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Knowing how to act and what to say during times of extreme psychological
stress (your own and others') is difficult for most people, but
we all occasionally find ourselves in stressful situations where
we need to call effective communication skills to bear.
Journalists who cover traumatic events such as violent crimes,
horrific accidents, natural disasters and other situations in
which they witness human pain and suffering are often required
to approach and interview victims of trauma or their family members.
Unfortunately the skills needed to interact with people under
such stressful and unpredictable conditions do not usually come
naturally. Without proper training, journalists may find their
interviews with traumatized victims to be awkward, uncomfortable
and, in extreme cases, even re-traumatizing.
There are some topics that are
difficult to grasp or fully appreciate when approached intellectually
— experiential learning through interactive drama provides
a unique access to the richness of the topic.
Regardless of the reasons for a "bad interview," the end result
is usually a poorer story than could have been written had a better
interview been conducted. Interviewees may be reluctant to speak
candidly - or at all - to an insensitive interviewer or to share
treasured mementos such as a photograph of a deceased loved one.
More importantly, interviewing victims of trauma with sensitivity
and professionalism demonstrates ethical behavior on the part
of the journalist because it shows respect and empathy for the
interviewee.
 Role-playing
and interactive drama in journalism classes can help prepare students
for real-life traumatic events in their future professional lives
as journalists, allowing them to hone their interviewing and other
social interaction skills in a realistic but simulated environment.
If student journalists can make their mistakes (or observe others
making mistakes) during a simulation, and then have those mistakes
pointed out to them in a constructive way during a debriefing
period, they are less likely to make those mistakes on an actual
reporting assignment, where they could potentially (albeit unwittingly)
harm their interviewees. Conversely, their "good habits" as interviewers
could be reinforced in the simulated environment by having those
behaviors acknowledged and praised.
At the University of Washington (UW), communications graduate
student Jim Boggs created an organization called UWOnCue in 1996
as a vehicle for using art to make positive contributions to society.
One of the most visible ways that it has done this at UW is to
train students - mainly undergraduates - to perform as actors
for classroom exercises designed around the principle of experiential
learning.
The UWOnCue web site explains it this way:
"Working closely with an educator, the group creates interactive
drama scenes based on a topic from the course, and perform the
scenes for (and with) students in the classroom. This instructional
method is based on the idea that there are some topics that are
difficult to grasp or fully appreciate their complexity when approached
intellectually — experiential learning through interactive drama
provides a unique access to the richness of the topic. Since the
scenes are interactive, students get to suggest their solutions
to the problems posed and see the outcomes played out by the actors,
or sometimes students themselves play out their own suggestions."
Student actors are trained by teaching assistants in the School
of Drama and consultants in the university's Center for Instructional
Development and Research. The exercises they participate in are
not "plays," where audience members sit passively by while the
actors do all the work. Students from fields as varied as nursing,
business, social work, architecture, physics, sociology and classics
are encouraged to "get involved" - i.e., to be active audience
members.
Role-playing
and interactive drama are particularly useful for journalism classes
when students are learning how to interview victims of trauma.
For example, in a nursing class, undergraduate nursing students
were invited to interview family members - played by UWOnCue actors
- about a severely underweight infant. Other nursing students
observing the interview commented on the interviewing technique
and diagnosis. As observers, they could provide feedback on the
subtleties of gesture, posture, eye-contact and tone of voice.
Ideally all students who participate in these kinds of exercises
not only gain insights and practical knowledge about interviewing
but also "learn by doing" so that by the time they interact with
real patients they have had experience interviewing people in
stressful situations.
Role-playing and interactive drama are particularly useful for
journalism classes when students are learning how to interview
victims of trauma.  Of
course students can (and often do) learn interviewing techniques
through written materials and lectures. It is also common for
them to get practice interviewing each other, their friends and
family members, and other people willing to help out journalists-in-training.
However, these practice interviews do not prepare students for
crisis situations, where interviewees may be in shock, in tremendous
anguish, confused, or in other emotional states typically exhibited
by victims of trauma. And yet, journalists in the real world are
often expected to cover "bad news" - car crashes, murders, domestic
abuse, hate crimes, natural disasters, sexual assault, and so
forth. What kind of preparation do they get for interacting with
people who have been traumatized?
