Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to drama.

This is using drama conventions to explore contemporary issues.

Is the final lesson in the unit, "A person and a choice ".

This particular lesson contains sensitive themes of child poverty.

If these are sensitive topics to you, we recommend checking with an adult before starting this lesson or completing the lesson with a trusted adult nearby.

My name's Mr Woods, and if you're ready, let's get started.

For today's lesson, you're going to need some space so make sure you've got plenty to work in and if that's all sorted, let's get ready.

You've completed your intro quiz, well done.

We're going to start today's lesson with a quick recap of the last.

We'll move on to understanding the challenge in today's lesson before we look at different viewpoints towards that challenge and then finally, you'll finish with your exit quiz.

The key words for today's lesson are waste, and that is a discarded item which is seen as no longer needed.

It may not fulfil a purpose, any longer.

Challenge, and that is a situation that tests someone's abilities.

Perspective, and that is the way someone sees something and responsibility is the duty someone has to be accountable for something.

So last lesson, what did we do? We looked at choices and the different forms they took using a range of drama strategies.

We looked at visualisation.

We looked at conscience ally, hot-seating, improvisation and eye witness.

Today, we're focusing on a challenge.

So we need to start by understanding, what the challenge is.

Let's start by analysing this image.

First of all, what is it? Can you identify any items in the image? We see a tree, we see some grass in the background, potentially a pathway in the middle and then we've got this metal cage, which appears to have various, different items of rubbish.

So we can see a lot of plastic items there.

I see some pump pots, some water bottles, some grow bags, it looks like.

I can see a CD, I think, what else can you see? And therefore, what might be going on.

What's potentially going on in this image? What are the possible scenarios? And that then brings us to, what are the reasons behind it? Why on earth is this here? Because we've got some discarded items, some which between two elements of natural beauty; grass and a tree, okay? There's lots of colour going on in this image, isn't there? I think we can all agree, there is plastic waste here at the heart of the image, what's going on with it? Clearly there is a sense of littering.

What could be the possible reasons behind this; revenge? Where might they go? Where does this particular rubbish go? Anywhere, or is it going to stay here and therefore what damage will it do? Any ideas? In the environment? Because that's where the flooding and the wind is going to take certain items that are lighter and it's going to blow them away into bushes, into water.

If it's disposed of in certain ways, by people's choices, it might end up in the landfill.

As I say, it could end up in a park, in a bush, in people's drains, before it clogs them up and becomes a problem for them.

With the damage that it does, if you think about what plastic is, over time it will start to break down, after many years, and when it does, it spreads toxins into the environment which will essentially disrupt the ecosystem, okay? And some plastics in that mound of rubbish, in that collection of waste, will leach their toxins much quicker than others.

So now I'd like you to have a go at improvisation.

Find a way, of sharing how the items in the image got there and you could do this through mime, but don't forget that's without speech.

You could do this through explaining it as an internal monologue, or you could use both.

Oh, this stupid thing's stuck in, stuck on stuff.

Great.

I don't have another bag.

I could just leave it here.

Yeah, yup, keep coming, keep coming.

Yup, yup, plenty of room, yeah.

Wait, wait, no stop, no stop, stop! Well help me pick it up then.

You were supposed to avoid it.

I didn't know you're going to stop turning the wheel.

This is a bit of a mess.

I'm not suggesting we carry it home.

There's no room in the car, is there? Just leave it.

No one saw, leave it! We could look at this from different perspectives.

It could be, a waste removal vehicle has crashed.

It could be, weeks of littering, sabotage of an award-winning garden and it's all culminated.

This could be, the person who's responsible for clearing it up, has collected it all in one place.

It was an accident.

I didn't.

Okay, so it, it wasn't an accident.

They deserved it.

They're always criticising me, saying that my garden isn't good enough.

Well, now their garden is filled with plastic flower pots 'cause that's because they deserve it, okay? They are not good people.

Good people don't have bad things happen to them.

So they're getting what they deserve.

That's just how it is.

