Could you tell us how you would identify yourself as a practitioner and the context in which you’d like to work, including who your audience or target market would be?

Although I have thoroughly enjoyed the performance aspect of Drama: Education and Community, I believe that my future career lies in facilitation. Over the last three years my confidence of leading workshops has flourished, allowing me to work with a range of people from a variety of backgrounds, in different educational settings. 

I had a relatively positive school experience, however I am fully aware that this isn’t the reality for everyone. As an aspiring teaching assistant in my immediate future, I believe that it is important to understand what it means to be within the profession. Being able to help people achieve their goals on a regular basis, through positive reinforcement, requires a level of patience and understanding that can only be achieved through experience. This particular experience can come from volunteering work prior to the role, such as what I have achieved during university, but can also be developed by overcoming various obstacles within the setting. From this, you must also be open to learning new techniques throughout your career, such as those I have acquired through TK Maxx training, as well as the techniques I have picked up on, with help from my lecturers. Patience should be mirrored within a primary school classroom, to create a positive learning atmosphere. This means having an equal classroom, in terms of mutual respect between the students and teacher, teaching assistants, as well as peer to peer. Without this, students and teachers will not benefit. 

With the experience I have gained pre-university and at York St John, I have found that I am passionate about working in a primary school role. Specifically, I would like to gain more experience with key stage one pupils, however I am also comfortable with key stage two, as this is where my most recent short-term experience has been. My achievements within primary school settings indicate that I am confident with the age range, yet my lack of long-term experience makes me determined to grow further, as a facilitator. During university I have faced struggles with my placements, which is to be expected throughout this learning period. This has only motivated me to improve, taking on feedback that I am given and doing extra research, to surpass expectations of my work.

I believe that children should be exposed to the arts at an early age, especially within mainstream schools. Primary school settings do not particularly focus on activities such as drama and dance, which is often a child’s only chance of experiencing them. If I choose to follow primary school teaching as my career path, I would like to incorporate drama activities into my teaching method, where necessary. I would also like to ensure that the school I teach in has a regular drama club, or arts activities. If not, I would be willing to share my knowledge with colleagues to make this happen, as this is something that can help benefit children mentally, emotionally and physically. I have also had experience with resources (such as GoNoodle), which are aimed at primary school children, in order to keep them active and motivated within school.

 

How is your identity as a practitioner both reflected in the portfolio, and produced by the portfolio?

I have tailored my portfolio to indicate my vast array of work experience over the last 3 years and have analysed it accordingly. The experiences that I have chosen to write about have shaped my views as a facilitator and have motivated me to think about what I want to achieve in the future. 

The It’s Not OK project was my first experience working with secondary school children. It was also my first experience having to teach such a sensitive topic and I was nervous as to how they would respond. The drama activities definitely allowed them to actively explore each storyline. Although some of the idea behind the project were hard-hitting, they seemed to enjoy the workshops we planned and were proud of their achievements in the end piece. Through this project, my identity as a facilitator changed and I began to realise how powerful theatre can be as a teaching tool. It was inspiring to see their dedication to the piece, which I think my reflection shows. I believe I have also drawn attention to how I changed and developed as a facilitator, during this time. 

My reflection on Mind The Gap indicates that I was pushed out of my comfort zone. Not only did I facilitate adults, but these adults had a range of learning disabilities, all requiring a variety of needs. This is an experience that I will always remember, as I felt so welcomed and respected by the students. They understood that we were there to help them improve their skills and were willing to get involved with each activity. Each aspect of a workshop had to be thought about in detail during the planning stage, in order to respect each student and their abilities. In a primary school context, a teaching assistant needs to be able to think about the work from a child’s perspective, as well as taking on board their needs and abilities. If a child is struggling with work, a teaching assistant would be required to explain it in a variety of ways, or simplify it somehow. This indicates my patience level and wanting the best results for my students. 

Community Creation was our attempt of merging the current national curriculum with drama techniques, in order to make the topics interactive. Through practice, I was able to learn new techniques in order to control a full class of students. Positive reinforcement, such as praise and GoNoodle activities, were intertwined with the tasks, in order to keep the children’s focus and motivate them throughout the workshop. I was also able to research and adapt activities, in order to suit the needs of the project and the group of students. This indicates that I am willing to work hard in order to benefit both myself and the people I teach.

As well as growing in confidence, I have also been able to learn the best techniques to planning workshops, and the positives of evaluating them afterwards. I have been able to see myself grow as a facilitator, as well as seeing the people I have taught flourish in their acting ability, or education. This has created a drive in wanted to teach young people, seeing them develop throughout their school lives and succeed in their work. In identity, I see myself as being patient and understanding. I want to be someone who children can talk to (in asking questions and discussing any issues) , but also listen to (from giving advice and reassurance).

