Reflection and Performing Identity

I think that you can help students reflect on media (and really be engaged with it) if they already have a sense of what it feels like to reflect. A theatre classroom ought to require students to think about what they see in peer and other performances as well as to think about and then articulate the thoughts they have about their own work. Self and group reflection, either in writing or verbally, should be built into the work of the theatre class, because the creation of a piece of theatre (or aspect of theatre) is not really complete unless you (as a viewer, which is a type of creator and the performer) think about what has happened and then express those thoughts in some way. So first you need to set up a classroom culture of reflection and sharing. If the skill is already in place, then it will be easier to help the students transfer that sort of reflection on to media that they may have more personal interaction with on a daily basis.

Reflection ought to start with observations, much like Hobbes talks about (asking the students what they see and how that makes them feel). But I think you cannot ask the students how they feel until you understand what they are seeing in an image. This is where the other media literacy tactics come into play. Have the students read the image and then bring in questions of what is actually being portrayed and how what is being portrayed/the way it is being portrayed makes the students as viewers feel. Are those feelings what the media maker intended? Why or why not? Then I think you can bring in questions about manipulation and asking students to consider what they find to be acceptable and what is not. At this point here is my thought: I feel a bit confused and maybe concerned. I’m all about this idea of reflection and responsibility and helping students understand that what they see is a construct to make them feel and act a certain way. But I’m having a harder time directly relating it to theatre practices or making this lesson that would essentially be about advertising and media messages really apply to the big ideas and essential questions of theatre. I mean, theatre is a medium that creates constructs to help audiences see, feel, think and potentially act in a particular way (activist theatre does this in a very concrete way, but maybe even the fluffiest piece does the same, just in a less overt sort of way). Maybe instead of tying it back to what is thought of as traditional theatrical performance, use it in a way to talk about identity performance in everyday life, maybe as a part of a performance studies unit. Talk about how students perform themselves based on what they see in different media. How would the pictures of the Imagine campaign photos in Seeing and Writing effect the way you perform your identity? There’s the connection for me and the way you could really get them to engage without judgment. Students choose how they perform themselves, they just have to realize that their performance is influenced by things and they need to be aware of and critically think about what they take in as a part of their performance.