Interview: Chris Lawrence lifetime achievement recognised

Q. You have worked in a great variety of roles during your career in arts education. Which of these roles was the most formative, would you say?

Yes, looking back, I have worked in a great many roles in my 59 years in education. The full list is (not in chronological order): class teacher and head of drama in secondary schools; class teacher in primary schools; advisory drama teacher; leader of a Theatre-In-Education team; and now, coordinator at London Drama. I also do a lot of volunteering these days: trustee treasurer and publications officer at National Drama; and Chair of trustees at Blue Elephant Theatre and Southwark Theatres Education Partnership (STEP).

I think the most formative of these, without doubt, was the role of advisory drama teacher, based in Newcastle-upon-Tyne during the 1970s and 1980s. The work was principally focused on primary school language development and drama was, in those far off days, recognised as being important to achieve this. There was a lot of investment in drama practice in those days: a lot of Local Education Authorities nationally had teams of subject advisors including drama advisors and many had a team of advisory teachers, based on the model in London. The work was about inspiring teachers to try out drama with their classes and organising youth theatre groups. It really stretched my imagination and developed my skills, and was very creatively satisfying. An added bonus was being in Newcastle: we often got involved in projects that Dorothy Heathcote was organising with her students. That was just such a fantastic privilege.

Q. Who has been your biggest inspiration, and why?

The person who inspired me the most, without doubt, was the late Dorothy Heathcote. I think there are many people across the world who will say the same. I was able to work with her for a sabbatical year in 1971–72 and her influence has inspired my teaching ever since.

At the time I worked with her, she was experimenting with a new form of teaching: ‘teacher and role’, a partnership situation where one person is the teacher and the other is in role representing a complete lifestyle – in my case, that of a derelict. ‘Albert’ had an old coat, baggy trousers, cloth for shoes, unkempt hair and full beard, and was, by design, extremely non-verbal. His very low status put the children into a position of superiority in almost every way, which was the whole point. In teaching Albert what he needed to know to survive in life, they brought into their awareness knowledge they did not know they possessed and implicitly took on a mantle of expertise and care.

Dorothy's very calm presence, whichever group she worked with, maintained a centre of security, and she had a deep capacity for finding the kind of comment or question that would give direction and provide imaginative engagement. I learned so much about teaching in role – how it brought situations into the immediate present with great efficiency: ‘It's happening now, here, with us, and I'm in it too!’ This is the most dramatic, drama-friendly way of opening the door to a journey of the imagination for all involved, teacher and students alike: just revolutionary to my mind back then.

Q. What has been your proudest career moment to date?

It is a very, very special thing to receive recognition and celebration from one's peer group, particularly when that peer group is one that I have admired and respected for a very long time, and that is the situation I found myself in with the Lifetime Achievement Award. This has to be the career moment that I am most proud of. After I got over the initial shock and thoughts of, ‘Why me? Are you sure?’, I felt, ‘Wow, what kindness. What nice people I work with. What an honour.’ I was thrilled that my daughter, Jenny, was able to witness the occasion of the awards evening, and her support for me made me proud of her too.

In my speech I noted that teachers do not often receive public acknowledgement – let alone public celebration – so for the Music and Drama Education Awards to provide such a classy, black tie, uplifting event recognising teachers is just fantastic: it made me feel very proud to be acknowledged at such an occasion, for sure, so my thanks to all those who made that possible.

Q. In what ways would you say drama education has changed since you entered the sphere?

Overall, societal conditions provide the context for all education, including drama education, and there is quite a contrast between then and now. In the 1960s and 1970s, the job I referred to previously – drama advisory teacher – required financial and ethical investment by Local Education Authorities in those roles, and in drama. This is in stark contrast with the situation today. A world where drama is considered by many to be a priority in which to invest is like news from another planet!

‘[Drama] is how we come to know ourselves: what is the purpose of education if not that?’

The growing influence of examination boards has brought gradual change in secondary teaching. The emphasis on ‘making drama’ has gradually been superseded by an emphasis on ‘studying drama’ so now GCSE drama exams usually require a 70% written component, with 30% practical – virtually a reversal of the original specifications. As a result, the concept of ‘teaching to the test’ has crept in, which is distorting the kind of improvisation work that I believe is at the heart of drama. The riskier but more dynamic qualities of teacher-in-role-type work have given way to ‘safer’, more controllable and definable exercises, which provide, in my opinion, thinner and shallower experiences for young people.

The one area where there has been little change, as far as I can see, is the requirement of drama teachers to produce ‘the school play’ or its equivalent. Denied status in the curriculum – often ‘banished’ to the temporary classrooms (or from their studios during exam periods) – drama teachers, nevertheless, are required to produce the most prestigious showcase event in the school's life, before returning to the shadows again, struggling to get the students to opt for their non-STEM subject.

So, no change there. However, these productions have become more ambitious and imaginative, using techniques that professional theatre companies employ, and students have become far more skilled and articulate in putting them to use. And I think drama teachers have become more aware of a range of teaching techniques developed by key practitioners than I was aware of at the same age.

Q. Which of these changes would you say has been the most detrimental?

I think the list of detrimental changes is rather long, I'm afraid to say, and they are systemic, so more difficult to change. The last Conservative government introduced policies which demonstrated a narrow conception of education where the arts are not perceived as important, at least in state schools. As a direct result, teacher training in drama has diminished in line with demands from schools; with fewer drama teachers, fewer students opt for drama, and so on in a vicious circle. Training is disseminated out of universities into schools in a ‘training on the job’ model, where poor teaching habits may go unchallenged. With the demise of university courses, the teaching of educational and drama theory is becoming a rarity.

At primary level, drama training is a matter of minutes per course, if it happens at all. At secondary level, KS3 (which used to be a zone of relative teaching autonomy) is now being sucked into the drive for exam competence at KS4. The environment of competition tied to funding throughout the system introduces stress levels on both staff and students, which is not conducive to artistic activity of any kind. Little wonder that the current government is now, rightly, concerned about student wellbeing. Let's hope they see the key part that drama has to play in that respect.

Q. What are your hopes for drama education in the next five years?

The ‘next five years’ is the usual period of a term of office, so we have to have some hopes in the new Labour government. I hope that they will reverse some of the previous governments’ devaluing of the arts, including drama. The new education minister, Bridget Phillipson, has said: ‘There is a real issue around creativity in our state schools and the lack of access that state school students have to music, sport, art and drama.’ That is clear enough and must raise our hopes.

Drama has the power to build self-esteem, wellbeing, community cohesion, transcend differences, and to transform lived experience into purpose, creativity and performance. It is how we come to know ourselves: what is the purpose of education if not that?

Drama is also an artform in its own right and has produced some of the world's greatest artists: I hope this will be officially recognised as such and that high-quality teacher training in drama is consequently invested in. I hope that much of what is argued for in National Drama/DTEA's National Plan for Drama, as launched at the recent Music and Drama Education Expo, is listened to and acted upon.

What if every child and young person were able to participate in a weekly practical drama experience taught by teachers with relevant training? What if they had an entitlement to have at least one experience of professional theatre per year? And what if Ofsted were required to ensure this came about? Hopes for great happenings!