 

Drawing on evidence from your portfolio, what would you identify as the most significant moment of insight to your learning as a practitioner?

I believe that my involvement in the ‘It’s Not OK’ project was one of the most significant moments in my learning, throughout university. Going into the placement, I thought that I would feel intimidated in a secondary school setting, as my previous experience had been with year 2 students. Upon arriving at the school, the young people were respectful and willing to learn. Although they seemed relatively quiet at first, they were happy to show their dramatic ability, getting involved in group discussions about their work and showing elements of performance back to the rest of the group. We ensured not to pressure any students into doing so, but with a large group of facilitators, we were able to keep a close eye on the activity in the room and see the standard of drama we were catering for.

 My chosen field may not incorporate the ‘drama’ aspect of my degree, however I feel that I have gained a broader understanding of how particular dramatic activities can be used to aid a child’s learning. As stated in the ‘It’s Not OK’ section of this portfolio, the children were able to make connections between the drama techniques they were using and the story that they wanted to convey, (such as Columbian hypnosis portraying technology addiction). As facilitators, we wanted this to be solely their piece of work, so tried to limit our role as much as possible where the performance ideas were concerned. They were able to take the ‘It’s Not OK’ play and create their own response to it, using the drama techniques we brought to their sessions each week. This indicated to me that actively exploring certain topics may benefit children’s learning, especially when dealing with a range of learner types. This is something that I would definitely consider incorporating into my teaching method in the future, as some primary schools are not exposed to drama classes or activities.

In a primary setting this method of facilitation could be used for PSHE, such as what myself and my peer attempted to achieve in our independent project. Another significant moment of insight was shown through the ‘Community Creation’ project, as we ensured to evaluate each workshop after completing it in the placement. From this, I believe that with the correct balance between fairytales, PSHE and drama, a child’s learning would benefit. We were also able to explore group size within this project, as one placement was with a class of year 3 and 4, and the other placement was a small group of year 5 students. When reflecting on this experience, a small group size often enables more children to get involved, especially the pupils who are less willing to speak up in whole class discussions. This would be beneficial if there is a particularly quiet child, or someone new in the class, in order to get them socialising with the rest of the group. Being able to reflect on certain attributes of our workshop indicates that I am able to apply what I have learnt to real issues, thus highlighting my progression throughout my university course. 

 

What do you want to do next and how do you think your portfolio evidences and helps this ambition?

After university, I plan to get a graduate job as a primary school teaching assistant, in order to gain more long-term experience within an educational setting. I feel that this is more suited to my needs, as opposed to going straight into a teacher training course, as I am still unsure of my future. A graduate job would give me the opportunity to continue learning about ‘education and community’, whilst also giving me valuable work experience within the field. The job also comes with the possibility of enrolling on a teacher training course, which is beneficial if this is the route I choose to go down. As well as this, I hope through good connections within the school, I am able to share my interest in working with the SENCO, to further my knowledge in special educational needs.

Prior to university, I considered working as a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), due to having a deaf family member and my nature of wanting to help others. Although I am still unsure of where my career path with eventually lie, my time at Mind the Gap has helped me understand more in depth about the challenges behind learning disabilities, as well as the reward and satisfaction of being able to teach these particular students. This is something that I hope to pursue further, either within the graduate role, or as an additional course in the future. I would also be interesting in taking British Sign Language (BSL) or Makaton lessons to gain a qualification, thus enhancing my SEN experience. This would be another skill that I could pass on to children, as some students with learning difficulties may struggle to communicate effectively. By encouraging them to express themselves using these non-verbal communication skills, both the teacher and student will benefit. Needs will be met, opinions will be voiced and this will overall lead to a happier and healthier education for the child.

The experiences I have written about in my portfolio indicate my passion of the theatre industry, as well as facilitation. Without being exposed to the arts at a young age, I would not be where I currently am. Although I came to university initially wanting to be an actor or drama therapist, teaching has always been a career in the forefront of my mind. My experiences at York St John University have guided me into a firm career path, and have solidified my interest in working in the primary school profession. I would love to be able to use my knowledge to guide children, motivating them to achieve their goals. I believe that my portfolio indicates my knowledge of working with both adults and children, which are vital skills when working in a primary school. I think I have also expressed my growth in assertiveness, while also remaining a friendly and caring individual.

I am looking forward to taking my new (and improved) skills into a workplace, in order to develop in my career. I hope that I am able to incorporate my love for the arts within my workplace and that I continue to grow in confidence, within facilitation of a large group.