Should Drama and Speaking be made a Compulsory Lesson in Schools?
Drama and speaking provides a great opportunity for students to practice being heard.
Having mandatory drama and speaking will force more shy students to exert themselves and put them out of their comfort zones in a safe way. Public speaking and presentation is not not an optional choice in the future beyond school, it's compulsary, and therefore, it should be in schools.
Posted by: AnonymousYes, because it is extremely helpful to the development of students.
It encourages thinking and problem solving, intra-personal and interpersonal skills, and artistic development. It also provides necessary skills to become a teacher, lawyer, politician, reporter, and, of course, performer. Not only does it help confidence and communication skills, but drama and speaking are a fun and creative way to develop these skills.
Posted by: AnonymousDrama and Speaking provides confidence, ability to express opinions and beliefs, and understanding of vital literature, thus, it should be at least taught for one year to every high school student.
Drama and Speaking, as taught in schools, is a vital part of students' understanding of themselves and their places in the world. Being able to be confident presenters and communicators also helps students in all other classes, and in jobs in the future, whether or not those jobs have to do with theater.
Posted by: MountainousSolI believe that public speaking and drama should be compulsory in schools, because it would benefit the confidence and self-esteem of young people.
Although I am slightly less convinced about drama, I do believe that public speaking should be a compulsory part of public education. Aside from giving students valuable experience, it would be a boost to their self-esteem, as well. Public speaking and, to a lesser extent, drama, prepare young people by helping them express their opinions in a clear and well thought-out manner.
Posted by: BrownDustin82Yes
Yes it should, in ELA (reading and writing) at my school we need to give speeches in front of the entire class all the time, and half of the class doesn't know how to speak! So I have to sit there not understanding half of what they are saying because they are too quiet and shy. Then, some of them have emotional break downs! I fortunately, do not have stage fright because I take Drama and am a natural speaker. So then, my friends, get bad grades, C's and D's. They usually get A's on all the rest of their writing pieces, but since they are all so shy, they can't speak in front of the class. Our grades are being dragged down by our lack of the ability to speak, our future is composed of shy children who don't know how to speak to people. To make matters worse, because of the increase in cell phones, the amount of texting has sky-rocketed! Children don't know how to speak to each other anymore , much less to a crowd because all they do is text.
Posted by: AnonymousSpeaking, perhaps not drama.
I go to a school that teaches public speaking and presentation skills. They are very important for job interviews, jobs and also to communicate with other people in the world. To be social, you have to know how to talk. Drama is important for those pursuing a specialized career, it doesn't apply as much in real life.
Posted by: AnonymousYes, Students should learn how to speak publicly
When students grow up, will they have to know how to verbally articulate themselves? YES. Should they prepare for it? YES. Is speech 101 a required college course that all students must complete? YES.
Posted by: AnonymousShould be in schools
We have;
• Maths for the mathematical minded – Mathematicians, Engineers
• Technical for the technical minded- Architects,
• History/Geography for the
• Sciences for the scientifically minded- Physicists, Chemists, Doctors etc.
But where is the Drama for the creatively minded, the expressive, the Thespians? In short it is not there, why you may ask, is it simply because the powers that be do not value it’s place within an educational structure ? Perhaps Drama as a subject could in fact help you excel in the big wide world. This is a total fallacy because Drama boosts your confidence; you can be whoever you want to be, do whatever you want to do unlike maths or history where there is only a single way to do things.
Drama also makes you connect and focus as you have to be committed to a production or play, it also improves your communication skills immensely and actively encourages you to interact with all different types of people, which we know is critically important for finding a good job. There are so many other key skills you can learn by doing drama and the stigma that drama can only help you if you want be an actor is another fallacy. It will better your English as you have to get a grasp of it through plays and the amount of Shakespearian knowledge you could gain is unbelievable, people think that English is one of the most important subjects, that it will help you get into college or to get a job and it is true and having drama in the curriculum would help people to gain a better exam result in English.
"The future of our nation depends on our ability to create-and to be creative. During the coming decades our most important national resources will be human resources. If our nation is to continue to meet the challenges of the future, today's schools need to develop creative leaders." 3
This quote is From Performing together: The Arts and Education jointly published by The American Association of School Administrators, The Alliance for Education and The John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in 1985. See America knows how important drama is to the world and how it can help students and their future. So now it seems that “Good Old Britannia” is lagging behind the rest of the worlds are we not mentally evolved enough to see the benefits of drama?
