DRAMATIS PERSONA
One of the most effective ways of personalizing a subject ... Embodied learning!
Students are given a brief description of a theme, for example: Great Explorers, Great Environmentalists, Great Artists, Unsung Heroes, Animal Healers, The Council of All Beings ... and within a couple of weeks, start to become their characters.
PROCESS
Over a period of several weeks students gather and share stories in the first person ("I") to expand collective knowledge, discover connections, and build a her/his-storied community. Students create journals detailing personal and historical influences on their characters ... some journals are aged, contain maps and illustrations, all are hand done. (fountain pens are fun)
Before presenting, students develop simple costumes, props and artefacts to enhance their presentations. They distill important events into short dramas that will use audience participation.
CELEBRATION
Students are invited to present their dramatis personas in a café format. We start with a talent show with food made by students and segue into presentations ... These included Laura Secord (note cow), Queen Elizabeth, and Bob Marley ...
Ovid's Metamorphoses on the Oak Ridges Moraine
We used Mary Zimmerman's text to inspire exploration into the psycho-socio resonance of Greek myths. Students contributed original poetry and text in Esperanto and we created a film integrating wild spaces with vibrant psychological archetypes.
Maria Montessori, an early feminist, was an advocate of "lighting a spark" and letting people's natural and evolutionary impulses lead into diversified and community learning. She was a proponent of using a 'prepared environment' to lay a groundwork for social, psychological, environmental, and academic harmony and her Education for Peace, born from the hope and horror engendered by the Second World War is universally recognized. Studying objectively promotes transitions of thought but using the pronoun "I" to explore evolutions of the human family becomes a powerful tool for transformation. The process of immersion demands a familiarity with drama, music, philosophy, and the arts.
Getting history to small Saskatchewan communities in the 80s ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxB3JHb1NU8