Teaching during COVID 19 times – The experiences of drama and performing arts teachers and the human dimensions of learning

Abstract

As countries moved to halt the spread of the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 access to physical sites of learning was restricted, so teachers across diverse educational contexts were required to rapidly embrace different modes and combinations of delivery. With a desire to profile the voices of teacher experience, a number of educational researchers initiated a research project to examine the experiences of teachers during COVID-19 times. The stories of performing arts teachers revealed some shared areas of similar concern with other teachers namely a rapid increase in using different technologies and online tools and an extensive increase in workload. Teachers expressed concern for those students who became 'invisible', and for the 'invisible' aspects of the classroom and learning that were difficult to replicate online. The research highlighted the importance of the 'human dimensions' of learning in these art forms and the important role played by professional networks.

Challenges and Opportunities Experienced by Performing Artists during COVID-19 Lockdown: Scoping Review

“…Performing arts students reported problems with remote learning including teachers having difficulties conforming to new teaching modalities, difficulties showing visual examples when remote teaching/learning, and less feedback from teachers than they would get face-to- face [35]. Teachers cited challenges such as less interaction with students, more theory and less physical work, less time to invest on disruptive students, and some students failing to engage in remote learning [37].…”

“…One recurrent theme was that virtual modes of performing were viewed as a poor substitute for in-person performances and the experiences created online did not equal those established offline [22,25,33,34,35,36,38]. In-person performing tended to be viewed as psychologically uplifting, reducing stress and increasing energy, which could not be replaced by online participation [25, 37], which was perceived as more artificial [35]. Virtual performing was reported to lack what Morgan-Ellis’s [36] participants referred to as the ‘surround sound’ of performing with others in person as well as the energy of face-to-face groups [38].…”

“…Participants reported they could not get the same quality or 'feel' for a performance as they would in a studio [34] and, for choir members, virtual choirs were seen as unable to recreate the real-life experience of voices blending together as well as the social and emotional connection arising from singing together in person [25]. Similarly, performing arts teachers reported they could not replicate online the interplay of energy given and received in the physical presence of one another [37]. Remote rehearsals also left participants feeling they were not developing their skills to the extent they would in real life [25].…”

Te Rito Toi in New Zealand: A Caring Response to the Pandemic

“…Using the arts to help children and young people in post-crisis contexts has become increasingly recognised by research literature, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic (e.g., Cziboly and Bethlenfalvy, 2020;Tam, 2020;Davis and Phillips, 2021). Over the last decade, studies have highlighted the potentiality of arts-based activities to critically and emotionally process major events (e.g., O'Connor, 2013a;Fenner et al, 2018;Murphy, 2014;Mutch and Latai, 2019).…”

“…Gallagher et al, 2020;Skregelid, 2021), both teachers and students from all over the world have mentioned missing the social aspect of learning during this period (Mutch and Estellés, 2021;Rio-Poncela et al, 2021;OECD, 2020). In response, several scholars and educators have claimed that using the arts in educational contexts nurtures human relations during these disruptive times (e.g., Gallagher et al, 2020;Tam, 2020;Davis and Phillips, 2021). As they noted, the social, relational and embodied aspects of learning, sometimes called the "nonacademic" or "invisible" outcomes of education (Martin et al, 2013;Davies and Phillips, 2021), missing during lockdowns are the ones most specifically promoted by arts-based pedagogies.…”