Learner's theory and tableaux

Learner's theory (Dwyer, 1996) states that students learn:
20% of what they hear
30% of what they see
50% of what they read or write
70% of discussion
80% doing or experiencing
90% through teaching.

This theory is extremely important to teachers as it shows teachers that using classic direct instruction and simply relaying information and knowledge to students is not enough to help them learn. Most importantly, it shows that students learn 90% of what they teach. This presents teachers with the task and challenge of incorporating and encouraging students to teach knowledge themselves, in order to get a better and more practical understanding.

Tableaux is an excellent tool that you can incorporate in the classroom to integrate drama and to allow students to teach information and knowledge themselves. An example of this may be asking students to represent different parts of a book or novel in a novel study through tableaux and teach the class about that book. This provides a chance for students to teach the rest of the class about the book they read, while using the elements of tableaux to express different aspects, elements or perspectives within a book or novel.

Tableaux is such a great tool because it can be modified across grade levels. When I was in my placement, I was able to observe a drama teacher coming into the classroom and specifically teaching the elements of tableaux to grade 1/2s. She used the description of levels, expression and body when creating tableaux, and students were able to use these elements to create their own tableaux.

In our own classroom, we mixed tableau and position mapping. Position mapping is simply positioning yourself in accordance to an object and how you feel about the subject/question stated. On the first day, our professor asked us how we felt about teaching drama, and we were to positions ourselves regarding how comfortable we felt with it (the more comfortable you were, the closer to the chair you would be). We were to represent our bodies and facial expressions to express how we feel through tableau. I decided to shrug and I positioned myself about midway to the chair. I had taken drama in grade 9 and enjoyed it, but wouldn't say I was 100% comfortable with teaching dramatic strategies and terminology as I was not too familiar with them. I can honestly say that I am now more familiar with the both of these things, as well as the curriculum. This specific activity could connect to the Grade 2 Drama Curriculum which states that by the end of Grade 2, students will:
B2.2 identify, using drama terminology, the elements and conventions of drama used in shared drama experiences and theatre and describe how they can help communicate ideas ad feelings and create interest (eg., as a class create a checklist of the elements in a drama and what each element contributes and helps communicate; use a tableau to share a moment of importance in the story).  



This is a short video providing an example of tableau and the importance and potential of integrating drama into the classroom.

How might you use tableaux in your own classroom? Feel free to comment below and let me know!