Drama-based Pedagogy Research Articles

Theater of the Assessed: Drama-Based Pedagogies in the History Classroom

This essay argues that the current crisis in history education at the K-12 levels requires creative interventions and interdisciplinary collaborations. It also offers a series of strategies for teaching critical historical thinking skills to young people. Drawing on the author's recent collaboration with a theater educator, the essay examines the radical potential of one pedagogical method in particular—a theater-based strategy called “process drama.” A philosophical and experiential approach to teaching and learning, this method draws on theatrical ideas to trouble the traditional dynamics of the classroom and provoke students into critical investigation. The author roots her reflections on the power and potential of process drama for history education in a lesson she developed for a group of public school teachers from the Bronx. Interested in introducing these teachers to a diversity of visual primary source documents and in complicating the story of the Civil Rights movement, she asked participants to use a series of theater exercises to examine a set of photographs taken at civil rights protests. This work, the author argues, suggests the power of critical and creative pedagogies in the history classroom; demonstrates the importance of interdisciplinary instruction, even at the K-12 levels; and offers a model for social justice history education that does not ignore the practical demands that weigh heavy on classroom teachers in this current standards-saturated public school educational climate.

The Development of Young Children's Dramatic and Public Speaking Skills

Previous articleNext article No AccessThe Development of Young Children's Dramatic and Public Speaking SkillsFred C. Niedermeyer, and Linda OliverFred C. Niedermeyer Search for more articles by this author , and Linda Oliver Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The Elementary School Journal Volume 73, Number 2Nov., 1972 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/460739 Views: 10Total views on this site Citations: 3Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1972 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Wendy K. Mages Practice makes perfectible: The impact of training and rehearsal on program fidelity, Youth Theatre Journal 31, no.11 (Mar 2017): 7–22.https://doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2017.1298542B. K. Lee, E. A. Patall, S. W. Cawthon, R. R. Steingut The Effect of Drama-Based Pedagogy on PreK-16 Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis of Research From 1985 to 2012, Review of Educational Research 85, no.11 (Jul 2014): 3–49.https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314540477Wendy Karen Mages Does Creative Drama Promote Language Development in Early Childhood? A Review of the Methods and Measures Employed in the Empirical Literature, Review of Educational Research 78, no.11 (Mar 2008): 124–152.https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654307313401