“Move aloud.” Videographic Perspectives on Learning in a Nonverbal Practice of Scenic Interpretation

Abstract

This paper is based on a qualitative videographic study of the teaching ap-proach of dramatic interpretation and is particularly concerned with so-called “walking postures” (Gehhaltungen) and associated learning processes. Our theoretical framework is grounded in praxeology, in that we pay strong attention to the knowledge embedded in bodies that can in principle be shown. The study focuses on the following research question: How can learning (here: making tacit knowledge explicit) be observed in the walking postures adopted by the students? Furthermore, it is of interest how verbal statements of the students relate to the results of the analysis. The analyses show that learning is ob-servable: In adopting a certain walking posture, the students succeed in explicating their implicit knowledge about their role as well as about the situation in Anatevka with the help of their bodies. The struggle for an appropriate explication can be observed, and in part it is underlined, commented on or supplemented by the verbalisation of the students. The praxeological concept of learning used therefore seems to be suitable in general to support the analysis of this scene as well as the identification of its didactic potential. Furthermore, we would like to point out the particular value of non-verbal explicitation.