{"id":919,"date":"2022-05-10T16:19:30","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomhickmore.com\/?p=919"},"modified":"2022-05-10T16:25:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T16:25:18","slug":"how-does-drama-work-in-ld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomhickmore.com\/how-does-drama-work-in-ld\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does Drama Work in L&D?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Characters
Characters from a Learning Drama<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are two main ways that video drama works in learning.  The first is to do with learning theory and the second is to do with anthropology, and they work best when combined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning Theory – Transcendent Thinking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At home we watch drama on TV for relaxation, so we tend to think of it as a passive activity.  But, in fact, drama only works when it makes us active.  It does this by showing us characters in challenging situations, in which they have to make decisions, and prompting us to ask, \u201cIf that were me, what would I do?\u201d.  This type of thinking has been characterized by learning theorist and researcher Mary Helen Immordino-Yang as \u201ctranscendent thinking\u201d (also called \u201cstrategic thinking\u201d).  This type of thinking is what we all do to make sense of learning \u2013 to integrate it with our existing knowledge and understanding.  Research shows that transcendent thinking leverages semantic and procedural learning in the service of broader knowledge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we learn, we all do our own, spontaneous transcendent thinking, in which we assign meaning to new information and integrate it with our existing knowledge.  But, it\u2019s in the interest of L&D to facilitate and guide this process, otherwise, in the worst case, a learner might assign a meaning of \u201cpointless box ticking\u201d to the learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drama takes a subject and tests it in a notional real-world setting.  It stimulates and guides learners to make up their own meaning, but in the context of seeing what the learning means in practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anthropology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For the second way drama works we have to look to anthropology. Professor Robin Dunbar explains storytelling as an evolved tool for managing large groups.  Dunbar\u2019s research has shown that there is a cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships.  This is known as \u2018Dunbar\u2019s number\u2019 and is around 150.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A primate\u2019s chief method of social bonding is grooming, which functions by activating the brain\u2019s endorphin receptors.  Dunbar theorized that since humans have much bigger social groups than other primates, we must be using more sophisticated bonding mechanisms than simple grooming.  These include laughter and singing and dancing.  These endorphin-stimulating activities give us a mental and physical \u201csocial high\u201d that bond us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storytelling, with its emotional ups and downs, is another of these mechanisms that has developed, through novels and movies and so forth to a high level of sophistication.  So, when we are delivering a video drama, fundamentally, we are engaging in a form of mass grooming! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In L&D, this works best if we can encourage those consuming a story discuss it with their close colleagues and friends \u2013 leveraging close relationships to stimulate endorphins.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s Talk About It<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Such workplace discussion can take many forms including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n