Drama Tutoring Is Much More Than Just Drama Tutoring

I remember when I was going through school and preparing myself for my GCSE`s and A-Levels, my mum always asked me if I wanted a personal tutor. It had never occurred to me that I could have some one-to-one help outside of school to help boost my grades. Regardless, I wasn`t keen on the idea for several reasons 1) I was proud and I did not want to highlight my weaknesses 2) I was embarrassed by potentially working with someone I did not know one-to-one 3) I knew that when I got home from school, the last thing I would want to do was private tuition!

In the end however, after some disappointing mock results I had an English tutor and discovered I had no understanding of essay writing or grammar. The English tutor had her work cut out! I sat down each week, shared my problems and then had them corrected. Fortunately my subsequent essay writing skills improved, but I learnt a great deal more from those tutoring sessions than just better writing ability. I learnt it was ok to ask for help. I learnt it was ok to share my work and problems. It was not going to hurt working with someone else.

I think that these lessons are significant and now that I am a drama tutor I can see that the work I do is not simply about helping someone better understand their theatre coursework and/or a particular monologue. Drama is inherently a subject of sharing and collaboration. Drama students are constantly proposing ideas constantly working with others sharing discussing allowing their imaginations to run free standing up in front of people and putting themselves on the line. Drama classes and tuition teaches more than just drama we ask students to trust us, trust themselves and give-it-a-go and be confident. Surely these are the life lessons we want to promote?