Drama and school

Abstract

This essay is about ways to explore and to celebrate the potential of our senses and emotions, our body and our mind. The themes of creative personal exploration, of growing through experience, run through all twenty-three chapters. I refer to leading authorities and their interpretation of these themes through their individual disciplines of education, theatre, philosophy, psychology, sociology, art, human growth techniques and basic common sense. The question that has been in my mind during the preparation of this essay has been: how can drama become an activity which can enhance the art of living and contribute towards making education a process of growth? There are four main sections in this essay. The first, DRAMA, AS AN EDUCATIVE FORCE, is concerned with the relationship between drama and education. DRAMA, THE ART OF LIVING, explores some of the many significant contributions which various Eastern and Western theatre forms can make to drama in education. The third section, TECHNICAL DETAILS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, shows how drama can be organised into the curriculum. The last section, DRAMA IN PRACTICE, deals with specific and practical ways in which we can heighten and enrich the teaching of drama.