Susan DavisCQUniversity, Australias.davis@cqu.edu.au

TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING: REVISITING

HEATHCOTE AND VYGOTSKY FOR

THE DIGITAL AGE Presentation for the 8th IDEA World Congress, Paris, 8-13 July 2013

REVOLUTIONARY THINKERS FROM OTHER REVOLUTIONARY TIMES - ?

Informing my

research & current practice

Vygotsky – educational theory - ZPD

Heathcote – drama

processes, Teacher-in-

role

FINDING THE COMMON CONCERNS – ABOUT LEARNING PROCESSES &

DRAMA

… as the trend began to favour the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotski rather than Piaget, she also avoided quoting from him, though curiously, she had Vygotski thrust upon her by left-wing theatre educationists who saw Dorothy’s teaching as epitomising Marxist values. And there is a sense in which they were right, for they recognised that among her deepest passions is the need for justice in society. (Bolton, 2003, p. 141)

“It is social politics so easily introduced via systems where 'people' business is central” (Heathcote 2002, p.8).

HEATHCOTE & VYGOTSKY

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He was a t eacher, a t hea t re l ove r, a researcher and revo lu t i ona ry t h inke r. He unders tood t he impor tance o f p lay, o f human in te rac t ions , o f a r t and the imag ina t ion , t he impor tance o f c rea t i v i t y and aes the t i c educa t ion fo r a l l ch i l d ren . He wro te abou t how humans th ink , c rea te and lea rn in ways tha t a re s t i l l r e levan t t oday.

LEV VYGOTSKY 1896-1934

Great interest in literature, poetry and philosophy from an early age

Particular interest in theatre, dazzling recitations as a child

Dramatic knowledge and criticism wrote theatre reviews – fi rst major work was an analysis of ‘Hamlet’ –thesis became the book ‘Psychology of Art’

Had a dynamic personal presence & inspiration speaker (Mol l , 1990)

Didn’t originally train as a psychologist but had great impact in that fi eld

Extraordinary memory – regarded as a genius – the Mozart of Psychology

VYGOTSKY

DOROTHY HEATHCOTE 1926-2011She w as an i nnova t i ve teacher w hose g roundb reak ing w ork cha l l enged no t i ons o f teach ing , o f d ram a and how to w ork w i th ch i l d ren . She en te red i n to the c rea t i ve space w i th those she w orked w i th and p i oneered s t ra teg ies such as ‘ teacher- i n -ro l e ’ and ‘m an t l e o f the exper t ’ .

Voracious readerEarly interest in literature, history,

geography and theatreStrong personal presence –

inspirational teacherPerformance experience and

professional acting trainingGreat memoryDidn’t train as a teacher but had

greatest impact in educationIntelligent, many regard her as a

genius

HEATHCOTE

Learning emerges out of social (external) & internal interactions

Involves active role of teacher and or knowledgeable others

Involves co-constructing solutions to problems Utilises mediating tools and signsIn the arts – these tools can activate the

imagination and crystallise beliefThe arts utilise form and structure to express ideas

and emotions Specific nature of drama for (creative) learning and

working with imaginationThe importance of both external human activity and

internal interactions (and reflection) for learning

SIMILAR BELIEFS ABOUT LEARNING

There are many aspects that could be compared within their work

For the purposes of this presentation, the focus will be on a couple Zone of proximal development and the role of the teacher Mediation and the role of tools The special qualities of (improvised) drama for learning

SOME SIMILAR THOUGHTS ABOUT LEARNING

ZPD… is the distance

between the actual development as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers

(Vygotsky,1978, p 86)

Role of teacher and others

An essential feature of learning is that it creates the zone of proximal development, that is, learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes, that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with his peers (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 89)

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT & ROLE OF TEACHER/OTHERS

Wagner on Heathcote In drama children live

“in advance of themselves” as it were: they face challenge and crisis in imagination before they find themselves overwhelmed by them in real life. They gain the feeling of mastery over events, the sense that they are equal to life. (Wagner 1976)

Heathcote … in the presence of an

empowering adult a child can reach beyond his own capacity in carrying out a task. Teacher-in-role enhances this particular adult function. The teacher, through her role, provides a model of high expectations for the enterprise that at fi rst seems out of reach.. In time he has no choice but to aim beyond his normal abil ity – and to break the confi nes of rigidly held concepts

(Heathcote & Bol ton 1995)

ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT, DRAMA & TEACHER IN ROLE

Vygotsky

Humans (subjects) achieve objects and act upon the world through external mediation and interactions with various tools.

