China – drama and citizenship in China: a practitioner's story

Abstract

This chapter will describe and discuss key ideas, trends and practices for citizenship and drama education in China. The chapter will begin with a broad and relatively brief reference to globalisation as a means of explaining changes in society and education in China. The meaning of citizenship education and drama education and how these things exist in Chinese schools and in contexts beyond schools will be presented. Examples will illuminate the particular challenges that Drama and Citizenship teachers in China face, either when working in their individual subject areas or when attempting to find ways of working together. There will be explanation and discussion of how and why the theories and practice of Dorothy Heathcote have gained such an influence in Chinese Drama pedagogy and how they are being used to encourage a move away from transmission models of education to something more child centred, both in the teaching of reading and in more general teaching strategies. There may be references to other important Drama theorists who have proved to be influential in China, particularly in the context of Drama and Citizenship education. There will be a discussion of ideas and practices in primary schools in China to help children develop their ‘physical self-concept’ and the relationship between the individual and society. In particular, the Happy Farm project will be used to illuminate issues about the relationship between drama and citizenship education in primary schools in China. In the final section, key messages of the chapter will be summarised and there will be some brief recommendations for future action.