groups
Secondly, I find that having established groups for practical tasks can sometimes help to manage behaviour in drama lessons. These groups can be of your own or the students’ choosing, or perhaps a mixture of both. Organising groups allows you to separate disruptive students and challenge your more able learners to work with others.
In actor training and professional environments, practitioners usually opt for switching up participant groups regularly. This encourages people to work with many different individuals. While I support this idea, I find that in mainstream secondary school prompting students to work with the same peers on a weekly basis, helps to manage behaviour productively. It also becomes a recognisable routine.
Less is More, When it Comes to Timings
My third idea to manage behaviour in drama lessons, originates from my mentor. While it may be tempting to give students ample time to create and devise theatre in their groups, less is always more. I have discovered that if you give students 5 minutes to create a short role play or a still image, the learners will only use the last 30 seconds of that time to complete the task. During the additional minutes students may be doing any number of things such as arguing, chatting, daydreaming and fighting.
Of course, you may use your behaviour policy to sanction these actions, however, it is a better use of energy to avoid those behaviours altogether. Keep tasks pacy and prompt to ensure learners are engaged and compliant.
Be a Stickler for Audience Etiquette
I cannot tell you how much it disappoints me to see students talking during a performance. Whether that be an informal sharing from their peers or a professional touring production, it deeply saddens me to watch this impolite behaviour. Therefore, I make my expectations of how audience members should act very clear, while sanctioning relentlessly for those who fail to meet this standard.
In the first couple of weeks of meeting my classes, this often meant that while students were performing for others, I frequently watched the spectators and not the actors to ensure I caught students in the act of talking. I would then follow up with a quick public sanction. As a drama educator, you are responsible for teaching this mutual respect and appreciation towards others. This also helps to consistently demonstrate your values to your students.
Deliver and Depersonalise the Policy
Finally, feeling comfortable when using your school’s behaviour policy always signals to students that you are a consistent and competent teacher, in control. Learners may arrive at your drama lesson hoping to treat it as a subject in which they can ‘just mess around’ in. This old chestnut needs to be stamped out quickly, if you are going to lead productive drama sessions. Using warnings, consequences and removals in a depersonalised and unemotive manner will help you manage behaviour effectively, while keeping the drama out of drama.
Want Some More?
Are teenage students proving difficult? Take a look at one of my previous posts for the Top 5 Drama Games to Engage Tricky Teens.
