Teaching Theatre Today Pedagogical Views Of Theatre In Higher Education

Through thirteen essays, Teaching Theatre Today addresses the changing nature of educational theory, curricula, and teaching methods in theatre programs of colleges and universities of the United States and Great Britain.

Teaching Theatre Today addresses the changing nature of educational theory, curricula, and teaching methods in theatre programs of colleges and universities of the United States and, to a lesser extent, Great Britain. Thirteen essays are arranged to lead the reader from an overview of changing theories of theater education through the teaching of specific types of courses, to the study of the African American experience in theatre education, to issues of changing pedagogical goals in the United Kingdom, and finally to the current state of training for future teachers of theatre. This book offers both historical and theoretical insights that drove pedagogy in American theatre education in colleges and universities during the twentieth century and into the twenty-first.

Through thirteen essays, Teaching Theatre Today addresses the changing nature of educational theory, curricula, and teaching methods in theatre programs of colleges and universities of the United States and Great Britain.

The genesis for Perspectives on Teaching Theatre can be traced back to the theme of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education's 1993 Annual Conference «Imaging the Future», which focused on challenging curricular, pedagogical, and political issues in college theatre education. The writers in this volume, who are teachers of theatre, «imagine» the possibilities of educational reform in the context of the changing politics in our culture and society. Topics examined include the challenges and possibilities of teaching theatre in postmodern culture; issues of democracy and methods of empowering students in classroom and production work; ways for theory, pedagogy, and production to inform each other; and strategies for dealing with difference in theatre education.

This book reflects the changes in technology and educational trends (cross-disciplinary learning, entrepreneurship, first-year learning programs, critical writing requirements, course assessment, among others) that have pushed theatre educators to innovate, question, and experiment with new teaching strategies. The text focuses upon a firm practice-based approach that also reflects research in the field, offering innovative and proven methods that theatre educators may use to actively engage students and encourage student success. The sixteen essays in this volume are divided into five sections: Teaching with Digital Technology, Teaching in Response to Educational Trends, Teaching New Directions in Performance, Teaching Beyond the Traditional, and Teaching Collaboratively or Across Disciplines. Study of this book will provoke readers to question both teaching methods and curricula as they consider the ever-shifting arts landscape and the potential careers for theatre graduates.

The role of the hybrid artist-educator in schools and communities over the past fifty years has evolved significantly. Although education reform and political pressures during the last five decades have frequently interrupted steady and sustained arts education programming in the United States-especially in theatre and dance-the teaching artist today performs an important role in numerous educational contexts. Over the past fifteen years, the work of teaching artists has received growing professional attention and research: the Association of Teaching Artists (ATA) was founded in 1998 to support, advocate for, strengthen and serve the teaching artist profession. This volume, focused on teaching artists in dance and theatre disciplines, expands this developing area of inquiry and reveals topographies for teaching in and through these arts disciplines that have, until this text, been examined separately. Directed toward the last decade's growth and professionalization, the book asks: where and how is teaching artistry in dance and theatre happening? What is guiding, supporting, or complicating the work of teaching artists in dance and theatre arts today? What training and preparation do teaching artists receive? How do teaching artists effectively address the cultural diversity of the communities they serve? What are the political and economic influences that impact the work and delivery of teaching artistry? What has been learned on a large scale about the hybrid lives and work of teaching artists in dance and theatre arts? In sum, what is the status of the teaching artist today? This book examines pedagogical, artistic, and professional issues for two performing arts disciplines by using the voices and experiences of each form's practitioners and those who prepare them.

Providing a distillation of knowledge in the various disciplines of arts education (dance, drama, music, literature and poetry and visual arts), this essential handbook synthesizes existing research literature, reflects on the past, and contributes to shaping the future of the respective and integrated disciplines of arts education. While research can at times seem distant from practice, the Handbook aims to maintain connection with the live practice of art and of education, capturing the vibrancy and best thinking in the field of theory and practice. The Handbook is organized into 13 sections, each focusing on a major area or issue in arts education research.

Drawing on new research from the ERC project ‘Developing Theatre’, this collection presents innovative institutional approaches to the theatre historiography of the Global South since 1945. Covering perspectives from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America as well as Eastern Europe, the chapters explore how US philanthropy, international organisations and pan-African festivals all contributed to the globalisation and institutionalisation of the performing arts in the Global South. During the Cultural Cold War, the Global North intervened in and promoted forms of cultural infrastructure that were deemed adaptable to any environment. This form of technopolitics impacted the construction of national theatres, the introduction of new pedagogical tools and the invention of the workshop as a format. The networks of 'experts' responsible for this foreground seminal figures, both celebrated (Augusto Boal, Efua Sutherland) but also lesser known (Albert Botbol, Severino Montano, Metin And), who contributed to the worldwide theatrical epistemic community of the postwar years. Developing Theatre in the Global South investigates the institutional factors that led to the emergence of professional theatre in the postwar period throughout the decolonising world. The book’s institutional and transnational approach enables theatre studies to overcome its still strong national and local focus on plays and productions, and connect it to current discourses in transnational and global history.