Teaching as theater

Hello everyone,

Teaching is theater. Let's get that straight. Teachers are performers, and students are audience.

There are some practical aspects of performance that teachers must always keep in mind.

First is voice. You must consciously make your voice something that is reasonably pleasant to listen to. It must be loud enough for everyone to hear, but not so loud that you're painful. You must be able to "top" the noise in the class without sounding angry.

Second is "staging." Think about where you are in relation to the audience. If possible, avoid giving any of them your back or a part of your back. Place yourself so that they can see your facial expressions. (In all practicality, place yourself so that few of them are behind you.) Make yourself visible.

Costuming is important. Dress in a way that is comfortable, but that commands respect. Look professional within your personality. Avoid dressing like a clown unless you can be funny on cue. Avoid dressing sexy. (Let me repeat that with the proper emphasis: AVOID DRESSING SEXY.) Remember that they will judge you by your appearance, so control that part of your appearance that is within your power.

Consider lighting and setting. Students must be able to see and be seen; remember the importance of contrast when using projection, but don't plunge the room into total darkness, or you'll regret it. The class should be pleasant to look at and be in, and it should contribute to the learning.

Work from a good script. Be aware of what will engage the audience and keep them interested. Plan well. If you are not a good improviser, feel free to write out what you're going to say. Keep in mind, however, that actors who only read from the script are usually very boring; so are actors who fumble around and don't know their lines.

Finally, be aware of your audience. If they're bored, change the show somehow. If they're laughing, and you have no idea why, do your best to find out. (There are few things worse than unattributed laughter. I once taught an entire period with middle school kids in near hysterics, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong until one student was brave enough to tell me my pants were unzipped.) If you need to make a change, do it for future classes. If your students laugh, and you didn't want them to, but you know why they did, there is little you can do but allow the laughter for a reasonable amount of time (assuming it's not cruel laughter directed at other students), then nudge them back to work. I constantly trip over things and bump into things in my classroom, which always makes students laugh. I just let them, and get on with the lesson. Sometimes my students make very good jokes; I usually laugh with everyone else, then get on with the lesson.

Yeah, I admit I'm a former theater person, and that's some of the reason for the theatrical metaphors. But it's impossible to escape the correlation, and things go much better if you just acknowledge the show, and do your best to make it a good one.

Jeff Combe