Issues to Consider
Teaching as Performance
The teacher as actor - three frequently voiced concerns.
Do I have to become someone I am not to use acting
techniques?
The basic premise of this approach to teaching is that "you are who you
are." These tools and techniques are to be used as a means of enhancing
the skills you already possess. This is not a "make over" process but
rather a means of expanding upon what you already do with respect to delivery.
Keeping my lecture fresh is a constant concern.
Can the performer provide help in dealing with this issue?
The teacher has an advantage over the actor because she has the option of
changing the "script" to keep it from growing stale.
One important tool for the actor in keeping a performance fresh is the
audience. Performers are sensitive to audience reactions. An audience's
inattentiveness may prompt the performer to quicken or slow her tempo, to bring
more intense feelings to the lines. As a result, the performance stays fresh if
the actor is listening and adjusting to the audience. Teachers can also take
this approach by being sensitive to student reactions.
How important is what I do visually in my
teaching?
Several years ago, one of my former students told my then current students:
"An audience remembers what it sees long after it has forgotten what it
has heard."
Hearing this, I recalled some great scenes in productions I have attended in
my life: Oedipus leaving the palace after having blinded himself in Oedipus
Rex, Linda Lohman kneeling at her husband's grave in Death of a Salesman, Romeo
and Juliet gazing at each other in the balcony scene. The list goes on.
In one of our faculty development workshops, a veterinary teacher chose to
do his five-minute presentation on the anatomy of a cow. As he began his
commentary, he realized he'd forgotten a prop he normally used---a three
dimensional model of a cow. Not easily defeated, he climbed on to a table and
took on the pose of his absent prop. To this day, I can see him acting as the
cow, though what he said escapes me. Yes, what we do visually can play a vital
role in imprinting our ideas in our students' memories.
Teaching
The following books provide valuable insights on teaching as it relates to
acting.
Barry, J. Gentleman Under The Elms. Providence: Brown University,
1982.
Burns, M., & Woods, P. Teacher As Actor. Dubuque, IA:
Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 1992. Contact:
mburns@vines.colostate.edu.
Highet, G. The Art Of Teaching. New York: Vintage Press, 1950.
Acting
The following list of references provide insights on acting that are
valuable to teachers.
Boleslavsky, R. Acting, The First Six Lessons. New York: Theatre
Arts Books, 1949.
Callow, S. Being An Actor. New York: Grove Press, 1984.
Chekhov, M. To The Actor. New York: Harper and Row 1953.
Hagen, U. with H.Frankel Respect For Acting. New York: MacMillan,
1973.
Meisner, S., & Longwell, D. Sanford Meisner On Acting. New York:
Random House, 1987.
Sher, A. Year Of The King. New York: Proscenium Publishers,1986.
Stanislavski, C. An Actor Prepares. New York: Theatre Art Books,
1936.
Tauber, T., & Mester, C.S. Acting Lessons For Teachers. Westport:
Prager Publishers, 1994.
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