Participatory research in an arts integration professional development program

Abstract

Drama for Schools (DFS) is an arts integration professional development program rooted in critical pedagogy and constructivism that emphasizes partnerships between school districts and a major research university. As a part of the research initiative embedded in this professional development program, DFS began an Arts integration Research Teacher (ART) Fellow initiative. Four teachers who had been in DFS for at least a year participated in the ART Fellow program researching the impact of drama-based instruction in their classrooms. The purpose of this article is to present findings from the ART Fellows partnership and to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the model. Methods used in this analysis included measures of student outcomes and perspectives from both ART Fellows and DFS program staff. While findings were largely non-conclusive about the impact of arts integration on student outcomes, the ART Fellow program influenced how teachers and the DFS staff viewed participatory research as an extension of the program’s critical pedagogical and constructivist philosophy. This article discusses the implications for using a teacher-as-researcher approach to professional development and strategies for improving successful implementation in a school-based context.