Transformative Professional Learning in Arts Integration invites educators and artists to name and center dilemma, discovery, and learning at the core of their collaborative efforts to improve the learning culture of classrooms through the arts. A dilemma comes in many forms.
Personal and programmatic dilemmas are often the result of a rupture between personal belief and the requirements of a system. The rupture - or dilemma - seeds a desire for something new, something better. However, as Queensland Aboriginal activists remind us, we must address our own bias and power in relationship to those we presume to support: "If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time; but if you are here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. This text, therefore, shares the stories of individuals working towards collective educational improvement and change.
It is a story of failure and possibility, about individuals bound up with with each other, harnessing the power of the arts, in the common effort to make education more just and equitable for all.
Drama for Schools and Beyond: Transformative Learning Through the Arts, tells the story of twenty years of research and practice grounded in the Drama for Schools (DFS) professional development learning model based at The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
This book offers a critical look at the evolution of Drama for Schools through the learnings of its leaders and participants. It also gathers stories from partners across the globe who have adapted and built upon this model at their own sites. It is a primer for how to centre teacher and student inquiry and learning at the core of educational improvement. It is an invitation for teachers, administrators, and researchers to address their own bias and power in relation to those they aim to support.
Throughout, the authors show that by integrating the arts across education, new networks of possibility can be grown, to create a more just and equitable education for all.
Arvustused
"This book offers teachers, teaching artists, students, and school administrators with exemplary approaches to meaningfully integrate the arts in learning environments. Through global case studies the authors vividly demonstrate how and why the arts can be a powerful vehicle to address social issues to generate positive change. Grounded in current arts education literature and thinking, the book centers on empowering youth and teachers to engage in critical conversations through creative and purposeful means." -- Professor George Belliveau, University of British Columbia "This compelling Drama for Schools and Beyond volume brings together a rich collection of diverse international partnership case studies and action research. Kathryn Dawson and her co-authors explore new understandings of deep learning through the transformative potential of arts integration in education. Grounded in strong theoretical foundations, this important book invites readers to reimagine practice and embrace the power of the arts to foster meaningful change in schools and communities." -- Dr. Jeff Meiners, University of South Australia
List of Figures
Foreword
Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor
Acknowledgments
Authors Note
Introduction
PART I: DRAMA FOR SCHOOLS
What is Drama for Schools?
Planting Seeds, Establishing Roots: Drama for Schools Alaska
Kathryn Dawson
Transformative Professional Learning in Arts Integration
PART II: THREE STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION IN TEXAS
Part II: Introduction
Systems Change Transformation Story (Where)
Stephanie Cawthon and Kathryn Dawson
Constructivism Transformation Story (How)
Kathryn Dawson and Stephanie Cawthon
Social Justice Transformation Story (Why)
Beth Link, Lara Dossett, and Kathryn Dawson
Conclusion
PART III: TEACHERS TRANSFORMING EDUCATION FROM WITHIN
Part III: Introduction
Teachers as Researchers
Its not about knowing
Lauren Smith
DBP in the collegiate foreign language classroom: From first encounter to
online improv
Devon Donohue-Bergeler
You have all the tools you need: How DBP can strengthen and reframe
participatory action research
Ally Tufenkjian
Teachers as Artists
Dialogue across difference: Global conversations on teacher identity and the
ethics of care
Beth Link and Bindi MacGill
Disrupting hegemonic classroom culture with autobiographical playbuilding
Sarah Coleman
Teaching artists: The heART of creative body-based learning
Kerrin Rowlands and Eliza Lovell
Teachers as Collaborators
Collaborative pedagogy: Rethinking STEM teaching with drama-based practices
Khristian Mendez Aguirre and Jen Moon
Teacher professional learning through DBP in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alma ero, Milica Joi-Milinovi, and Kate Proietti
Learning when to bend the rules
Bridget Kiger Lee and Brian C. Fahey
Teachers as Agents of Change
Drama-based pedagogy: Radical acts of hope through the arts
Tamara Goldbogen
Re-imagining pre-service theatre education through DBP
Joshua Rashon Streeter
Inspiring student engagement in Adelaide, South Australia: Teacher-led action
research approaches
Robyne Garrett and Joss Rankin
New educational perspectives through play
Noah Martin
Learning Forward
PART IV: TRANSFORMATIVE COALITIONS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Part IV: Introduction
The Student Learning Community in South Australia
The Student Teacher Learning Community in Texas
Learning Forward
Epilogue
Appendices
Appendix A Case Author Biographies
Appendix B Further Reading About Drama for Schools and Beyond
Appendix C Drama for Schools Partners
References
Index
Kathryn Dawson is a teaching artist and associate professor of theatre at The University of Texas at Austin, USA, where she uses the arts to create more equitable and just learning environments for all. She is the head of the graduate program in Drama and Theatre for Youth and Communities, a Provost's Teaching Fellow, head of Creative Collaborations for the Planet Texas 2050 transdisciplinary research initiative, and Director of Drama for Schools.
Beth Link is an Assistant Professor of Art Education at the University of North Texas, USA, where she investigates how the arts can explore multiple perspectives, dismantle hierarchies, and enable students to bridge differences. She has nearly two decades of teaching experience in schools, communities, and museums and has facilitated arts-integrated professional development for teachers across the globe.
Stephanie Cawthon is the Catherine Mae Parker Centennial Professor in Education and Graduate Advisor in the Department of Educational Psychology, University of Austin, USA, with a courtesy appointment in the Special Education. She serves as the Director of Research and Evaluation for Drama for Schools as well as the Executive Director of the National Disability Center for Student Success.
Lara Dossett is an Assistant Professor of Instruction at The University of Texas at Austin, USA, in the Department of Theatre and Dance. Through her practice-based research Lara is committed to building intentional communities of practice and systems that support art-based teaching and learning in K-12 contexts.
