Approaches to Learning (AtL) is widely included in many state standards for preK, as a process-oriented disposition that describes how children learn. Play is one pedagogical strategy teachers can employ to support the development of AtL. This paper uses Vygotsky's depiction of two kinds of play, object play and socio-dramatic play, to provide the…

Emotional intelligence and drama-based intervention open up an innovative field in education. The current study describes the effectiveness of an innovative project based on the development of emotional intelligence through dramatization in Early Childhood Education. A total of 82 children range from 4 to 5 years old were divided into two groups:…

Drawing on Jean-François Lyotard's characterisation of postmodernism as incredulity towards meta-narratives, Lionel Abel's definition of meta-plays, and David Higbee Williams' perspective on metadrama, this paper examines the postmodern reinterpretation of Shakespeare's tragic heroines in Joy McCullough's novel, Enter the Body. The article…

This article examines how "Off Centre," a play by Haresh Sharma about mental health in Singapore, first devised and produced by The Necessary Stage (TNS) in 1993, provides a valuable opportunity for audiences to encounter characters labeled "mad" or "off centre" (a colloquial term in Singapore for being mentally ill),…

Theater is considered one of the creative arts, and participation has long been tied to such disparate outcomes as creative thinking, empathy, and emotional understanding. Yet research on what actually happens in a theater classroom from a psychological perspective has been lacking. In particular, how thinking strategies beyond improvisation, used…

In this article I describe the development of an ethnodrama intended to investigate relationships between 1st-year teachers and students of colour. Excerpts from the script, photographs of performers, and artists' interviews communicate the sensations of life in school. The show evokes the power of the classroom to hurt and to heal. It is intended…

Role-playing games (RPGs) are storytelling activities that mediate co-authorship through a variety of in-game, out-of-game, and intertextual relationships. Liminal interactions sometimes occur during RPG play that blur these categories. To understand the purposes and processes of "liminal play," this study analyzed data from a yearlong…

This study explored the impacts of a creative drama course on pre-service teachers' beliefs about teaching skills. The participants kept weekly reflective journals and were observed in micro-teachings during the drama course. They were also interviewed four times over a period of two years. The results revealed positive perceptions about using…

This article will provide an overview of how the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) project Mobile Arts for Peace (MAP) has attempted to explore the use of interdisciplinary art-based practices for peacebuilding in Rwanda. In particular, we will detail how performance has been used to create a…

In drama lessons based on improvisation and role playing, participants express themselves spontaneously, take on various roles and act out by pretending. With improvisation, which is one of the two basic strategies used together with role playing in drama, the participants act in accordance with the designed dramatic fiction. The goal of this…

The aim of this essay is to consider some of the issues and possibilities presented by recent developments in citizenship education and drama education in China. It is written from the personal perspective of a drama practitioner whose professional life has given her first-hand experience of those developments. This essay reflected the literary…

Reading comprehension is foundational for future academic success. The ability to inference is critical in in supporting comprehension, and many young children struggle to develop this skill. The current study examines how a drama-based instructional (DBI) intervention supports inference generation about characters' feelings during preschool…

In a context where more than 40% of LGBTQIA+ individuals in the UK are estimated to avoid sports due to experiences of discrimination, with disengagement closely linked to negative experiences during physical education at school, the ability of specifically LGBTQIA+-oriented sports clubs to buck this trend and create vibrant inclusive sporting…

As a society, we face increasingly complex and intertwined environmental issues, such as extreme weather events, droughts, sea level rise, and unprecedented loss of biodiversity. The extent and ramifications of these issues remain largely unknown and clear-cut solutions are out of reach. We thus refer to them as environmental wicked problems…

This article documents the work of two Research-based Theatre practitioners. The two case studies featured were written in different cultures, for different purposes and audiences. However, both share some common elements. They feature marginalized and largely forgotten women. One tells of the plight of foreign domestic helpers in Singapore and…