Skip to main content

Lighting the Fires Within:

Pre-service Teachers Learning in and through Drama

  • Chapter
Making Meaning

Part of the book series: Educating the Young Child ((EDYC,volume 2))

Drama has been a key mode of learning and meaning making throughout recorded history; however, drama's role in teacher education is peripheral at best. Both teacher educators and pre-service teachers, because they often lack drama experience themselves, become fearful of extending themselves through such activities as creative dramatics or process drama in their classrooms. Yet creative drama is an ideal medium for developing literacy, particularly within a multi literacies paradigm. With simple, structured and progressive creative drama techniques, teacher educators can encourage pre-service teachers to become aware of the aesthetic and multi literacy benefits of drama use in their classrooms. A sample unit designed for the teacher education classroom is included.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Bang, M. (1999). When Sophie gets angry—really, really angry…. New York: Scholastic Inc

    Google Scholar 

  • Bany-Winters, L. (1997). On stage: Theater games and activities for kids. Chicago: Chicago Review Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Barone, T. (2001). Touching eternity: The enduring outcomes of teaching. New York: Teachers College Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Bentley, E. (1964). The life of drama. New York: Applause Theater Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Berghoff, B. (1998). Inquiry about learning and learners. The Reading Teacher, 51(6), 520–523

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, G. (1996). Afterward: Drama as research. In P. Taylor (Ed.) Researching drama and arts education: Paradigms & possibilities (pp. 187–194). Washington, DC: Falmer Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Bolton, G. (2007). A history of drama education: A search for substance. In L. Bresler (Ed.), International handbook of research in arts education (pp. 45–61). Dordrecht, The Netherlands:Springer

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Booth, D. (2003). Towards an understanding of theater in education. In K. Gallegher & D. Booth (Eds.), How theater educates convergences & counterpoints (pp. 14–22). Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Cecil, N. L., & Lauritzen, P. (1994). Literacy and the arts for the integrated classroom: Alternative ways of knowing. White Plains, NY: Longman

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: Capricorn Books

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisner, E. (1988). The primacy of experience and the politics of method. Educational Researcher, 17(5), 15–20

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eisner, E. (2005). The role of intelligence in the creation of art in D. A. Breault & R. Breault (Eds.) Experiencing Dewey: Insights for today's classroom (pp. 106–108). Indianapolis, IN:Kappa Delta Pi

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallego, M., & Hollingsworth, S. (2000). Introduction: The idea of multiple literacies. In M.Gallego & S. Hollingsworth (Eds.), What counts as literacy: Challenging the school standard (pp. 1–23). New York: Teachers College Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbs, J. (2001). Tribes: A new way of learning and being together. Windsor, CA: Center Source Systems

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, M. (1995). Releasing the imagination: Essays on education, the arts, and social change.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull, G. & Nelson, M. (2005). Locating the semiotic power of multimodality. Written Communication, 22(2), 224–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kress, G. (1997). Before writing: Rethinking the paths to literacy. New York: Routledge

    Google Scholar 

  • Latta, M. (2001). The possibilities of play in the classroom. New York: Peter Lang

    Google Scholar 

  • McCaslin, N. (2005). Seeking the aesthetic in creative drama and theatre for young audiences.Journal of Aesthetic Education, 39(4), 12–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mavers, D. (2007). Semiotic resourcefulness: A young child's email exchange as design. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 7(2), 155–176

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moll, L., & Greenberg, J. (1990). Creating zones of possibilities: Combining social contexts for instruction. In L. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 319–348). Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Norris, J., McGammon, L., & Miller, C. (2000). Learning to teach drama: A narrative approach.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

    Google Scholar 

  • Saldaña, J. (1995). Drama of color: Improvisation with multiethnic folklore. Portsmouth, NH:Heinemann

    Google Scholar 

  • Sendak, M. (1963). Where the wild things are. New York: Harper Collins

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, K. G., & Kauffman, G. (2000). Exploring sign systems within an inquiry system. In M.A.Gallego & S. Hollingsworth (Eds.), What counts as literacy: Challenging the school standard (pp. 42–61). New York: Teachers College Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel, M. (2006). Rereading the signs: Multimodal transformations in the field of literacy education. Language Arts, 84(1), 65–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Spolin, V. (1986). Theater games of the classroom: A teacher's handbook. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Viorst, J. (1987). Alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day (2nd ed.). New York: Alladdin Paperbacks

    Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, B. J. (1999/1976). Dorothy Heathcote: Drama as a learning medium (Rev. Ed.). Portsmouth, NH: Heineman

    Google Scholar 

  • Wertsch, J. (1990). The voice of rationality in a sociocultural approach to mind. In L. Moll (Ed.),Vygotsky and education: Instructional implications and applications of sociohistorical psychology (pp. 111–126). Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge University Press

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Kerry-Moran, K.J., Meyer, J.M. (2009). Lighting the Fires Within:. In: Narey, M. (eds) Making Meaning. Educating the Young Child, vol 2. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-87539-2_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics