Back to Basics-- My Inquiry

 Back to Basics and Back into...

Can I continue my inquiry online? 

 NO!

Process drama requires focus, in the moment feelings / expressions and timely discussion and debate.

Online learning can be a disruptive slow process where the high trust model within a classroom is swept away and replaced with siblings and others holding you to account for your movements, actions and voice. In short, a difficult task for any teenager! 

Fortunately, during our time at school I had made audio recordings of certain parts of our whole class reading while using process drama...specifically 'Hot Seating.' This is where a character or group of characters (playing in role) are questioned or interviewed. This process is not only excellent for developing confidence in oracy but also for examining inferential comprehension as the hot seater needs to fill in the gaps and those questioning need to change their stance or opinion as new facts and information are revealed and further developed. 

What I like about the use of this device in process drama is that you can see the development of inference not only from the character in the hot seat but more specifically the questioner. The inference is born and expanded from their own personal experience and shows the depth of understanding in THEIR world not the world of the examiner... which has been my concern when assessing and assigning reading age through the comprehension of an unknown text. These recordings have allowed me to go back and examine improvement in questioning and responding over time. Keeping in mind my main focus is supporting my students to read between the lines not only for the purpose of 'inference' but also 'evaluation' where they can extrapolate more information drawing a more in-depth conclusion.

Back to my audio recordings. 

During each piece of whole class reading material time was set, when appropriate, to investigate the story further by Hot Seating certain characters. Those characters we needed to pull more information from. The information grows through questioning and the responses. This development builds the story and advances the understanding of each student in a personal manner, which relates to their world BUT from many different perspectives. The following small exerts are from the audio recordings of Hot Seating from a movie we broke down called 'Float' and also a story we developed as a class through MITEY.

From ‘Float’ the movie: Part of a conversation between the Father and Son
Question	Response	Extension Question  (Part 1)	Response
Are you embarrassed with your dad?	Yes, especially when my dad is screaming at me.	What made you more angry, his yelling or his words?	The reaction from others in the park and his words.
Question	Response	Extension Question  (Part 1)	Response
Describe your facial emotions in words when the neighbourhood family passed you.	I was shocked and embarrassed that they would think  I wasn’t  looking after my baby properly.	Why did you change your facial expressions when the other families were in the park?	When my son was flying and the other children weren't … I don’t want my son to not fit in or not feel normal when he grows up.
Question	Response	Question	Response
If your son is flying in the air and he is missing in oblivion what would you do?	I would cry and I guess also make a grave.	Would you hide your baby if someone called it a freak?	My baby is a human being, not a freak!
Question	Response	Question	Response
Why do you pull your hood over your head?	It stops me flying.	Do you feel worthless when your father asks you why you can’t be normal?	Yes, I feel embarrassed and depressed. I love flying, it makes me happy, I feel like superman.
Further Questioning
Do you think your relationship is going to get better between you and your father?	What would you like your future to look like?	Have you ever thought about how your father feels?	Have you thought about using your powers to help other people?
And… Do you wish your father could fly too?

From ‘Emily’s Backpack’ through working with MITEY…  Part of a conversation with Emily’s parents.
Question	Response	Extension Question  (Part 1)	Response
Do you know what is going on in school?	We don’t know...she’s independent.	Do you spend any time with Emily?	She doesn’t seem like she needs it in our eyes.
Extension Question  (Part 2)	Response	Extension Question  (Part 3)	Response
Her friend says she smells...do you know if your daughter keeps herself clean?	Money is tight and rent is extremely high so showers are limited.	Do you work? What do you do?	We are financially struggling… only one of us has a job. I stay home and clean the house.
Extension Question (Part 4)	Response	Extension Question (Part 5)	Response
Have you ever tried to find a job?	Do you think it’s easy?	If you’re not working why don’t you pick Emily up from school, you don’t work?	Silence….
Further Questioning
What have you done to her, have you verbally or physically hurt her?		Why is she so reliant on her friends?

When comparing the questioning and response between both pieces as an educator I can see the improvement between the questions and responses between 'Float' and Emily'e Back Pack. Although the questions and responses in 'Float' have depth the responses are very full and descriptive. This could be attributed to the fact the students had a movie visually supporting their understanding. However, in 'Emily's Back Pack' the story was being developed as we worked through the process of who this girl was, what problems has she faced and where is she now. The questions came in depth, thick and fast with responses lagging and maybe not being as full. BUT these were the parents being questioned. They were being prodded for information and it wasn't friendly. The students could see the lack of engagement the parents had towards their daughter and began to take it personally. The questions were deeper and continued to be extended. Note there were 5 extensions to the original question. The questioning continued like this for the 'Teacher, Mr Kelly, for Emily's 'Friends' and also for her best friend 'Darren.'

In conclusion, from a teaching perspective I can see a marked improvement in inferential and evaluative comprehension skills however, it is based on working within the students world and teasing out their understanding and perspectives through oral discussion and debating. Watch this space for more detail!!