Group work is one of the fundamentals of the drama classroom and could be said to lead to one of the most transferable outcomes of the subject. That is, being a strong collaborator.
Recently, I have been analysing the approaches that students are taking towards group work and how they are activating their negotiating skills to reach a shared outcome. This stems from my earlier “let’s get metacognitive about group work” post and the potential benefits of teaching students explicitly how to work well in a collaborative setting.
One of the fundamental benefits of the drama classroom is that students are placed in a variety of situations where they must work together to reach a shared goal. They must communicate, cooperate and create. Invaluable skills that they will need for life. Through research, I found the book A Practical Guide to Ensemble Devising by Davis Robinson (highly recommended). Robinson mentions four modes that people can use when creating a project in collaboration:
- Rotating Directors – In each session, a different group member acts as the director so that there is one clear leader and also everyone gets the chance to “put their stamp” on the project.
- Yes And… – Every suggestion is explored with no vetoes.
- Outside Eye – One person sits out of the group and shapes the entire piece (like a traditional director role).
- Consensus – Every choice is debated and chosen as a group.
There are a variety of benefits and drawbacks to each mode, which is great because students can use trial and error to work out which approaches work best for them.
It could, however, be argued that when left to their own devices, without explicit “how to work in a group” guidance, students will often use the fourth mode, “consensus”, by default.
“Consensus”, has clear benefits such as learning how to work and negotiate with peers, however, it also has potential pitfalls. For example, disagreements can arise leading to lower productivity, the less confident students may not get a chance to assert their ideas and the piece may not seem consistent in style.
I am proposing that students be shown all four modes (and potentially more) and given opportunities to use these modes in their practical group work. They should first be explicitly explained to the students and introduced one by one. This means that students are able to experience different styles of working in a team and then make choices on which mode to select when they are tasked with future projects. When groups are “stuck in a rut” or not working efficiently, they could switch to a different mode and this may help them to maximise their outcomes.
