“Drama Education” is described to be a new and effective tool for adult learning.  One of the commonly used method in adult learning is “Process Drama”.  Process drama is a whole-group drama making process, improvised in nature, in which attitude, not skills, is of greater concern.  Participants in process drama will not normally learn and present lines from a play, but will be “writing” their own play as the drama unfolds through action, reaction and interaction.

Participants in process drama take on roles that for the exploration of the subject matter of the drama, which is a metaphor of the real world, designed by the trainer-facilitator.   Trainer-facilitator connects the participants with the content, engage them, enable them to develop responses to it, and eventually reflect on the experience and bring positive changes at workplace.

A multinational furniture seller

The supervisors and members of customer service hotline team and the warehouse team.  Two teams have to work hand-in-hand to provide quality service.

  • Teambuilding – define what qualities a great team should have, at good times and bad times, and experience the “real” team dynamics and interactions in a “dramatic” situations, leading to self-reflection.
  • Leadership – examine leader’s roles and responsibilities in different scenarios, especially on qualities of leaders in adverse times and crisis.
  • Build stronger and more cohesive teams through genuine dialogue.

Engage participants in a fresh, new world of drama designed by professional trainers, through this program, participants can play completely new roles which they create for themselves. Through engaging in a drama:

  1. Warm up
    Create a relax and fun atmosphere. Participants discuss and share their most memorable happenings in the team and express it in a dramatic way guided by the facilitator.  From their sharing, summarize how was the team like in the past time, and discuss what the ideal team should look like.
  2. Initiation Phase I
    Through some simple games and exercises, participants begin to enter into a dramatic world, which include a place, time, and people that are first suggested by the trainers but are later further developed by the participants.
  3. Initiation Phase II
    Participants develop their own characters, the inter-character relationship, and make reaction and decision that progress the story the way the group wants.  Participants may not be aware that how they play in the drama actually tell a lot about the real work situations.
  4. Experiential Phase
    In the drama, participants need to face a crisis.  How each character, the leader, and the team face the challenge is the climax which is observed by the trainers.
  5. Reflective Phase
    The drama ends and the participants leave their dramatic character.  Using big and small group discussion and debriefing exercises, the participants discuss on the character, thoughts, feelings, reactions and decisions that happen during the drama and the implication and insights it bring to the participants.   Reflection and learning points are consolidated.
可以反觀／比較活動中自己和別人的做法及現實生活中的情況，看到自己缺乏的、不足夠的地方。
Can reflect/compare between me and others, and how we work here and in reality; can be able to see what I am lacking.
Feedback 1
最後討論環節能有效地回應劇演的內容從而反思探討的問題。
The discussion at last can effectively reflect on the drama and thus on the topic we want to go into.
Feedback 2
透過戲劇中的經驗和討論重新思考領袖的角色。利用Drama令參加者的特質自然流露，也令參加者投入當中。體驗到Drama Education短時間內讓大家經驗一些特別的歷險。
I rethink the role of leaders through the drama experience and discussion thereafter. Using drama, we become ourselves, and we also engage in it. I can experience how drama education lead us have a special experience.
Feedback 3
由於角色對白即場爆肚，所以當中其實也能反映參加者各自的性格思維模式。
We improvise our lines when we are in character, therefore it reflected our ways of thinking.
Feedback 4