Dramatic Interactions in Education: Vygotskian and Sociocultural Approaches to Drama, Education and Research

Description

Dramatic Interactions in Education draws together contemporary sociocultural research across drama and educational contents to draw out implications for researchers and practitioners both within and outside the field. Drama is a field for which human interactions, experience, emotional expression, and attitude are central, with those in non-arts fields discovering that understandings emerging from drama education can provide models and means for examining the affective and relational domains which are essential for understanding learning processes. In addition to this, those in the realm of drama education and applied theatre are realising that sociocultural and historical-cultural approaches can usefully inform their research and practice. Leading international theorists and researchers from across the UK, Europe, USA and Australia combine theoretical discussions, research methodologies, accounts of research and applications in classroom and learning contexts, as they explore concepts from Vygotsky's foundational work and interrogate key concepts such as perezhivanie (or the emotional, lived experience), development of self, zone of proximal development.

Susan Davis is Senior Lecturer at Central Queensland University, Australia. Beth Ferholt is Assistant Professor of Education in Early Childhood and Art at Brooklyn College, City University of New York, USA. Hannah Grainger Clemson is a researcher currently working on education and cultural policy and programmes in the UK and Europe. She is also Tutor in Drama and Theatre Education at the University of Warwick, UK. Satu-Mari Jansson is a theatre-based trainer at Theatreworks Training, UK, and affiliated researcher at The Center for Research on Activity, Development and Learning (CRADLE) at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Ana Marjanovic-Shane is Associate Professor of Education at Chestnut Hill College, Philadelphia, USA.

This invaluable compilation of essays synthesises Vygotsky's thinking, socio-cultural theories and the various practices of drama in education. As such, it shines a spotlight on how we come to do what we do as humans. * Andy Kempe, Professor of Drama Education, University of Reading, UK *