Reflections on Topic 3: Personalised learning

In this reflection, I will be using my breakdown of the 7 "Implications for Practice" as discussed in "Creating Effective Collaborative Learning Groups in an Online Environment" by Jane E. Brindley, Christine Walti, and Lisa M. Blaschke (2009) for a practical exercise for my students. 

But first, a little bit of context about how "The Walk" came to be. As one could have guessed by now, I coach acting for film, and one thing that is obviously necessary for this field is believability. Something I noticed right at the beginning of teaching this subject, which one would assume is easy as stepping in front of a camera but far from, was that students lacked believability.  No matter how much I taught and shared and explained and showed, there was just this disconnection between them and the text, they just sounded wooden. I wondered if it had been maybe the setting of the class, and the context of it being an assessment, so as an experiment I decided to take the students out of the class and put them into real-world settings and spaces. Places where conversations happened. I thought maybe this would better their ease of characterization, but in fact, it did the opposite, not only were their classmates watching, but an entire world of random strangers was now also watching too, and so they shut down completely, froze, stuttered, murmured, forgot their words, just stopped performing entirely. I then realized that it was us as the class and me as the lecturer that was creating this view of the performance, everyone was watching like it was an assessment, and even the public watched waiting for them to make a mistake because it is just students right? They are bound to fail the first time. This "pre-empted reality" or given false setting was what was restricting the performance, the audience already knew that it wasn't real, so it could never look real because no one, not even the performers, believed it was real, it was just a test, something to be nervous about, something to get wrong, something they could fail. And those nerves destroyed the fluidity of the performance before it even started. Their scenes weren't believable because they didn't believe they could be believable. And then it struck me: They had never experienced being actually believed. And then the lights all switched on and I said "Does anyone remember that showed called Prank'd? I have an idea..."

The example I'll be using is of an exercise I do with my students when preparing their scenes for realness. It is an “unorthodox” method but it achieves clear results. Once the students have performed their first prepared monologue, we go into the area around our campus and perform their monologues in public as if they were real conversations. Usually to some hilarious results from the unsuspecting public who think these conversations are really happening. The monologues are already prepared as they are their previous terms' final assessment. Throughout orientation and classes, I talk about going on a “walk”, which is only compounded by the giggles and talk of the older students and their experiences on these "walks", which have become famous not only on campus but in Braamfontein too. From the first term, there is already a built-up hype about the exercise, the first years are told that only once their performances are adequately believable will they be allowed to do the exercise as a class. It is also their first introduction to dialogue work as they perform their monologues to another student performer in an attempt to release blocks and find the correct expressions for a believable delivery. This is usually after the first term where there are foundational techniques and methods taught to authenticate a performance's realness for the camera. It becomes an exciting event that the students look forward to and work towards, they aim higher with their performances as there is something at stake. It is a great exercise to revisit with the older years as a form of reward for good work at the end of a term/year once all content has been covered. This facilitates a readiness for the task with a sense of excitement where the student takes initiative in the creative process. The scaffolding for the task is supplied through the given rules of engagement and the task itself as it is a group class excursion and bonds the students through improvisation. 

When the class is to embark on this exercise they are sat down in class beforehand and explained the rules before heading out, this builds up the anticipation and anxiety, quickly groups form as they figure out how they are going to perform their pieces, adapting and changing what is needed to meet the new two-person requirement. Some of the rules include: Do not perform in the street, do not perform inside a shop or outside their entrance, and when I shout "CUT!", Everyone must stop what they are doing and start clapping to break the performance for both the actor and the audience (the public). For each scenario the students are first gathered outside a chosen location and explained the scenario, they then scatter around the area where the performance will take place to make it not obvious that they are watching a performance. They are free to improvise and engage where they see fit as long as the rules are obeyed and it adds to the believability of the scene. Students are also encouraged to be aware of their surroundings to ensure safety and delivery, this also creates a sense of community and being able to "read the room", an important skill for any performer. There are clear rules set down and explained in context, the task is encapsulated in one phrase: be believable. The students understand the rules for their purpose, fun, and safety. The performance techniques and methods they have previously learned are applied in a live real-world context. They only experience the result once they have applied the rules and methods. 

Due to the nature of the exercise, it has to be monitored extremely carefully as it is an unpredictable environment. Which is part of the thrill and impact. There are precautions put in place and the group works together to ensure they are enforced as they realize that the exercise can only happen properly if the rules are followed. I am always not even a few feet from where ever a scene may be taking place, sitting at a bus stop, talking on my phone, speaking to another student, but never engaging or giving away the show until necessary, either the performance is done or it is about to get out of hand, which sometimes happens in acting. Once the class has all performed we regroup and discuss how the exercise made us feel and what we have gotten from it. This ensures that the objectives for the task are met and that the task is concluded correctly.

One thing I choose to do with my students is allow them the freedom of choosing their own pieces to perform. I learned in teaching students whose first language is not English, that one can not be judged by their ability to perform in English, so what I do is I allow students to either choose pieces that are in their home language and just provide a translation for me or even allow them, to "localize" international performances, ie taking a movie/TV scene and making it vernacular with local contexting. I noted that students improved greatly in performance once they were allowed to veer off the English train, this built up their confidence, which eventually led to them being able to deliver better in English, as most of the time the issue was insecurity and not actual lack of understanding. 

Many of my tasks are group activities, apart from the first 2 in the first year, every task is group-oriented. Either a dialogue, or a group scene, and at the end of the third year, and an entire class project/group short film. Working in a group is a big part of acting as on set there will be many people who are all working together towards one common goal: delivering the scene as required.

When we endeavor on this task we usually take an entire 2-hour class and usually a bit more. First, the task is introduced and discussed, and any questions are answered. Students have already started preparing. Or scurry away in nervousness, but this is usually short-lived as the excitement from the rest of the class is quite something, and once they have performed their piece their anxiety disappears and is met with a resounding "LET'S DO THAT AGAIN!".

And to this day, every time I do this exercise, not only does my class retention skyrocket afterward, but the way in which students perform henceforth is completely different. They have experienced being believed and know that they can do it, all they have to do now is repeat it for the camera, and thus meets the original outcome for the module: Perform believably in front of a camera.