The ‘good enough’ drama: reinterpreting constructivist aesthetics and epistemology in drama education

Abstract

When we speak of quality in drama education, we apply different educational and aesthetic criteria. For example, improvised drama practices such as process drama, are closely associated to John Dewey's constructivist philosophy. What makes a drama qualitatively ‘good’ within such a framework differs radically from criteria that are familiar in conflicting philosophies, such as empiricist epistemology and classicist aesthetics. Dewey offers a cultural theory that does not separate knowing in arts from knowing in education. This implies a link between constructivist epistemology and a corresponding aesthetic theory, which produces a specific set of qualitative criteria. By reporting from a case of drama teaching and research, I examine how constructivist thinking affects the aesthetic, education and research in ways of structure and approach, design and aims. Experiential forms of drama are valued as potential models for constructivist education and a corresponding aesthetics. From the perspective of the agent, the aesthetic experience results from an interactive media process, and this is also educational.