Research informed teaching and drama: curating the evidence

Recently, there has been a considerable amount of discussion on social media about the nature of evidence informing teacher decisions about learning. These discussions emerged as a result of a post entitled ‘The problem with using scientific evidence in education (why teachers should stop trying to be more like doctors’) (McKnight and Morgan 2019). In a previous editorial for this journal, we reflected on the complexities of educational research and our role in contributing to the discussion asking then, ‘Is it time then to change the game by sharing educational research in new ways? Might we achieve the change we all know is needed, within drama and beyond, by bringing together personal narratives, established research findings and the aesthetic and dynamic qualities of drama and theatre?’ (Dunn and Stinson 2015, 99).

Since its inception, NJ has attempted to share those personal narratives, research processes and results, and critically analyzed examples of practice in an attempt to build a shared community of understanding for drama educators. It is a challenging space. Part of the challenge is to celebrate and share high quality practice and research in a fixed, text-based medium that struggles to document the ephemeral nature of so much of what we do.

This journal is an essential platform for discussion about drama education: what we do; how and why we do it. In the current educational and educational research climate, it is crucial that practitioners and researchers in the field of drama education have opportunities to share their research about the critical and creative work that is being undertaken in schools, in universities, in theatres, and in applied theatre contexts. It is imperative their voices are heard.

We are pleased to share with our readers that our top ten, most read online articles are (in order):

1. Julie Dunn (2016) Demystifying process drama: exploring the why, what, and how (40:2);

2. Una McCabe (2017) The drama in sociodramatic play: implications for curriculum and pedagogy (41:1);

3. Maxine Greene (2011) Releasing the Imagination (34:1);

4. Hala Mreiwed, Mindy R. Carter and Abigail Shabtay (2017) Building classroom community through drama education (41:1),

5. Annette Harden (2015) Privileging drama and dramatic play to support young children’s writing development: a full year study of one early years’ classroom (39:2),

6. Susan Davis (2015) Perezhivanie and the experience of drama, metaxis and meaning-making (39:1),

7. Carol Carter and Richard Sallis (2016) Dialogues of diversity: examining the role of educational drama techniques in affirming diversity and supporting inclusive educational practices in primary schools (40:1),

8. Robyn Gibson (2015) The School Drama program: delivering process drama via a teaching artist (39:1),

9. Kirsten Lambert, Peter R. Wright, Jan Currie and Robin Pascoe (2016) Performativity and creativity in senior secondary drama classrooms (40:1)

10. John Nicholas Saunders and Madonna Stinson (2016) Drama in the Australian national curriculum – the role of advocacy (40:2)

This list highlights the scope of the journal: it includes critical analysis of examples of practice in primary and secondary settings, as well as theoretical discussions and examples of evidence emerging from recent research. It is particularly pleasing to see that NJ is clearly making its mark and the number of ‘reads’ of our recent volumes is growing. We can also claim growing international recognition. In the last 5 years we have published articles from Australia (17), Canada (2), China (1), Finland (1), Ireland (1), New Zealand (5), and UK (1) and this evidence confirms that the reach of the journal continues to grow.

Drama educators juggle many demands (emotional, organizational, relational) on a day-to-day, moment-by-moment basis. The current emphasis on evidence-based practice asks us to critically and authentically research our day-to-day work and the impact that we are making in educational communities. Fortunately, this journal provides a forum where we can find the evidence we seek.

In this issue, Sharon Hogan adds to the discussion about assessment in the secondary drama classroom by sharing some of the research from her newly awarded PhD, a multiple case study. In Social filters shaping student responses to teacher feedback in the secondary drama classroom, she describes and explains the filters that influence student reception of feedback on assessment. This article is an essential read for any educator undertaking assessment in the highly interactive and relational drama classroom as it highlights the importance of classroom ambience, trust, risk and the value of teacher vulnerability.

From Canada, Jan Buley, with her co-authors and pre-service teachers, Scott Yetman and Mitchell McGee-Herrit, draw upon conversations and reflections that occurred after Jan’s classes, and consider how learning in drama has contributed to the deep learning about how to be effective teachers. They propose that their experiences in drama and theatre helped them learn how to ‘pay attention’, to ‘listen’, to ‘step back’, and to ‘ignite imaginations’, indispensable skills in any teacher’s repertoire.

In Australia, Alison Grove O’Grady adds to this discussion by considering the views of five early career drama teachers on what affordances of education in drama may assist learners to ‘make sense of a complex world’. Grove O’Grady connects the ideological positions of teacher and their use of drama as a means of promoting student voice and agency in learning.

Victoria Campbell and Zoe Hogan direct our attention to adult language learning contexts. Working with refugees and asylum-seekers, they draw on the well-established practice of process drama as a means of enhancing second- and additional-language learning to critically appraise the impact of using selected oral traditional tales as pretexts.

Concluding this issue, Taiwo Afolabi reminds us of the urgency for drama educators and applied theatre practitioners to consider the ethics of our practices. In this article, Afolabi, considers an ‘ethics of care’ alongside the implications of interventions, particularly in conflict/post-conflict zones. We are provoked to consider how we may use reflexive processes to enhance our work in contexts where we seek to build hope, empathy, critical thinking and contribute to positive social action.

As I step down as editor of NJ I want to emphasize, once again, the need for our practice to be research-informed. We must continue to critically and thoroughly research our own practice, in nuanced, complex and authentic ways. We owe it to our community to become familiar with, and to share, our research processes so we can be sure that the claims we make are reliable. While the scope of the journal encompasses quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method research, we suggest that many of the innovative qualitative research methodologies are more responsive and appropriate epistemologically when investigating the liminal paradoxes and conditional insights that often accompany practitioner research in the Arts (Ewing 2010). This is my last issue as Managing Editor of NJ. The last seven years have been quite a journey and the role has involved managing many changes. I know I leave the journal in fabulous hands. Sue Davis is taking over the role of Managing Editor and will ably steer the journal through the next stages of the NJ journey. On a personal note, I would like to pass on my sincere gratitude to Robyn Ewing, Associate Editor, and to the Drama Australia leadership for support and professionalism – always!

Cheerio,

Madonna

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Madonna Stinson

Dr Madonna Stinson is Associate Professor in Arts and Drama Education, in the School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith University. She is an experienced teacher, researcher and leader in pedagogical and curriculum innovation in educational contexts (primary, secondary and higher-education). She is currently working on a range of school/community partnership projects that encompass creative and age-effective pedagogies in the early years, and an arts-based curriculum partnership in a Brisbane school with a high proportion of refugee students. In 2018, Dr Stinson was co-chair of the organising committee of the Creativity Summit in Initial Teacher Education.