The teacher as co-creator of drama: a phenomenological study of the experiences and reflections of Irish primary school teachers

Abstract

Classroom drama in the Irish primary school context remains a relatively new endeavour and is largely under-researched. The knowledge base for all aspects of teacher education should be informed by rigorous reflection on teachers’ experiences in the classroom. This paper reports on a phenomenological study conducted with seven Irish primary school teachers which focused on their experiences of co-creating drama with their students. Co-creating drama is held in this work to be the coming together of teacher and students in a collective creative enterprise during the drama lesson. The term proposes a partnership whereby they operate as co-participants and co-artists in the drama experience. The ‘creating’ aspect of co-creating can be considered the artistic enterprise of making drama in a way that is new and unique to the group. In considering the teacher as a potential co-creator of drama, the paper probes the emergent and changing ontological attitudes of the participants throughout the process: the values, attitudes and perspectives that informed their teaching. The paper illuminates the phenomenon of teachers co-creating drama in all its complexity, and seeks to reflect on the meaning of this for the teachers.

Keywords:

• drama education
• co-creating
• primary teachers
• collaboration
• phenomenology

Notes on contributors

Dr Fiona McDonagh completed her PhD at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick in 2014. Her dissertation was entitled: ‘The teacher as co-creator of drama: A phenomenological study’. She is now a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Drama and Theatre Studies at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick, where she teaches on the BA in Contemporary and Applied Theatre Studies. Prior to that, Fiona was the Artistic Director of Cups & Crowns Children’s Theatre Company for over 10 years.

Dr Michael Finneran is a senior lecturer in drama at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. He is currently Director of the BA in Contemporary and Applied Theatre Studies. Prior to that, he held the post of Head of the Department of Arts Education & Physical Education. Michael is reviews editor and a member of the editorial board of RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre & Performance, and he also serves on the review and advisory boards of Applied Theatre Research and NJ. He was academic director for the 7th IDiERI (International Drama in Education Research Institute), held in Limerick in July 2012. Michael is co-editor of Drama and Social Justice: Theory, research and practice in international contexts (Routledge, 2016) and co-editor of Education and Theatres – Innovation, Outreach and Success, forthcoming from Springer in 2017.

Notes

1. The ‘I’ and number for example Anne (I3) refers to the interview number in a series of three (three interventions). All participants were allocated a pseudonym in the study.