Towards a socially critical drama education

Abstract

There are many different ways that educators could teach drama if it were simply a matter of choosing from a range of available options. Teachers hold beliefs about drama which may facilitate or constrain both its selection and practice. These constraints encompass other beliefs about self, the role of the teacher, student role, the organisation of learning and interpersonal relationships. Thus, teachers do not construct views about drama (aims, possibilities, practices and outcomes) in isolation. Rather, these are directly influenced by other dispositions, not the least of which are those pertaining to education (Errington 1985). As a teacher, I will only select particular kinds of drama if they agree with my beliefs about teaching and education. That is, providing the drama can be used to put my educational beliefs into practice, I will use it. Similarly, what I observe in drama practice will modify my theories about teaching and education. In this sense, teacher beliefs about drama and education are dialectical. That is, dispositions about one inform the other.