Playing With Uncertainty: Dramatic Improvisation to Explore Social Identity and Difference in Teacher Education

• In Event: Robust Teacher Learning Experiences: Curating Collaboration, Reflection, and Improvisation

Abstract

This ethnographic case study investigates students’ uncertainties around issues relevant to teaching across lines of sociocultural difference in the context of a semester-long course of practicing dramatic improvisation. In response to unanticipated events during improvisatory exercises and scenes, students expressed uncertainties concerning how to deploy various dimensions of their social identities (e.g., gender, cultural, ethnic or linguistic heritage) and imaginatively embody characters across lines of sociocultural difference. Additionally, students wondered how to balance improvisatory play and critical reflection, and how difficult emotions might be explored through embodied activity in the classroom. These findings contribute to research and practice developing educators’ capacity to engage with the unknown through improv-infused teaching or other means while seeking educational justice for marginalized learners.

Authors

• Laura Carter-Stone, Vanderbilt University

• Kevin M Leander, Vanderbilt University