Tools include culturally learned processes or conceptual tools, signs such as language, as well as physical tools, artefacts and technologies

MEDIATION

Living at life-rate, with agreement to pretence, … experiences of life which cause people to reflect & take note… consequent selectivity and diff erent permutations of response to be tried (Heathcote in Johnson & O’Neill p. 69)

The dramatic process is a ‘tool’ and also involves use of specific selected content/narrative frames, conventions and processes – these can all be considered as ‘tools’

DRAMA AS AN EDUCATIONAL MEDIUM

Vygotsky

Tools, Signs & artefacts mediate learning & culture (between mind and others)

Heathcote

Would often use concrete tools and artefacts (maps, paintings, letters, photographs etc) within a drama – to ‘help crystallize belief’. (Wagner p. 71)

TOOLS, SIGNS & ARTEFACTS

What is form?... The first component would appear to be the ordering of the miscellaneous and reducing miscellany to order…the second ingredient would appear to be a process of simplification.. Selection and rearrangement of the available materials… Third, form is ‘fitness of purpose’ (Heathcote in Johnson & O’Neill p. 76 drawing on Rugg)

“Art experiences insist upon a restructuring of ordinary perceptions of reality so that we end by seeing the world instead of numbly recognising it” . (p. 128)

FORM IS ALSO A TOOL - HEATHCOTE

“Art is the social technique of emotion, a tool of society which brings the most intimate and personal aspects of our being into the circle of social life” (Vygotsky, 1971, p. 249).

“… drama, which is based on actions, and, furthermore, actions to be performed by the child himself, is the form of creativity that most closely, actively, and directly corresponds to actual experiences … Thus the dramatic form expresses with greatest clarity the full cycle of imagination…” (Vygotsky, 2004, p 70)

“Drama, more than any other form of creation, is closely and directly linked to play, which is the root of all creativity in children. Thus, drama is the most syncretic mode of creation, that is, it contains elements of the most diverse forms of creativity.” (Vygotsky,2004, p. 71)

VYGOTSKY ON ROLE OF ART & DRAMA

“The staging of drama provides the pretext and material for the most diverse forms of creativity on the part of the children. The children themselves compose, improvise, or prepare the play, improvise the roles or sometimes dramatize some existing piece of literature”

“That is why plays written by the children themselves or created and improvised by them as they are played are vastly more compatible with children’s understanding ” (Vygotsky , 2004 , (p . 72 )

Being the closest to actual living, drama more than any other art has had to create a special frame. This frame is called theatre. Theatre is life depicted in a no-penalty zone. (Heathcote in Johnson & O’Nei l l p . 130)

VYGOTKSY & HEATHCOTE ON PROCESS AND IMPROVISED DRAMA

Object/motive

Outcome/s

Subject/s

Mediational meansTools, signs, artefacts

One of the early tasks of the teacher is to create experiences of intensity because these are the one which will commit the class to further work as they give instant success feedback. (Heathcote in Johnson & O’Nei l l , p. 74)

Ideas from Vygotsky and Heathcote

Active role of ‘teacher’ in crafting and interacting within the encounter

The selection and orchestration of the use of a range of appropriate ‘tools’ – conceptual, actual, technological, relational requires mastery and artistry

TEACHER’S ROLE - CRAFTING OF THE AESTHETIC ENCOUNTER

+EXAMPLEThe Water Reckoning – Rolling Role Projectwww.water-reckoning.net (based on Heathcote’s Rolling Role concept

# Fictional frame (tool) Discovery of a lost culture of frozen people underwater who experienced times of crisis

# Who were these people and what happened? (Problem)

# Use of physical artefacts, images, music, dramatic form and digital tools

Jason deCaires Taylor imagery

ARTEFACTS

TEACHER IN ROLE / CREATIVE SCAFFOLDING TOOLS

DIGITAL TOOLS AND PLATFORMS TO ENABLE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

The importance of finding and creating the aesthetically charged tools for engagement

The power of using digital technologies to create and share creative work

Students (as drama students) happy to have teachers play recording and editing role

Learning and reflection was often stimulated by viewing their own edited work shown back to them

Students were not all that keen to use the technologies themselves in school drama

The importance of identifying and naming the use of dramatic form

The active role of teacher’s in designing and shaping the aesthetic encounters, laying trails, opening up the spaces for student creativity BUT then identifying and responding to what they create.

