TEACHING DRAMA: CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS

Abstract

It has frequently been stated that the dramatic method of teaching is rather efficient in students’ personal development. The basic practical aspect of this teaching method involves the acquisition of various social and language skills which point to its immense interdisciplinary potential. Apart from the benefits, teaching drama represents a highly challenging task for educators since they are supposed to mediate between the world of artists and the recipients of their art. In order to highlight the challenges and benefits of teaching drama, the theoretical framework of the paper relies on the pioneering lecturing work of Heathcote (1976, 1998), as well as the critical insights of Freire (2005) and Nussbaum (1997). Their methodical perspectives on drama as a learning medium have been combined with the results of the internal survey the authors of the paper conducted in the period 2016-2018 by teaching Renaissance drama courses at the university level.