Title:

From the neck up: lessons on student teacher engagement and presence through and post pandemic

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Abstract: 

This presentation aims to synthesise reflections on a drama educator's experience of leading both a performance module and tutorials which support student teachers' vocal expression and classroom presence from 2021 to the present.

This presentation is prompted by recent experience of encountering an increase in demand for support with voice and classroom presence, as indicated by the proportion of student teacher referrals for support with these areas, emerging from, and in preparation for, school placement.

The presenter will reflect on learning emerging from a small-scale Participant Action Research study undertaken during the pandemic (Stokes and Hussey, 2021). Learning is gleaned from co-teaching a performance module which pivoted from a drama studio to an online platform, which hitherto fore was taught entirely face-to-face.

The benefit of distance from this period affords critical insights into opportunities offered from teaching practices employed, and an examination of implications for teaching other modules within a teaching programme.

In so doing, the author draws on recent contributions to this field( Piazzoli, 2017; Schewe, 2020; Piazzoli and Schewe, 2023)  in considering the extent to which the role of a required physical presence in lectures and workshops, and the pandemic-related lack of consistency in this regard, continues to impact upon embodied learning and teaching.

Key words: classroom presence; vocal expression; pandemic

Bio:

Dr Tríona Stokes lectures in Drama Education at Maynooth University and is a former primary teacher. She prioritises engaged research, collaborative engagement with community to develop arts facilitation with young children as a matter of public and societal interest. Her research focuses on developing play and creativity through arts facilitation with children. She recently reported on the extent to which publicly-funded theatres use reciprocal and dialogic means in partnering with children to devise theatre.