An old Chinese proverb says;
"Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I will remember.
Involve me and I will understand."
This is basically stating that it isn’t enough just telling or showing someone something you have to involve them. This is the only way for people, especially young people to gain an understanding of the world and guess what, oh yes, this is what drama is all about, involving people in either plays, productions or even a small sharing with fellow members.
Dramatic Arts education is an important means of motivating creativity and problem solving. Dramatic study can offer students with a channel for emotions, thoughts, and ideas that they might not have in any other school subject. As I’ve stated before you can be who you want to be and do what you want, with drama this can happen in a safe environment, where actions and consequences can be observed, communicated, and in a very real sense practiced without the dangers and drawbacks that such experimentation would obviously lead to in the "real" world.Posted by: AnonymousDrama, speaking and communication skills provide lifelong benefits
By studying drama, students are being given a way of presenting their own opinion, learn how to speak to other people, address a crowd and do an informative and interesting presentation. Students need communication skills for university, future employment and life. Without Drama, many students would be unable to support their opinions and would be unable to speak publically in front of their class or new group of people.
Posted by: AnonymousDrama and speaking are both useful and benefit the minds of anyone.
Being 16 and a sophomore in high school, I understand the need for the core classes such as math, literacy, science, etc. However, before being involved in speech and drama, I was failing all of my classes. I was not motivated to complete any sort of work and it was mainly due to a lack of confidence in myself. A friend of mine suggested that I participate in the school play and it resulted in an increase in confidence. Since I was involved in that play I have gone to participate in another play and one musical. I'm also now the co-captain of my school's debate team and I have never been more motivated to get my work done and to be successful in life. Speech and drama alike are very useful.
Posted by: Anonymous
Not those specifically, but you're on the right track.
Every child should be required to take courses in communication and the arts. Some children do not have a natural affinity for drama and speech, however, and that is fine. Allow those students to take written communication and fine arts or music. Every child should develop certain skills (such as reading or math), but not every citizen needs to be a public speaker. Children should be allowed some flexibility in their education for those differences in personality and skill.
Posted by: AnonymousDrama and Public Speaking should be recommended classes but not required.
As it is with most topics of education, classes being given seem rather ridiculous if they are not taught by competent teachers. Public speaking is a class which is now disregarded as a waste of time in this age of technology. I believe that theses classes should be readily available, and even encouraged, but most of the time, a lack of budget will limit the quality of the class and the real value that it is actually giving to the student. At my high school, there was a Public speaking class that was mandatory, but it was an absolute waste of time, with teachers that didn't care. Drama classes can be a pain for introverted students, and frustrating for students who actually enjoy being the center of attention. As a recent student, the addition of Public speaking or Drama to the list of already long compulsory classes would be a waste of limited funding and a vexation to students and teaches alike, who regard it as a joke.
Posted by: AnonymousBlood on our hands.
I am thirteen, as of now, I want to live. I was pathologically shy. If you had made me get up in front of people and speak, I would have broken down. That would have added stress to my life. I have depression, due to that stress, I might have killed myself. Do we need to force people to take something they don't want to? I think that this is a class that should not be required. I don't want blood on my hands from those who are shy, and stressed. I will not be responsible for any deaths. I say life is more important than speaking skills.
Posted by: AnonymousDrama and speaking should be taken by choice, as they are not mandatory to succeed in educational goals.
Drama is a subject that is one of the arts, and it should not be imposed on children that do not have an affinity or desire to take it. Speaking in public is another skill that is not necessarily relevant to a well-rounded education, although both subjects would be good classes for interested students.
Posted by: DisillusionedGilberto67Lessons would be cut out.
If it were added to the curriculum, then a lesson or two would have to be cut out of the curriculum. People who do not like it and want to focus on different subjects would have their lessons cut for something which they do not want to do. Also, very few people even attend drama clubs, and there isn’t a huge interest in drama. This means that people would have their lessons cut out for the minute population who enjoy it!
Posted by: emistephens