How I Sell Drama as a Subject in my School

How to Justify Drama Class 

Or 
How to talk parents into letting their talented student do Theatre Studies

Not long ago an ex-student of mine got in touch. She'd seen herself as I'd made a Facebook REEL where I'd flicked through Sit Down Drama which she had featured in. It was lovely to hear from her, what she’d done with her life, where she was, what she’s doing next.

During the conversation she reflected on her time in drama and she said “You know, what you said is true. You always used to say” ‘Drama might not get you the job, but it will get you the promotion.'"

She went on to say that although people, bosses, universities might see that she took Drama in school and just gloss over it, that later all of the skills she’d learnt in Drama really helped her stand out as a student or employee. She wouldn’t be phased by doing a presentation, she’d improvise quickly in any situation, she could find an interesting way to tell a story or get a point across and she knew how to negotiate well; all learnt from the work she’d done in Drama Class (though in her case she had some of these skills in bucket-loads from birth).

Of course, this is all exactly what I knew AND it was the arguments I always used with parents and schools.

In drama students will learn skills that will set them apart.

Performance Skills

The obvious is being able to stand up confidently in front of others and perform, or in daily life speak clearly and expressively. But we all know this, I could go on, but you get the point here.

Collaborative Skills

But actually, in drama students are constantly working in collaboration with others and a lot of what they learn isn’t just how to perform or speak expressively or confidently, but almost more importantly, how to negotiate and work with others. When they do a devised drama piece they have to work with a group. They learn the push and pull of creating together. In a scripted piece they learn how important it is to show up for others and how to be in each other's space for considerable amounts of time.

Creativity

In drama students are constantly creating. They have to think outside the box, they have to consider visuals as well as meaning. The left side of their brain gets stronger and stronger.

Understand Others

In many ways in drama we are in the business of studying human existence. We consider the place of the plays we study in a societal setting, what it teaches us about our world, how the play is trying to say something or entertain. We analyse characters, we think about our own lives and see how we connect with our roles on the stage. We get into the nitty-gritty of why people make the decisions they do. Think of how that helps you in any kind of job;  marketing, management, teaching, psychology, the corporate world. If you can decipher other people's behaviour you can learn how to work with them or to sell to them.

Basically in drama, students learn to be problem solvers. and problem solvers are the people that get ahead in this world because we need their creative approach to life to solve problems and make processes, and life in general, better.

I love what the study of theatre has brought to my own life and I simply want to share it with others. If you are looking for a resource that helps you do the same, the book that my student who inspired me to write this blog post is in, check out my first book Sit Down Drama at www.teacherspayteachers.com. Its a complete visual guide to the theatre world, with information and activities, lots of guiding questions for students' thinking and inspiration for performance development.