Images of Teaching and Classroom Drama

Revisioning Visions: Narrative Case Studies of Classroom Teachers’ Changing Views of Drama

“…This survey research on teacher perceptions of drama has repeatedly revealed a gap between positive sentiments for drama and its actual presence in their teaching. Research on efforts to help classroom teachers raise the status of drama in both belief and practice, has examined arts-based professional development programs (Lazarus, 1996), the perceplions and practices of model classroom teachers using drama (e.g., Garcia, 1996), the classroom teacher-drama specialist collaborative relationship (Flynn, 1995;Scheurer, 1996;Wilhelm & Edmiston, 1997), and the perspectives of bilingual teachers using drama (Waldschmidt, 1998). Researchers have characterized the dynamic nature of progress in the use of classroom drama in terms of teacher transformative stages, i.e.…”

Motivation, Classroom Management, and Pedagogical Vision: an Investigation of the Psychosocial Development of Two Actor-Educators

“…Often these studies analyze drama teachers' narratives to illustrate important issues and themes associated with preservice (Garcia, 2000;McCammon, Miller, & Norris, 1997) and inservice (Garcia, 1996, Waldschmidt, 1998 Wendy K. Mages, a professional actress and drama educator, holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University, an MA in Theatre-with a concentration in Child Drama-from Northwestern University, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on how drama and theatre can foster learning and development.…”

“…Research studies focusing on teacher professional development in educational drama have employed a variety of methods and theoretical perspectives (Garcia, 1996;2000;McCammon, Miller, & Norris, 1997;Waldschmidt, 1998). Often these studies analyze drama teachers' narratives to illustrate important issues and themes associated with preservice (Garcia, 2000;McCammon, Miller, & Norris, 1997) and inservice (Garcia, 1996, Waldschmidt, 1998 Wendy K. Mages, a professional actress and drama educator, holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University, an MA in Theatre-with a concentration in Child Drama-from Northwestern University, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.…”