Critical Literacy... why is it critical?

The theatre department here at Utah State University is comprised of a variety of students. Acting majors, design/tech majors, BA majors (an all around theatre degree) and theatre education majors. Being around a variety of "theatre people" who all have different goals in mind, has helped me notice a trend in the industry. Our profession is very product oriented- most people think of theatre as a production or a "show". I've noticed that often we don't spend enough time on the why of the project, but rather we spend most of our energy meeting deadlines and being excited about the end product.  

Theatre is actually an incredibly rich subject in which students MUST have critical literacy skills. Theatre is about studying the human condition and that cannot be done with out some skills. I think that the reason theatre teachers do not consciously incorporate critical literacy is because it takes time. And time in the theatre world is a precious thing when you are expected to have your students put up a fully realized production in six weeks. Theatre teachers are often more worried about the product they are expected to produce rather than the classroom environment and learning opportunities they want to provide.  

I really enjoyed the article and how it related to Image Theatre. Last semester, I actually took a class where we studied Augusto Boal and his methods. Image Theatre is an opportunity for students to express their critical literacy skills with their bodies and in "sculpting" each other. The method itself isn't difficult, but knowing when to use it can be. That is another reason I think some theatre teachers are hesitant to add critical literacy moments to their lessons- because they don't know how. Because of that specific class I took- I have that training, but not everyone will. 

The thing with critical literacy is it is hard to incorporate because it takes time and energy and know how of methods, but the great thing about it, is it is already inherent in a lot of what we do. Students are asked the hard questions when studying a play, they often have to use critical thinking when designing based on the script, and inherent in studying the human condition, they must critically think about social issues all the time. 

I do plan on using critical literacy in my classroom. I believe it is a necessary skill for students to have, and especially theatre students. I think that I will still have to make a conscious effort to incorporate it into my classroom's everyday learning, but I never want to get to caught up in the next production that I am forgetting to create meaningful learning.  

Digital Text and Reflection

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/collection?id=4287238


For my digital text, I wanted to try something new. A couple of my friends who are costume designers told me about the website "Polyvore" which they use to create looks for costume designs. Since costume designing and rendering is not a talent of mine (and I expect, not a talent for the majority of my students) I thought this would be the perfect digital "text" to experiment with. On this website, you are basically creating outfits or "looks". This can include everything from basic pants and shirts to accessories. You can title the sets, and create a collection. (My collection is titled "A Play", while the sets are titled "Character A, B, C and D") The website was easy to use and I anticipate students would love being able to create looks in this manner. It is so easy to use and share ideas that I could see myself using this website for a class project.

However, the website did have some drawbacks. It is really catered to modern fashion, so creating any time period shows would be difficult. It is also limiting in the fact that all the clothes are for the same age range of people. I had a difficult time finding outfits for a young person, and an old person. Because plays are so varying this way, that would be difficult. Also there are no "old" or "distressed" clothes so if you had to say, design a character that was a farmer, this website would probably not be very helpful.

I use a similar website, pinterest, all the time when I gather ideas for costume, set and teaching ideas. However, I liked this website because it focused more on clothes and you are able to put them together in complete outfits where as you cannot do that on pinterest. Like I mentioned before, I could see myself using this website in a class on costume design. I would love for students to create their own designs and share their ideas with others in the class. Plus I think it is fun to use websites that are usually used for personal activities like polyvore and pinterest and apply them to teaching and theatre. Students are already familiar with how the websites work, so it is easy for them to apply it to theatre.

In conclusion, I have basically added another fun website to my list of websites that I visit far to often (Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) and waste too much time on. BUT this one I can apply to teaching, so I don't feel to bad about spending time on it. ;)

PS. I hope the link works, please let me know if you can't access it.