Discuss the nature and quality of make-belief play Essay

Discuss the nature and quality of make-belief play, and the particular ways in which it relates to drama.  Drama in education requires an atmosphere of ‘playfulness’. We must be prepared to play with ideas, our bodies, voice, self and others. Young children do this naturally, learning by thrilling experience of living. Children ‘make’ their world in ways not dissimilar from theatrical form. Children’s play and theatre can be seen as constituting two ends of a continuum. These are theatre games and theatre. Drama in education inhabits the area in between. It can move towards the play end, where very young children are engaging in drama that is close to their own form of free play. The difference, however, is that it takes place as a result of teacher intervention, in that the teacher locates the drama activity in a particular aspect of living. Older students may work very close to the ‘theatre’ end of the continuum, where performance skills and communicative intention are paramount. At any one time, the teacher of drama needs to know at what point on the continuum she/he is working. For young children, dramatic play provides a journey into the world of â€Å"let’s pretend,† where they can readily transform themselves into the role of any character they choose. A story can be created as a script, often with a theme, where expressive actions convey a sequence of events that construct the plot. Whether the style of drama appears connected to occupations such as being a fire-fighter, a community happening such as a big snowstorm, or a fictional representation of The Three Bears, children are actors, producers, directors and set designers. By engaging in meaningful dialogue, their language and non-verbal gestures gradually reveal what they know and what they want to express. Dramatic play benefits children in all developmental areas. As children engage in fantasy play, they re-live experiences by symbolically imitating what they observe around them. Through children’s interpersonal relationships within socio-dramatic play, opportunities arise for in-depth thinking such as imagining, recalling, reasoning and negotiating (Vygotsky). By exploring life’s situations from the community and home, a child can re-create an identity that fulfils personal emotional needs and desires. The compelling urge to become physically powerful and socially dominant is fulfilled when a child adopts the role of a superheroine such as Princess Xena .While a traumatic family event can be played out as therapeutic drama when a child transfers inner feelings of rejection or hostility towards dolls or soft toys. The need for reassurance can be provided in dramatic play when a child knows it is acceptable to take on the role of being a baby, so that any sense of displacement, caused by the arrival of a new sibling within the family, is eased. Children have the freedom to be active and spontaneous in dramatic play, because, as Eden says, â€Å"it can be undertaken without regard for external goals and sanctions.†