CHAPTER 1
Introducing Dramatic Engagers
What are Dramatic Engagers? We are glad that you asked! Dramatic Engagers are strategies that require each participant to be involved in the learning of content. They directly help teachers and trainers increase both attention and participation by focusing on brain-based learning instead of traditional lecturing, which provide opportunities for the brain to process and to retain the information. Participants perform and practice what they learn through active and collaborative activities and creative drama techniques. This makes learning Fun, which helps your learner reflect, recall, and retain the information. Dramatic Solutions' new approach help participants apply what they learn. Keeping participants engaged is the best way for them to gain knowledge. Teachers and trainers using the strategies in this book will be inspired and motivated to use Dramatic Engagers to improve their classroom teaching techniques, while their participants fully grasp the information, making the processing of new data more meaningful and productive. Dramatic Solutions' Engagers are a scientific- and researched-based model. Hundreds of studies on active and collaborative learning show tremendous social and academic gains over traditional teaching and learning.
TOP GENERAL OBJECTIVES FOR DRAMATIC ENGAGERS
a) To break the ice and relieve tension for brain.
b) To stimulate the brain by using as many senses as possible.
c) To prepare the students to learn.
d) To increase safe and positive learner interaction.
e) To protect the dendrites in the brain to increase the processing of new information.
f) To build the sense of fun and pleasure through active engagement.
g) To boost confidence and self-control.
h) To boost morale and teamwork.
i) To build cognitive and critical skills.
j) To increase the opportunity to change and maintain the learner's bright affects.
k) To inform and empower.
l) To reduce threat in the space and foster safety.
m) To practice collaborative and cooperative skill sets.
The idea that good teachers and trainers become great when they allow themselves to learn from their students is more than a cliché. This notion embodies our perspective on the 'teacher-learner' relationship, as well as, the knowledge transfer process. And, perhaps not too surprisingly, as noted earlier in this chapter, 'learning' begets learning. As such, the cognition process (itself a structural element) can be considered an engager as well.
Dramatic engagers utilize emerging trends and best practices in learner engagement and achievement of cognition, which are found throughout the medical, scientific, and academic literature. Some of these interventions and activities include (About.com - Secondary Education, 2014):
Participatory Activities
• Kinesthetic learners would include writing down information that they are to learn.
• Visual learners could create word webs, Venn diagrams, or other visual presentations of information.
• Auditory learners could read a passage aloud from their textbook or from handouts.
Instructional Modalities
• Employing Inclusive Teaching Strategies
• Student Engagement through Active Learning
• Leading Dynamic Discussions
• Utilizing Technology
• Service Learning
The following creative modalities are deployed heavily in our ongoing academic and clinical practice. We have found them to be extremely effective in the participant learner-engagement process.
Creative Modalities
• Music
• Art
• Dance
• Play
• Performance
• Communication
When utilizing different teaching modalities, the information is reinforced by all the different senses. In addition, some participants as we will discuss later, prefer one of the modalities over the other. By utilizing different approaches, you have a greater chance of reaching every participant.
ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BRAIN IN MIND
It is almost guaranteed that the following question will arise in the minds of a vast majority of learners, "WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME"? The curiosity may be expressed in many different forms and vary widely from person to person. However, whether stated or unstated, Can YOU answer this opening inquiry? It is a seemingly simplistic, yet huge, underlying question for all of your learners. More important, are you able to provide an answer that acknowledges the multiple learning styles that exist among individuals? In addition, will your response take into account the enormous variations in how the BRAIN processes information?
Recognizing that the brain is an organism within the human body and understanding how this highly capable component (brain) processes information is crucial to tackling the opening question successfully–"What's in it for me"? This realization extends well beyond the answer to the query. Subsequent insights influence how you plan, approach, and assess your entire repertoire of teaching and training experiences.
The human brain is masterfully designed, so much so that most people are unaware of the full extent of its functionality. Short of a researcher or neuroscientist, the average individual simply does not grasp the direct correlation between actual brain functionality and what we do and how we think or, conversely, how brain activity impacts what we do not learn and retain. A pervasive lack of knowledge about the brain's role in cognitive processing has resulted in a vastly underrated view of this awesome human body component. Fortunately, contemporary scientific research provides greater clarity about the multiple aspects of cognition. In addition, the literature is replete with studies that illustrate how the process of learning has EVERYTHING to do with the power embedded in our brains.
Brain-based learning is the application of a meaningful group of principles that represent our understanding of how our brain works in the context of education. When we take time to establish a learning environment that is compatible for brain-based learning, we are giving our learners a chance to engage with strategies that are predicated upon body, mind, and brain anatomy. In other words, by maximizing the capabilities of the brain, we are increasing our chances for real learning to take place.
The Brain-Based Learning Theory similarly echoes these concepts. Perhaps the most important message communicated in this publication is that the brain possesses vast capabilities, which are nurtured...
