Highlights significance of analysis of organized action within educational research. Describes and demonstrates an analytical approach to action applicable to the classroom, developed from approaches to analysis of bodily communication and action in drama education, and from new approaches to rhetoric that draw on social semiotic theories of…

Explains the structure of the Fourth World Congress of the International Drama/Theatre in Education Association. Notes that this congress, like the three prior congresses, examined the role that drama/theatre can play in establishing identity and in addressing the artistic and educational needs of young people in a world containing many forms of…

Describes and outlines dramatic elements (character, character objectives, conflict, costumes, and "performance" rather than "production") that help students gain understanding of historical, social, and literary content. (SR)

Discusses the artistry of those who write plays and films to introduce a series of sequential exercises to help student actors become more sensitive to the playwright's contribution. Outlines and explains the phases of "monologue makers": (1) tell stories; (2) make a play; and (3) get on your feet. (PA)

Endeavors to make students aware of similarities between today's movie culture and the theater of the 18th century; parallels between a traditional drama and a movie script; and Schiller's understanding of the sublime. (36 references) (Author/CK)

Considers how the gap between theory and practice or research knowledge and practical knowledge provides a barrier for student teachers to make full use of the possibility of learning about teaching behavior at teacher training colleges. Develops a theoretical basis for the use of drama in teacher training based upon Keith Johnstone's theory of…

Notes a response to any discussion of trust is itself in danger of repeating the very problems that Helen Nicholson raises in her article "The Politics of Trust: Drama Education and the Ethics of Care" (2002). Agrees in part with the elaborations of her thesis, but admits to some serious hesitation regarding any discussion of trust as a guiding…

Examined the impact of creative drama activities on elementary students' self-concept, social skills, and problem behavior. Students were divided into intervention and control groups. Data from student surveys did not show any significant treatment effects for any of the dependent variables. Results did not differ by gender. The main and…

Notes that it is usual in Australia for drama as a learning activity to follow reading of the text. Provides examples of how process drama methodology was used as a teaching and learning activity during the reading of a young adult novel. Provides the students' perspective of why and how drama engaged them in a critical interpretative reading of…

Notes that media shapes the way young people contextualize their world. Suggests that process drama could be a pedagogical forum where theater practitioners and young people could use dramatic tools to explore the form and content of the omnipresent media in its historical, social, political, and personal contexts. Provides examples of what this…

Describes how the authors used process drama as a tool by which students assume the persona of characters in a literary text and improvise what the characters might say and how they might react in challenging situations. Discusses how students created modern dramatic interpretations of traditional texts in order to solve problems that parallel…

Presents a brief quiz designed to focus on facts often forgotten or about which misperceptions typically swirl, and to concentrate attention on the lives of children and young adults during the Renaissance. Notes that the answers to the quiz are followed by explanations arranged, like the quiz, in three sections that provide some information about…

Explains the creation of the New Visions/New Voices festival which focuses attention on developing new scripts for young audiences. Notes that unlike other playwriting programs, New Visions does not require a complete script for application. Outlines the selection, casting, rehearsal process, dramaturg involvement, and post-reading discussions of…

Describes a seminar in which students get creatively involved in the process of textual construction by collaborating in the rewriting of a dramatic text. Notes that the theatre practicum is propitious for this type of re-creative learning because dramatic writing is specifically designed to generate another text, and a wide array of concrete…

Discusses texts that provide current thinking about and by women actors regarding the intersections of feminism and theatre. Focuses on the works' discussions of the Stanislavsky system and the Method as technique for actors and on the sense of these techniques' impact on feminist performance practice. Concludes that only by examining the dynamics…