Early Career Teachers' Conceptions of Drama/Theater Arts: Opportunities and Promising Practices in Diverse Classrooms

• In Event: Novel Approaches to Teacher Learning

Abstract

Although standards guide arts education, arts coursework is not available in all schools. Equal access for students may depend on teachers’ initiatives in arts-into-curricula integration, often guided by teacher preparation--also unequally distributed across programs. We spotlight how one partnership program focused on drama/theater arts enrolled 24 non-arts teachers across grades and subjects in a yearlong academy. Drawing upon in-service teachers’ reflections and classroom inquiries, we mapped teachers’ drama conceptions and practices in three interactive tiers: foundational, core literacies, critical literacies. We illustrate themes, including practices of a Mexican-American/Chicana fourth-grade early-career teacher with culturally/linguistically diverse students. The study informs efforts to incorporate drama, as one generative arts field--also illustrating ways to advance teacher preparation/development in arts education.

Authors

• Sergio L. Sanchez, University of California - Davis

• Steven Z. Athanases, University of California - Davis

• Ofir L. Cahalan, University of California - Davis

• Julia Houk, University of California - Davis