DRAMA TECHNIQUES IN EDUCATION COURSE

Drama is not merely an activity realized by a specialist performer to entertain or preach people in its traditional sense. It can also be used as an effective teaching-learning tool in schools wherein it engages its participant at physical, emotional, mental and social levels simultaneously.

Drama provides its participants an optimum opportunity to exercise their autonomy and consciousness in a safe and fictional space created in a particular context, while also helping teachers become critical thinkers in real-life situations.  Drama is an increasingly popular subject in school curriculum in many countries in Europe. In drama lessons, teachers work with learners to produce dramatic texts. The process of learning is complex: drawing from a wide range of textual sources and semiotic resources, it engages and involves the body and the mind of learners in social and cultural activities. In this course, we adopt a cultural and historical approach to drama and learning analysis of a drama lesson. The principles of this course are based on Vygotsky’s work on drama, culture and learning. They are elaborated in relation to current concerns in cultural historical theory and also coherent to relevant and complementary approaches from critical cultural studies.

Methods of description and analysis drawn from the best practices in Europe will form part of the program.