June

“Monthly Letter from the Principal”
A Musing
by Bob Ruud
June 2012
A Montessori Point: DIY Drama
Probably the most used and recognized quote in Montessori education is Maria Montessori's rendering
of what children are telling us adults, through all of their words and their actions, what they need us to
do: “Help me to do it myself.”
If you are handy around the house--you know how to change a light bulb, cook, clean, install a light
fixture, stop a toilet from leaking, change a tire on a car, set up the new entertainment center, get the
computer working again, etc.--you know how satisfying, efficient, and economical that can be. If you
live with somebody who is particularly handy, you no doubt have a deep appreciation for their skill in
keeping a house functioning without having to call in a professional every time.
Most people would probably not classify drama as a practical life skill. This is an unlikely list: 1) can
make a great crème brûlée; 2) can assemble a new office chair; and 3) can convincingly deliver a series
of lines of dialogue. Not generally generically collocated. And yet as we prepare our dramatic
presentation in the upper elementary class, the experience has really highlighted--dramatized, one
might say--the development of very practical skills in self-sufficiency.
Shakespeare thought that not only was drama a useful vehicle to transport us on our quest to make
sense of life, but it is the very ether in which that quest is played out, the very stuff of our
consciousness, and therefore our existence. A realization, for Shakespeare and his marionettes (i.e. his
characters), which did not exactly generate joy, but more the existential sentiment expressed here:
Duke Senior:
Thou seest we are not all alone unhappy:
This wide and universal theatre
Presents more woeful pageants than the scene
Wherein we play in.
Jacques:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts...
William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
Shakespeare thought that drama could have a kind of moral revelatory value. He uses Hamlet to
employ a bit of drama to reveal the tumor of guilt his uncle is concealing:
Hamlet:
I'll have these players
Play something like the murder of my father
Before mine uncle. I'll observe his looks;
I'll tent him to the quick. If he but blench,
I know my course. The spirit that I have seen
May be the devil, and the devil hath power
To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps
Out of my weakness and my melancholy,
As he is very potent with such spirits,
Abuses me to damn me. I'll have grounds
More relative than this: the play's the thing
Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act II, Scene II
Often when students put on a play, it is written by adults, and directed by adults. We might say that the
children are 'merely' players. That can be good, nevertheless; good education for the children,
entertaining for all. But when the children conceive of the idea of a dramatic presentation, and create it
themselves, and participate fully in the management and preparation of it, there is an entire additional
dimension of experience, and therefore of learning. Children come to drama naturally, magnetically. To
'follow the child' in education is to observe what the children are saying to us. If they are saying: “We
are drawn irresistibly toward drama, toward learning what it is like to speak for/as someone else,
toward behaving and controlling our emotions in a deliberate and purposeful way, toward conveying
the sentiments of another person in a simulated but realistic communicative situation, so help us to do
this ourselves,” then our role as adults is to create an environment in which the children's dramatic
expression is supported and encouraged and embraced. We actually do this all the time, at all levels, in
Montessori education. The early Grace and Courtesy lessons, in particular, are of a fundamentally
dramatic nature. There is drama at all levels when we coach conflict resolution and communication
skills generally. The Family Education website says this:
From birth, children instinctively use pretend play as a means of making sense of the world. They
observe and respond to their environment. They imitate words and actions. They create situations to
play and assume roles. They interact with peers and arrange space and objects to bring their stories
to life. They direct one another to bring order to dramatic play. And they respond to one another's
dramas. In other words, children arrive at school with rudimentary skills as playwrights, actors,
designers, directors, and audience members.
Students in every classroom can claim the power and promise of theater today. We don't have to
wait for expensive equipment and facilities. Given the chance to create their own dramas and attend
plays presented by others, students can be transported to worlds past, present, and future --- the
ultimate in “virtual reality.” Students are intuitively equipped with the skills and imagination to walk
in others' shoes, developing understanding and empathy as they explore complex realities and
limitless possibilities.
http://school.familyeducation.com/theater/drama/38782.html#ixzz1w3ys0uPA
Here is a snippet of the upper elementary play, Try Blacky Lapin, written, produced, and co-directed by
the students, and to be performed by them for the other ISN children on June 15 during the school day,
and for parents and the community at 7 PM on June 21:
Bob Ruud, Principal: [email protected]
DA/Procureur Anaïs/Romain : So you are saying that Mr. Lapin could have been out of food, and
that could have been the reason he was chewing on his cage fastener?
Donc, vous dites que M. Lapin n’avait peut-être plus de nourriture et que cela l’aurait poussé à
ronger le fermoir de sa cage ?
Edoardo/Vincent : That’s what you’re saying. That’s not what I’m saying.
C'est vous qui le dites, ce n'est pas moi.
Mr./M. Nouidri: I was just going to object and say the same thing.
J'allais justement protester et dire la même chose.
DA/Procureur Anaïs/Romain : But do you agree with what I said?
Mais êtes vous d'accord avec ce que j'ai dit?
Mr./M. Nouidri: Objection!
Objection !
Judge/Juge Nouidri: Sustained. We’re not interested in whether he agrees. We are interested in what
he saw.
Accordée. Ce qui nous intéresse ce n’est pas de savoir s’il est d’accord, c’est de savoir ce qu'il a
vu.
DA/Procureur Anaïs/Romain: Very well. But do you?
Très bien. Mais êtes-vous d’accord ?
Edoardo/Vincent: No.
Non.
DA/Procureur Anaïs/Romain: No further questions, Your Honor.
Nous n’avons plus de questions, Votre Honneur.
Judge/Juge Nouidri: You may step down.
Vous pouvez vous retirer.
It's been quite an experience already. It's writing, but not like writing an assigned essay; It's reading,
but not reading on demand; It's memorizing, but not irrelevant; It's bilingual at its most expressive and
entertaining; It's work, but not drudgery; It's fun, and valuable. Drama in education is dramatic
education. And motivation is not a variable, it's a constant.
Please come, and be entertained.
Remember John Dewey’s claim that “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” We
have school to attend, or life to act out, or live; I forget which.
Bob
Bob Ruud, Principal: [email protected]