A Learning Process Designed as Theatre - A Case Study of EN 15 “It's all about the MONEY”

Abstract

EN (Education Now) is an educational system which emphasizes a learner's involvement in teaching process. It was conceived as an antithesis of traditional “chalk & talk” style teaching. I have been engaged in EN for 15 years in ICU (International Christian University) High School, where a number of the students have the experience of being educated in other countries.

In my class, EN consists of research work, discussion, and group presentation of a theme given in each semester. Last year (2001) we worked for the theme “It's all about the money” and the final presentation was made as a drama called “A Story of Ginko (a fake girl name suggesting money); how she managed to have the money”. The students participated in the final presentation by freely discussing and learned how to create concrete and meaningful messages by themselves.

Thus, EN demonstrates that learning through drama is effective for students to think about their roles in society.