Drama on the Run: A Prelude to Mapping the Practice of Process Drama

Abstract

In current educational climate prevailing in number of countries, increased emphasis is being placed on concept of the artist in schools. Funding is being channeled to support range of initiatives and schemes that are designed to bring arts professionals from all art forms into classroom where they place their artistic talents, knowledge, and insights alongside pedagogic skills of teacher. We see exciting projects in which artists work with children in schoolvisual artists to create murals, musicians to compose and perform operas, dancers to choreograph new ballets, and actors and directors to devise plays. Many of outcomes are of high quality, and children who have been fortunate enough to be involved have enjoyed experiences and have gained great deal from them. This would seem to be state of affairs to be applauded unreservedly, as such projects surely enrich lives of pupils and schools in which they take place. In one sense, of course, this is undeniably true, and we have no intention of suggesting otherwise. However, in reality, this is much more complex situation. It raises number of key issues for us as educational practitioners who work in field of applied theatre, sharing with others, as Judith Ackroyd describes, a belief in power of theatre form to address something beyond form itself.l The most critical issue is perceived separation of artist from teacher that can sometimes be encouraged by artists in schools projects. We sense dangerous precedent here. It becomes all too easy for two erroneous assumptions to be made, namely that teachers cannot be considered to be artists in their own right, while artists on other hand can be accorded