Post 6-Elisabeth

In theatre classes, assessments should be more active than assessments generally are. Theatre is an active art form, so assessments should be performances, creation or analysis. Even if a written test or assignment is given, it should lean towards students creating something or actively putting together information, not just answering questions where they just spit back facts. Group as well as individual assessments also work well in a theatre classroom. Theatre is a collaborative art form, and so the ability to work well with others should be part of the assessments. I see assessments as a way for students to prove what they know and what they can do, not a way to catch them out. Assessments should be open enough to allow students to show what they can do, and should recognize the amount of work they have put in and the progress they have made. One way to do this is to assess students’ improvement over time, not just assess them once at the end. This takes pressure off, and allows students to work without being afraid of failure. Theatre is as much about mistakes and learning from what doesn’t work as from what does. If students are so concerned about “doing it right,” they will not take risks, and miss out on the opportunities to learn from risks and crazy ideas. My theatre experience has been full of mistakes, and from those mistakes I’ve found more interesting and compelling ways of creating theatre. Assessments should allow students the freedom to risk and to fail.