A Review of Drama-Based Pedagogy: Activating Learning Across the Curriculum by Kathryn Dawson and Bridget Kiger Lee

Abstract

I recently found myself faced with the challenge of teaching a class full of elementary education students who were new to drama and, in fact, new to the arts as a whole. When I asked them about drama in the classroom they looked confused and concerned, proclaiming, “I’m not creative.” How could I, as their instructor, help them to overcome the misconception that drama in the classroom is often seen as nothing more than a brain break or an extracurricular activity? As an educator and practitioner with a background in theatre for young audiences, arts integration, and creative drama, I know the power that drama can have for learning in the classroom. It has always been the magical tool in my toolbox that I could use with a wide variety of ages and settings, but how could I introduce elementary education students to this new way of thinking about teaching and learning? Drama-Based Pedagogy: Activating Learning Across the Curriculum by Kathryn Dawson and Bridget Kiger Lee turned out to be exactly what I was looking for, a text that demystifies creative drama and places it squarely in an educational context. Dawson and Lee utilize the term Drama-Based Pedagogy to describe their specific practice that uses active and dramatic approaches to engage students in academic, affective, and esthetic learning. As described by the authors, the theoretical background of Drama-Based Pedagogy can be found in the constructivism of Vygotsky as well as the critical learning theories of Freire. These theories help illuminate one of the text’s strengths, which is a focus on coconstructed learning and dialogic meaning making. This book is divided into three parts: the why, what, and how of Drama-Based Pedagogy.