PROJECT OUTCOMES

Object

Learning goalsdrama & life concepts, versions of self & world

Embodied Experience

Subject Reflective process

Phase I Mediating tools# Drama learning medium, conventions of artform# Fictional ‘what if’ context and associated ‘problem’# Teacher-in-role - Character, history, relational positioning# Artefacts and tools – aesthetically charged tools of the imagination

Potential outcome Drama and other learning & identity formation

Phase II Mediating tools# Educator out-of-role # Reflection and debriefing tools - connecting classroom and ‘real-world’ context# Tools and artefacts to mediate meaning making

Some assume that all students are ‘digital natives’ – engage in technological romanticism -’ kids can all do it, leave it to them.’ Side-step an active teacher role.

Digital tools just add to the tool-kit, alongside the other types of tools already considered.

Transformative learning involves extending the scope of the tools available and building on aspects of the role for the teacher as already identifi ed by leading practit ioners and theorists such as Heathcote & Vygotsky.

Heathcote – teacher as actor, director, playwright and audience Vygotsky – teacher as more capable peer prompting interaction and

extending learning

NOW

Teacher as curator and designer of aesthetic encounters uti l ising aesthetically charged tools as gateways to the imagination and connected learning.

SHIFTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Bol ton , G . (2003) . The Dorothy Heathcote Story : B iography o f a Remarkable Drama Teacher . London: Trentham Books .

Heathcote , D. (2002) . Contexts for Act ive learn ing - Four models to fo rge l inks between schoo l ing and soc iety . Paper presented at the NATC, B i rmingham. ht tp : / /www.moeplanning.co.uk/wp-content /up loads /2008/05/dh-contexts - fo r-act ive-learn ing.pdf

Heathcote , D. , & Bo l ton, G . (1995) . Drama for learn ing: Dorothy Heathcote 's mant le o f the expert approach to educat ion . Por tsmouth , NH: Heinemann.

Johnson, L . , & O'Ne i l l , C . (Eds . ) . (1984) . Dorothy Heathcote: Co l lected Wr i t ings on Educat ion and Drama . Evanston, I l l ino is : Northwestern Univers i ty Press .

Vygotsky , L . S . (1930/2004) . Imaginat ion and creat iv i ty in ch i ldhood. Journa l o f Russ ian and East European Psycho logy, 42 (1) , 7 -97.

Vygotsky , L . S . (1931/1998) . Imaginat ion and creat iv i ty o f the ado lescent (Ha l l , M. J . , Trans . ) . In Re iber , R. (Ed .) , The co l lected works o f LS Vygotsky : Vo lume 5, ch i ld psycho logy . New York: P lenum Press . Retr ieved f rom http : / /www.marx is ts .org /arch ive/vygotsky /works /1931/ado lescent /ch12.htm

Vygotsky , L . S . (1962) . Thought and language . Cambr idge MA: MIT Press . Vygotsky , L . S . (1971) . The psycho logy o f a r t . Cambr idge, MASS: MIT Press . Vygotsky , L . S . (1978) . Mind in soc iety : The development o f h igher psycho log ica l

processes . Cambr idge MA: Harvard Un ivers i ty Press . Vygotsky , L . S . (1998) . The co l lected works o f L .S . Vygotsky - Vo lume 5 ch i ld

psycho logy (Ha l l , M. J . , Trans . ) . New York & London: P lenum Press . Vygotsky , L . S . (2003) . Imaginat ion and creat iv i ty in ch i ldhood. Journa l o f Russ ian

and East European Psycho logy, 42 (1) , 7 -97.   Wagner , B . J . (1976) . Dorothy Heathcote: Drama as a learn ing medium . Wash ington

DC: Nat iona l Educat ion Assoc iat ion o f the Un i ted States .

REFERENCES