I was honoured to be invited back to Denmark as an expert trainer last week by the Varde municipality to lead a few workshops on role play for 150+ teachers from across the country.
The common starting point for people without any applied drama experience is often something like:
“𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦.”
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳.”
By the end of the workshop, those apprehensions turned into new realizations like:
💛 “𝘐𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺.”
💛 “𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘬𝘪𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵.”
The most meaningful learning often happens when people discover that they can participate in a way that feels safe, purposeful, and accessible. This is one of my favourite parts of introducing people to the exciting world of drama.
Someone asked me recently: “Do you ever have a Plan B?
My Plan B is usually built into the design from the beginning.
Here are three small strategies I use when inviting people into something new (can be used not only for drama!):
𝟭. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲.
Explain what is going to happen before it begins. For example: “In a moment, I’ll invite you to stand up, move around, play, and be creative.” Knowing what to expect reduces stress and apprehension.
𝟮. 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲.
We all arrive differently each day. Acknowledging this with something like: “However you show up today is welcome.” takes the stress off of having to be ‘on’ all the time – sometimes we just don’t feel it, and that’s okay!
𝟯. 𝗢𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲.
Make it clear that participants can step out and observe or pass on an activity if they would like. This choice alleviates the fear of wanting to leave/pass but feeling socially obliged to stay.
These small but powerful signals communicate:
I see you.
Your decisions are respected here.
You have agency in shaping your experience.
And interestingly, once people know they 𝘤𝘢𝘯 step out, they often feel much more inclined to participate. Across all my time facilitating, in different countries, with different groups. of people, only one participant has chosen to step out after I’ve offered these options. Just one.
That’s a pretty good statistic!
Do you have any other tips or strategies for engaging participants when introducing something new? I’d love to hear them!
PS Here are a few photos of what we got up to. Every participant played and we had a blast.
#dramaineducation #roleplay #facilitation #teachertraining #criticalthinking #creativityineducation #inclusiveeducation #participation #experientiallearning #professionaldevelopment #education #learningthroughplay
Elana Shyong 