Teaching and Learning through Dramaturgy

The aim of this book is to contribute a dramaturgical perspective to education. The authors write from a dramaturgical perspective about the planning of teaching, leadership in the classroom, the teacher-body, the teacher’s oral skills and ethics, communication, and about the spaces in which teaching takes place. The book is written with the pre-understanding that the ways in which art creates knowledge need to be illuminated and articulated more clearly in educational thinking, thereby enhancing artful engagement in education. Dramaturgical perspectives are presented as such a way – a form of knowledge that the artform of drama/theatre can contribute to teaching and learning in general.Through examples and analyses of empirical material, as well as through theoretical perspectives, the authors show chapter by chapter how dramaturgy and a dramaturgically inspired language and concepts create more possibilities of choice for teachers in planning and carrying out their teaching. Teaching and Learning through Dramaturgy brings to the forefront what will be enabled in teaching and planning of teaching, by making use of a dramaturgically inspired language and action, what in principle is possible in every subject.

Within the chapters it is clear that the ‘realness’ of teaching is at the core, making the work especially relevant for those who are teaching, learning to teach, or examining the practices of teaching in a wide range of contexts. At the same time tertiary students within the arts, and those working within creative industry contexts would benefit from this book. Within the chapters there is the investigation of the leadership, the bodily, the space, the voice, the presence – allowing a breadth to develop in the notion of what dramaturgy might be. Østern’s work highlights the plurality of choices we as educators have in our practices, and the book provides a way to navigate the terrain of education and change in an artful way-Rose Martin (PhD, Dance Studies),Associate Professor of Arts Education with a focus on Multiculturalism, Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyThe Book is amazing! Lots of things to discover. Thinking like a dramaturg in the field of education is the main focus of the book that invites teachers to use dramaturgical thinking in planning and supports their aesthetic development. It sets an example for the association of art with pedagogy on the way to create knowledge. It reflects how dramaturgical thinking can be adapted to teaching and learning processes with application examples. A great resource for educators, researchers, practitioners and students-Nevin Gümüş, PhD Student, Faculty of Fine Arts, Ankara UniversityThis book goes on to the ‘Must Read’ list of every scholar in the field of drama and theatre education. It presents a profound theory of dramaturgy and gives valid practical examples to illustrate the praxis of drama education and the work of the teacher-artist. It is invaluable for all those who wish to develop an analysis of dramaturgical practice in the field of Artful Education- Hannu Heikkinen, Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Education, University of Oulu

Anna-Lena Østern has since 2007 been Professor of Arts Education in the Department of Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She has educated drama teachers towards becoming general teachers and teacher educators. She was the academic leader of a national doctoral school for teacher education in Norway, NAFOL, 2010–2015. She is now professor emerita at Åbo Akademi University.