USA – challenging compliance: activating citizens for change

Abstract

The United States is locked in a cycle of increasing socio-economic and racial inequity that disadvantages a substantial number of its citizens. Schools reflect and perpetuate these inequities, particularly in under-resourced urban areas. This chapter discusses playmaking/devising and process drama as tools for helping urban students in the United States to engage with and challenge existing definitions of citizenship in the public sphere. True citizenship involves the exercise of agency, of students’ comprehension of the societal dynamics that suppress action, and their drive to work for change. The re-engagement of public schools with Social Emotional Learning (and developments in brain-based learning theories) offers an opportunity to use drama to challenge the compliance model of public education, particularly for those who are disadvantaged by existing inequities. By recasting the idea of citizenship as an active opportunity to challenge the status quo, Applied Theatre can promote higher order thinking, questioning and the development of skills that allow students to become agents of change.