Now in its fifthyear of injecting creativity and curiosity into Stockport's primary schools, Drama Engagement and Active Learning (DEAL) is proving to teachers and pupils that drama can play a vital role in a child's development throughout school. It is an inspiring and forward-thinking primary drama initiative led by Howard Bousfield from Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council and drama consultants Peter Kennedy and Rebecca Bell.
Placing students at the centre of drama
Having been on a learning journey myself as my school's DEAL link teacher, I can comfortably say that DEAL strategies do wonders for children's engagement, enthusiasm, sense of purpose, teamwork and growth mindset. They also have a significant impact on the comprehension of English, Science and Humanities. Through DEAL, we use different drama strategies to support what we are already learning. It's much more than occasionally using ‘Hot Seating’ or a ‘Conscience Alley’, for example, to help children explore a text or a concept.
Strategies such as ‘Teacher-in-role’, ‘Meeting in Role’, ‘Read the Picture’, ‘Tableaux’, ‘Role on Wall’, ‘Story Stick’, ‘News Report’, ‘Drama Remote Control’ and many others can be utilised in different ways to make our learning more vivid and relevant, bringing it to life in a more immediate way. Teachers take on roles to place the children's learning within a drama, while the children themselves are given roles as problem solvers or characters.
Creative learning
When used effectively in a process described as the ‘full’ DEAL approach, the drama connects several subjects throughout a topic, with characters are returned to throughout the term. A clear end goal is given to motivate the children. In our Ancient Greece unit, for example, my pupils were the Athenian children at risk from the Minotaur, while I was an aide to King Aegeus.
By framing learning within a narrative, the student's motivation skyrockets. The creativity is palpable: the classroom becomes an exciting place full of original ideas and vibrant work is produced. Whether describing the Labyrinth or considering what life was like in Ancient Greece, the children are empowered to use their perspective. As the ideas are their own – either individually or collectively – there is a great sense of ownership which feeds into their work.
With my Year 5 class, the children and I were WWII Evacuees, citizens in Nazi Germany, Brazilian tourist off cers, rainforest climate delegates, NASA trainee astronauts, Anglo Saxon villagers and journalists from the Middle Ages. DEAL has fed into setting descriptions, persuasive writing, scientific writing and story writing, as well as supporting Science, History, PSHE and RE lessons.
Encouraging collaboration
Following a series of DEAL strategies, the children's enthusiasm feeds straight into whatever the unit outcomes may be and invariably yields great work. If DEAL methods are used regularly, children can improve their performing abilities, meaning they can respond in role with increased accuracy and be ready to create ideas to use in their work more willingly. The overall benefit is an increased love of learning and a positive classroom culture. Particularly in writing work, I have observed dramatic improvements in some children on the back of our DEAL work, and there have been obvious long-term impacts as a result.
DEAL is particularly effective for children who may struggle with academic work, whether that's down to learning difficulties or language barriers. By valuing and developing a child's ability to imagine, understand and tell stories, there is less emphasis on the challenging aspects of writing for many primary school pupils, such as grammar, spelling, and handwriting. This naturally develops a child's confidence with language, which then finds its way back into their written work.
Innovative teaching
Away from schoolbooks, DEAL also works wonders for the class community by building character, encouraging risk taking and group collaboration. Most telling is how DEAL helps children remember what they have learnt. ‘Sticky Learning’, now an Ofsted focus, is a natural by-product of DEAL strategies. The term was coined from regular comments from children that working in this way helps facts and information ‘stick in their brains’.
DEAL is also terrific for teachers’ personal development. Teachers need creativity too, and the more often you use DEAL strategies, the easier it becomes to visualise how they will fit in your lessons and the more excited you become about delivering them. Planning becomes more straightforward, yet the teaching itself becomes more innovative. Where primary education policy is concerned, DEAL is ahead of the curve.
Drama as a skill is hardly mentioned in the curriculum and is non-existent in teacher training. There is a growing call for a different kind of learning, rather than simply modernising the curriculum. Moving forward, we should prioritise creativity, imagination and problem solving as well as academic ability. This is especially important in the wake of the last few challenging years of the pandemic, and we need to ensure our future adults are prepared for whatever life throws at them. Hopefully more schools, and perhaps policy makers too, realise the extraordinary potential of active drama-based learning opportunities like DEAL.
