Acting, Representation and Role

In this article, the author proposes a re-evaluation of the activity of teacher-in-role. She identifies significant changes in the field of Drama in Education, and the recent publications that have sought redefinitions and fresh perspectives. The widely held reluctance to identify drama educative practices as theatre, for example, has given way to a more embracing notion of the word 'theatre' which encompasses a range of practices, including classroom drama. Bolton has recently proposed that what the children are doing in improvisation may be classified as 'acting behaviour', but teacherin-role has still not been reconsidered. A broad sweep of literature on teacher-in-role is examined against an analysis of the terms 'acting', 'representation' and 'role' as they are used in theatre contexts. Descriptions of teacher-in-role are compared to descriptions of acting, and the author argues that with a broader concept of acting emerging in theatre and performance, it is difficult to maintain notions of teacher-in-role as director and playwright, but not actor.