Educators and artists attest to the power of drama
and theatre to develop and educate the whole person.
However, learning in drama cannot be taken as a
given simply because students participate in
dramatic activities. This book presents an
ethnographic study that questions the nature of
dramatic experiences and the ways in which
adolescents develop in and through these
experiences. Its implementation combined a
theoretical and methodological inquiry into the
nature of dramatic experiences with a case study
involving a group of fourteen high school students
who participated in a semester long after-school
drama workshop. The focus of the project was to
create a piece of ethnotheatre based on the
students experiences and issues important in their
lives. Findings from this study provide a strong
argument for drama as a vital pedagogical vehicle in
which education becomes an experience of the
learning self in the making, which should be
insightful for educators in all disciplines, and
anyone wishing encourage young people to develop
diverse viewpoints of complex situations and a
reflective understanding of themselves and the world.
and theatre to develop and educate the whole person.
However, learning in drama cannot be taken as a
given simply because students participate in
dramatic activities. This book presents an
ethnographic study that questions the nature of
dramatic experiences and the ways in which
adolescents develop in and through these
experiences. Its implementation combined a
theoretical and methodological inquiry into the
nature of dramatic experiences with a case study
involving a group of fourteen high school students
who participated in a semester long after-school
drama workshop. The focus of the project was to
create a piece of ethnotheatre based on the
students experiences and issues important in their
lives. Findings from this study provide a strong
argument for drama as a vital pedagogical vehicle in
which education becomes an experience of the
learning self in the making, which should be
insightful for educators in all disciplines, and
anyone wishing encourage young people to develop
diverse viewpoints of complex situations and a
reflective understanding of themselves and the world.