This is where well-trained student actors come in helpful. If
they can convincingly portray victims of trauma, which requires
some exposure to traumatic stress research (e.g, knowing the range
of symptoms exhibited by someone who has just experienced or witnessed
a traumatic event), they can help student journalists actually
see and feel what it might be like to interview people under these
circumstances.
For more than five years now, University of Washington communications
professor Roger Simpson has used student actors in his classes
to help teach his students about interviewing victims of trauma.
For example,  UWOnCue
actors have portrayed residents of an apartment building that
was in the process of burning down. Residents, some in shock,
stood outside the building as journalists (students in Professor
Simpson's class) approached and attempted to interview them. A
faculty facilitator, taking careful notes, observed the interaction
from an unobtrusive distance. At the end of the exercise, student
journalists received feedback from the faculty facilitator, from
their peers, and from the UWOnCue actors themselves, who told
the interviewer what they felt and observed as the interviewees.
Feedback from those who have participated in these exercises
has been positive, many expressing surprise at how real the simulation
seemed to be. In fact, one of the reasons trained actors were
used for the simulations is that when some graduate students were
used to play trauma victims prior to UWOnCue's participation,
the untrained students sometimes complained of traumatic stress
resulting from their inability to effectively separate their real
emotions from those of the characters they were playing.
Students may need to be encouraged
to think "outside of the box"- i.e., to be open to new ways of
learning and to be actively engaged in the process in ways requested
by the student actors.
Role-playing and interactive drama can play an important role
in helping journalism students become more sensitive and sophisticated
interviewers of trauma victims, but much planning and preparation
are required if these activities are to enhance their journalism
education. The following are five suggestions for making the most
of role-playing and interactive drama in journalism and trauma
education:
1. Find out whether a group like UWOnCue exists on campus (the
drama or speech communication departments are best bets) and schedule
a classroom performance. If none exists, improvise! Find a group
of student volunteers who like to act and would be willing and
able to dedicate time to preparing for an interactive drama.
2. Work closely with the student actors on developing a scene
for presentation in the classroom. Remember, this is not theater
or television. The scene should lend itself to interaction with
the audience (i.e., the students in the class). The actors should
be able to "freeze" the scene and then engage students' comments
or suggestions before continuing on, perhaps using the audience
feedback to influence the unfolding of the drama in some way.
Developing a scene also requires deciding how much and what kind
of audience participation is desirable or feasible. Will audience
members be incorporated into the scene, or will they simply be
engaged observers? With careful planning and guidance, audience
members may even create and act out scenes.
 3.
Clearly explain to students what the purpose and nature of the
exercise is. Because role-playing and interactive drama are not
commonly-used pedagogical tools, most students are not accustomed
to this learning format and may feel self-conscious and uncertain
at first, even with some orientation. They need to know that in
some instances, such as interviewing trauma victims, role-playing
and interactive drama are highly effective ways of learning the
relevant course material. Students may need to be encouraged to
think "outside of the box"- i.e., to be open to new ways of learning
and to be actively engaged in the process in ways requested by
the student actors.
4. Cognitive learning should precede experiential learning in
this case. Students should read and be taught about interviewing
victims of trauma before being asked to demonstrate those skills
in a dramatic scene. The role-playing and interactive drama are
ways of applying learned concepts to "real life" situations. Before
heading into a simulated traumatic event, students should be armed
with traditional classroom knowledge about how best to enter these
situations as a journalist.
5. Feedback is essential. When possible, have students critique
each other, have a faculty facilitator critique students, and
have the actors (in their roles as interviewees) critique the
students (in their role as interviewers). Focus on what was done
well as well as what needs improvement. There should be sufficient
time after the exercise for debriefing. Allow the students to
talk. This is especially important for sensitive topics such as
sexual assault or a hate crime. It is possible that some students
in class may have direct experience with the traumatic event being
depicted, and their discomfort or re-traumatization should be
acknowledged in a general way. A statement like this might be
helpful: "What you observe and experience might be especially
difficult for some of you because of your own exposure to trauma.
Come see me if you would like to talk about this or about the
effect that today's exercise has had on you." Know where students
can get professional mental health counseling on campus should
it come to this.
Interactive drama and role-playing can be both informative and
memorable. It is hoped that after going through the process even
once, students will be better equipped to interact with trauma
victims in the course of their professional careers.
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