Date: 22 November 2023 (Wednesday)
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm (HK time)
Venue: Room 408-410, Meng Wah Complex, Main Campus, HKU
Speakers:

• Ms. Tanya Kempston (Fellow, Higher Education Academy, UK), PGDE Programme Director and Senior Lecturer, Academic Unit of Teacher Education and Learning Leadership, Faculty of Education, HKU
• Mr. Daniel Bird, Lecturer of the class EDUC7109, Faculty of Education PDGE alumni (with Distinction), HKU

EDUC7109 Using Drama in Language Learning is a highly practical course in which participants explore a wide range of drama techniques including warm-ups, playwriting, and improvisation. Through workshops, discussion, and reflection students must critically evaluate the drama activities’ potential in a range of educational contexts and relate practice to theory. The course is infused with the theory and practice of phronesis and encourages teachers to experiment with how drama could be infused into their practice to invigorate classroom management, language acquisition, social cohesion, and communication skills. Theoretical aspects are reinforced via the use of a wide range of readings to enhance understanding. Assessment objectives enable deep critical analysis of drama activities and materials within a wide variety of teaching and learning situations.

5 seats (Enrolment will be on a first-come, first-served basis.)

Just because we can use generative AI – should we? This session adopts a co-taught, workshop-based approach and we hope University colleagues will be active observers and participants. Students will work collaboratively to explore their understanding of how Generative AI could have a potentially huge impact on dramatic activity, specifically scripted drama used with second language learners. We will examine to what extent we use might use generative AI for script generation and how these homogenous resources might be applied/refined in complex real-life teaching and learning scenarios. The necessity of teacher mediation in terms of discouraging a ‘cut-and-paste’ application of generative AI will also be an area of focus. In the session, performance and critique activities will also be linked to the Thought Piece part of the course assignment.

Ms. Tanya Kempston
Tanya is a Senior Lecturer, TELL Unit, Faculty of Education and Programme Director of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in her faculty. She is a recipient of the University Innovation Award (2021) and University Outstanding Teacher Award (2018), as well as the Faculty of Education Emergency Remote Teaching Award (2020) and Outstanding Teaching Award (2017). Originally from Northern Ireland, whilst in Hong Kong she has worked as a secondary school teacher in a government school and Curriculum Development Officer for EDB. She joined the University of Hong Kong in 2009. Her teaching and research interests centre on second language learning and drama-in-education.

 

Mr. Daniel Bird
After graduating with a degree in Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, in 2005 Daniel came to Hong Kong to work as a full-time English and Drama teacher in a Hong Kong secondary school. In addition to a PGDE (Distinction) from the Faculty of Education, HKU, he has a DipTESOL (Trinity College) and a Master of Applied Linguistics with Distinction (University of Birmingham). Dan is again the course lecturer for the PGDE EDUC7109 elective ‘Using Drama in Language Learning’ in 2023-24 as well as being an MATESOL project supervisor and Senior Research Assistant at HKU. He is a frequent guest speaker, including hosting play readings and teacher training for the English-Speaking Union.