There's a vast range of different ideas that you could approach here.

So pause the video to have a think, have a play, click resume when you're ready to move on.

Who do you think, the items in this image might belong to? Any ideas? We're now going to consider this from a different viewpoint.

Who is responsible for clearing this up? Who do you think will be tasked with clearing this rubbish? I'd like you to have a go at an internal monologue as if you are a member of the recycling team.

You are responsible for cleaning up this particular waste.

Even though you did not create it, and it's not your fault that it's here you are paid to remove it, okay? So upon seeing this image, speak your thoughts out loud as you begin to remove particular items and place them into your vehicle.

Consider, your use of tone, emphasis, pitch, and pace, okay? When used together, we should have a very interesting perspective here, from a recycling team point of view.

This is ridiculous.

Have you seen that? I won't be clearing that up.

Yeah, there's a job description and then there's that mess.

I've never seen a mess quite like that and quite frankly, I don't think that you've got a leg to stand on here.

You're asking me, to go clean that up, yet I don't feel comfortable doing it and you're telling me that I get paid to do that, to clean that.

Part of me thinks, yes, you're right but also the normal person within me tells me that you are expecting too much, yet again.

I can't believe I do this job.

There are better jobs out there, than this.

There has to be.

Pause the video to have a go at this.

You may want to rehearse this couple of times and then click resume, when you're ready to move on.

How might the person who created this, the litterer, respond to being told to clear it up? If we could put ourselves in their shoes, how might we respond? I'd like you to imagine that you are the person who placed the plastic waste here.

You've been instructed by the council to remove it.

Now, how do you respond? Speak your thoughts out loud, as you begin to remove items and place them in your own vehicle.

Consider your use of tone, emphasis, pitch and pace used together to show your character.

Think about how they may differ or be similar, to that of the recycling team, that we tried a moment ago.

This is ridiculous! You're an animal.

If I can make you pick it up, I would.

Just because I don't have a choice right now.

If it weren't for the CCTV cameras, I'd have probably gotten away with it.

Pause the video to complete the task and then click resume, when you're ready to continue.

So with this idea of responsibility, do your characters differ in their responses? How so? And then what similarities are there? Was there a particular tone used? Was there a particular pace, that we could see a connection to? I'm sure there are a whole host of differences and similarities between both people, considering what was asked of them.

So personally, how do you view this? Would you say it is waste, ready to be thrown away? Okay, then how could it be viewed? Think about other people's perspectives.

People that aren't us, people from different walks of life, different backgrounds, different intentions, different priorities.

How may some items here be perceived? Now let's consider some other perspectives.

So when we approached this idea of the waste in the image, how would someone who ignores it as an issue, react? What about someone who, hasn't left the house in five years? What about someone, who's from a third world country, and what about someone with an interest in the environment? And then lastly, how would an animal look upon this waste? I would like you to imagine you are someone who is too important or too busy to notice issues like littering and pollution.

Excuse me.

What are you talking about? I don't think I follow, do explain.

Right.

Okay.

And, this is my problem because? In all honesty, I don't care.

I still fail to see how this is my problem.

I think, I think we're in different ends here, do you agree? I think this is a waste of everybody's time.

Yes, well, let's agree to disagree 'cause you see I am very busy.

Obviously, there is a great gap between us there.

Yes, and if that's everything, if we're all done here, I've got things to do, places to be and be able to see.

So, good day, good luck with wait, what was it again? Exactly, stuff I don't care about, good day.

You were being interviewed about your thoughts on the waste in the community.

Therefore, what would you say and how would you say it? Think very carefully about your response.

You need to pause the video, to interpret this task and explore it in your own way, and then click resume, when you're ready to continue.

Littering and pollution are issues for our society.

Is that a true statement or a false statement? It's a true statement.

Everywhere you look, there is some form of litter, everywhere.

I could go outside now and I could find at least three things in my local area and I'm talking, the immediate vicinity of where I live.

This is Adan.

