Will Nevada

GS. Lakie Middle School

Midway Interviews Pip Project

At the midway point in my practicum I have asked a number of students questions based on my PIP
inquiry question of “In what ways does a collaborative drama classroom offer benefits towards
students?” To help discover this answer, I asked the following question for the first round of
interviews: “What do you feel is a benefit to this type of collaborative classroom” in a very casual
interview. The following interviews are two “Design Oz” students and two “Acting Oz” students:

Design student 1:
This student enjoyed getting other people's ideas to create something else from both teachers and
students. Finding that learning from a number of different teachers helped keep ideas fresh in their
own work and were happy that they got the opportunity to pick their choice of design over the other
options in the class.

Design student 2:
This student found it helpful because you got to open your imagination to a wide range of topics that
they might not have considered before. Having not been in a design class, they at first considered
doing the acting but chose design overall for a new experience and create something out of nothing.
They also found the number of teachers help differentiate the topics and their knowledge of each
topic shows.

Acting students 1:
This student found that they were happy to get the acting stream and the opportunity to learn not
only from other people's perspectives in terms of teachers and what knowledge they bring to the
table individually.

Acting student 2:
Found that the choice of picking what you were interested in of the options was beneficial as it let
you pursue what you enjoyed and could get invested in more as a student.

Overall, I found these interviews very telling of the idea that collaborative classrooms, least in terms
of OZ as they help do three things:
1. Helps keep students invested and engaged as it was their choice.
2. Allows students to expand knowledge they already have or try something new.
3. Helps them learn from a number of different teachers in fields they know well.

The data I have been given shows that collaborative classrooms are an outstanding idea as it gives
students a number of benefits in multiple areas if done well by the teachers involved in the process.

I look forward to seeing what the second round of interviews brings near the end of my practicum.