ΘΕΣΠ622: Theatre in Education ΙΙ: Research and Practice

Module Purpose and Objectives

The content of this module includes the multifarious forms of theatre and drama in education, either as an autonomous discipline or as teaching methodology for other courses and themes across all stages of education. Adding to this the double character of theatre, as text and as performance, as artistic expression and educational/pedagogical good, as cultural phenomenon and teaching method, then it is readily inferred that the concept “Theatre in Education” requires a multilateral approach. The practical applications of the discipline in the classroom as well as its research dimensions constitute fundamental objectives of this unit, enabling students to undertake original research.

After successfully completing this module, students are expected to:

• Fully appreciate the educational/pedagogical character of the theatre
• Know the core concepts, topics and content of various parameters of research into theatre/drama in education
• Know the major dramatists for children and young people
• Review a theatrical performance (especially for underage spectators) and apply theoretical knowledge to school reality
• Understand the particularities of individual forms of theatrical expression (role play, happening, dramatization) and know how to use them correctly
• Realize the particularity of the “Special Didactics” of drama and put it into use during their professional activities
• Investigate the pedagogical role undertaken by the theatre and point out the ways in which a writing workshop and an original intertextual composition can be created if required
• Foreground the role of theatre as teaching methodology but also as artful creation across the spectrum of education
• Choose the appropriate types of research based on research targets and objectives
• Plan and create courses on theatre-in-education and theatrical performances across all educational stages

Module Content

• Programmes in theatre pedagogy
• Theatre pedagogy Group
• Theatre in Schools
• Artists in Schools
• Implementation of programmes in theatre pedagogy across all educational stages
• Understanding all stages and techniques for implementing programmes in theatre pedagogy

• Understanding types and methods of evaluation
• Applying evaluation techniques in drama
• Evaluating learning
• Evaluating for learning
• Evaluation phase for actions/courses on theatre/drama in education

• Arts of speech as an expression of Theatre in Education
• Storytelling
• Theatrical recitation and stage reading
• Creative writing workshop
• Techniques and codes of transcribing narrative text to dramatic text
• The process of adapting a play
• Intertextuality and intertextual composition
• Adapting a play by Aristophanes on a case-by-case basis for primary/secondary education students
• Creating an intertextual composition centered around a school celebration

• Keeping track of drama for children and youth
• Applying drama techniques and conventions
• Exercises in playwrighting
• Clarification of contemporary trends and techniques for theatre and performance
• Applying exercises in playwrighting and creative writing with the use of digital technologies
• Applying playwrighting and creative writing techniques in the context of courses on theatre-in-education and putting together a performance

• Applying forms and techniques of drama/theatre in primary and secondary education
• Understanding the specific age needs of participants and the significance of the appropriate selection of drama/theatre form according to each educational stage

• Theatre/drama as a tool of social intervention
• Forum theatre
• Critical analysis of the concept of transformation, enhancement and change through the social forms of theatre in education
• Connecting programmes on theatre pedagogy to the theatre as a tool for social intervention

• Studying theatre pedagogy approaches, recommended for honing the skills of active citizens
• Understanding the concept of citizenship
• Critically connecting the honing of active citizen skills to theatre/drama in education
• Collective theatre and collectivity: theory and applications

• Employing educational theatre/drama techniques in teaching language, literature or a second foreign language
• Applying educational theatre/drama on the education of students as socially and politically literate individuals

• Being aware of the various selection options for which type of play is to be staged (original, adaptation, dramatized, intertextuality)

• Understanding and practical use of the concept of the grand spectacle
• Understanding the necessity of collaboration between teachers of different expertise (theatrologist, musician, visual artist, gymnast) in delivering an aesthetically appealing result
• Assimilating the fusion of arts and technologies in the composite concept of the grand-spectacle performance
• Understanding which forms of theatre-in-education operate autonomously as theatrical actions in schools or become incorporated within a school performance or event (g. Video art, Visual art installation, Shadow theatre, Puppet theatre, Pantomime, Happening etc.)

• Critical formulation of questions on educational practices and alternative suggestions for upgrading them
• Knowledge of the basic methodologies applied to educational research, mostly those that can be used by instructors themselves (without requiring the participation of large research groups)
• Action research
• Case-study

• Composing and creating integrated questionnaires and/or interviews
• Understanding the supplementary relationship between research with an overview of bibliography and research through applied practice with statistical extensions
• Assimilation of basic research tools and methods for recording research data

• Familiarization with data import and storage
• Codification and categorization of data
• Content analysis
• Interpretation of results

• Descriptive research
• Experimental research
• Investigative studies
• Pedagogical experimental intervention
• Biographical study
• Autobiographical study

• Understanding basic ethical issues arising in most research programmes
• Research ethics, validity and reliability
• Understanding the significance of comprehensively designed research and of proper research writing
• Being able to articulately designate the central problem and lucidly formulate investigative research questions/hypotheses