Adan sifts through waste in the Philippines, collecting plastic and metal.

The rough, daily payment is two pounds for a day.

A day's work.

It is dangerous.

To people like Adan, waste is money.

It can be sold on to China to be recycled.

Now, let's weigh up the positives and the negatives here in this scenario.

Some days, there may be enough collected for Adan and his family to eat.

Adan might slip and get injured.

They might make enough to get something luxurious, and when I say luxurious, something that they may really want as opposed to need.

It could be a colourful top as opposed to a regular top.

One day Adan might have an accident, which sadly they can't overcome, okay? So there really is a sense of understanding for this scenario and there's a lot that we need to bear in mind.

Think about hot-seating now.

Write between 10 and 15 open questions that you would like to ask Adan.

They should be able to provide you with key information about their choices and feelings on a daily basis.

Consider your use of vocal and physical skills when you were writing these down, okay? Think about how you would say it, if you were interviewing them.

You need to pause the video to complete this task, click resume when you're ready to move on.

Now part two is a little bit different.

In your own interpretation of Adan, answer these questions as you think they would, or they might.

You need to stay in role and answer with sensitivity.

That's key.

So if it helps you, use piece of costume or even a prop to help you stay in role.

Experiment with this character through your use of physical and vocal skills.

The job that they do will inform and inspire both of these skills.

So think, that job is quite manual, okay? They didn't look to be very old, all right? So think about being sensitive while still exploring this character.

Pause the video for now, have a go, and click resume when you're ready to move on.

Now, let's be aware of reality here.

Adan is very much a symbol for reality in the world we live in, okay? This is symbolic of real people.

The job that they have is important but it does come with a whole host of questions.

Now I'd like you to develop your hot-seating into an improvised scene.

So in the role of Adan, it is your day off.

You are going to take us, and imagine we're a film crew, around your home and your local area to show us what your life is like.

One thing that I want you to consider in terms of perspective, is that Adan is proud of what they have, okay? That is key.

Experiment with the character through your use of physical and vocal skills and again, sensitivity is key to your interpretation, okay? Don't forget, we are experimenting with forms of reality and we're looking at perspective here, okay? Pause the video, have a go, see how you get on, and then click resume to continue.

In all honesty, Adan has a dangerous job.

I'm sure that's clear by now.

It is easy for most of us to offer advice, having not met them.

If Adan was about to go to work today, what might their conscience be telling them? 'Cause there could be a range of things that their conscience could say.

Imagine you are Adan's conscience.

Consider what the daily challenges are, and try to talk Adan out of going to work, okay? Stay home, something bad could happen.

It's up to you to be able to appreciate what those things might be and suggest them as a conscience.

Experiment with a sense of urgency through your use of both vocal and physical skills.

You're trying to discourage them from leaving the door.

Sensitivity again is key to your interpretation.

So pause the video for now, have a go, experiment with these ideas, don't forget the sense of perspective and then click resume when you're ready to move on.

Drama can be a very useful tool in exploring and appreciating issues in today's world.

It can teach us how to have humility, being sensitive, showing both understanding and compassion to other people.

The topics shown in these past six lessons are very simple in that conception, okay? They're very basic but they're designed to be a starting point.

Something that you can go off and develop in your own way, in your own interpretation and when you understand the situation, it can be easier to see a solution to potential challenges, okay? And we've looked at challenges through Adan, Taylor and Alex.

We've reached the point now, where we're at the end of this lesson.

So well done for all of your hard work today.

We've looked very carefully, at internal monologues, eye witness, hot-seating, conscience alley and improvisation and we used them to understand different perspectives and then build the scenario.

You've worked really hard to establish a sense of sensitivity and we've worked on that throughout today's lesson, so well done.

As this is the last lesson in the unit, if there's anything you'd like to share, please feel free.

Just make sure you ask your parent or carer for permission first and they can share your work on Twitter using at OakNational, or hashtag LearnwithOak.

Until next time.

I look forward to seeing you on a future unit, take care.

Bye-bye.