In response to our editors ’ call for this special issue on “Mental Illness, ” we begin with an e... more In response to our editors ’ call for this special issue on “Mental Illness, ” we begin with an excerpt from Han Nolan’s novel Crazy (2010). Teen-aged Jason navigates the swirling worlds of his mother’s death, his father’s undiagnosed mental illness, and his own emerging adolescent identity—accompanied by the voices in
He worked slowly and carefully, keenly aware of his danger. Gradually, as the flame grew stronger... more He worked slowly and carefully, keenly aware of his danger. Gradually, as the flame grew stronger, he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it. He squatted in the snow, pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame. He knew there must be no failure. When it is seventy-five below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire—that is, if his feet are wet. If his feet are dry, and he fails, he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation. But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below. No matter how fast he runs, the wet feet will freeze the harder. –Jack London, “To Build a Fire” (1908)
Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor, This map becomes their window and these windows Th... more Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor, This map becomes their window and these windows That shut upon their lives like catacombs, Break O break open ’till they break the town And show the children green fields and make their world Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues Run naked into books, the white and green leaves open History is theirs whose language is the sun. (Stephen Spender Trust 2015)
In an era of multimodality where research says literacies are richly plural and stretch far beyon... more In an era of multimodality where research says literacies are richly plural and stretch far beyond the linguistic and auditory to include the visual, gestural, and spatial, the Socratic dialogue circle, with all its advantages, frames intellect as exclusively in our heads and mouths. Valuable discussion-meaning- making between people-emerges from all sorts of physical and social classroom interactions. One such interaction is a performed, choral interpretation, when a group of students enliven a text orally with movement. For English language arts (ELA) classrooms working on text-based talk, an in-class, choral interpretation of a literary text requires deep individual and social meaning-making and can serve as a scaffold toward whole-class discussion. Catalyzing spoken words with embodied commerce widens the circle of participation and deepens classroom discussion. This dynamic is especially true in classrooms that marginalize English language learners not by cognitive ability, but...
This study is a phenomenological exploration of assessment practices in elementary-level drama ed... more This study is a phenomenological exploration of assessment practices in elementary-level drama education. Through analysis of interviews with fourteen drama educators, it describes how elementary drama teachers conceptualize assessment in theory and practice. Specifically, it discusses teachers’ explicit definitions of assessment; the content matter they assess (and do not assess); their expectations for student performance; and the scaffolded, iterative, and formative nature of much assessment practice. The study recommends specific policy reforms at the state, district, and school levels related to ensuring appropriate assessment measures are implemented and supported; promoting teacher agency in assessment development; and increasing student access to quality drama education at the elementary level.
ABSTRACT In this article, we narrate a self-study that emerged through a collaborative, arts-base... more ABSTRACT In this article, we narrate a self-study that emerged through a collaborative, arts-based inquiry around Latinx diversity, especially those arising from citizenship status at the individual and family level. Coming from distinct professional educational landscapes (theatre/drama education, middle/secondary education, and elementary education), we worked inter-disciplinarily to orchestrate a series of workshops for a cohort of elementary teacher education candidates. Our specific focus was rooted in the meanings that applied theatre teaching strategies suggested for us as teacher educators and for the teacher candidates we prepare to teach in schools. We also sought implications that might cultivate broader critical discourses within and across teacher education about diversity. Our blending of self-study with arts-based pedagogies was a purposeful effort to expand our students’ and our own professional subjectivities by disrupting xenophobic and racialized public discourse about national borders using play-based strategies to foster risk and generativity.
Teaching English Language Arts to English Language Learners, 2016
Contemporary “humanizing” English Language Arts (ELA) classroom pedagogies emphasize teacher mind... more Contemporary “humanizing” English Language Arts (ELA) classroom pedagogies emphasize teacher mindfulness of the lived experiences of diverse learners and how those experiences are represented in culturally and linguistically complex ELA instruction (de la Piedra, J Adolesc Adult Lit 53(7):575–584, 2010; del Carmen Salazar, Rev Res Educ 37(1):121–148, 2013; Lucas et al., J Teach Educ 59(4):361–373, 2008; Paris, Language across difference: Ethnicity, communication, and youth identities in changing urban schools. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011; Souto-Manning, Engl Educ 42(3):248–262, 2010). This chapter describes the potential of young adult literature (YAL) for engaging English language learners (ELLs) and their peers in issues of class, culture, language, and race/ethnicity. Through a series of additive instructional frames this chapter explores generative possibilities of consciously leveraging the lived experiences of diverse learners in humanizing ways.
What events, patterns, or people have shaped the field or marked its milestones since Youth Theat... more What events, patterns, or people have shaped the field or marked its milestones since Youth Theatre Journal’s (YTJ’s) first issue in 1986? We put the call out to YTJ readers, this rich array of ent...
Abstract One of the 16 core beliefs of middle level thinking is that schools and families must wo... more Abstract One of the 16 core beliefs of middle level thinking is that schools and families must work together on behalf of every young adolescent (National Middle School Association, 2010). However, in classrooms and on curriculum nights, communication emerges as a critical issue. This is especially true when it comes to teachers’ interacting with Latino immigrant newcomer families. That is to say, in our regional context, the vast majority of middle level educators and administrators are monolingual English speakers; they themselves often see their monolingualism/culturalism as a stumbling block for communicating caring to Latino parents and the trust such caring generates. A recurring question we encounter in our various teacher education courses and on-site with our partners is: “How can teachers and institutions demonstrate a language and practice of caring in situations when they do not necessarily speak the same language?” Drawing from intercultural communication theory, we outline two over-arching intercultural communication principles that can be leveraged for communicating our interconnectedness and interdependence within and beyond increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse schooling contexts. Our intent here is more than to argue that we should care. Rather, we hope to provide practitioners with concrete intercultural “moves” for initiating the safe, productive learning spaces where Latino newcomer families can engage in the collaborative work of schools
This book speaks directly to actors working solo or in groups, as if Flacks is teaching them pers... more This book speaks directly to actors working solo or in groups, as if Flacks is teaching them personally. In this relationship with performers, the author offers some very fresh insights into actors’ eternal struggles. Of these, the most intriguing is the question of what to do with hands. Of all the specific psycho-physical scenarios covered, this one is the most immediately adaptable to the actors’ toolkit. She discusses the problem of too much relaxation in contemporary acting training, which has replaced overly melodramatic Delsartian gesturing with limply hanging hands. Here, Flacks most ingeniously demonstrates the mind/body tug of war as she discusses the instinctive responses of the hands—first from danger, then from other, more subtle stimuli as the extremities become very active. Amusingly, with her embrace of big gestures, she disposes of one of the time-honored rules of acting: “Never indicate!” One can almost hear the glee in her voice as she states: “In life we ‘indicate’ like mad!” (107).
This article examines the assessment terrains and processes employed formally and informally by a... more This article examines the assessment terrains and processes employed formally and informally by a theatre-focused group of adults adapting and performing children’s original writing as plays for young audiences through a project called YOUR Stories on Stage. The journey of three anchor child-written exemplars from original form through screening into script then onto rehearsal and performance is chronicled and questioned to help articulate specific ways a theatre lens on children’s writing finds strengths and assets in the work, with particular attention to elements of multimodal literacy (Cope and Kalantzis 2009; Jewitt and Kress 2003). The same three pieces of writing are also analyzed with the well-established criteria of six-traits writing analysis (Spandel 2012) used widely in various forms by classroom teachers, school systems, and testing organizations. Complementary and contrasting patterns are identified and discussed with findings pointing to echoed connections between the two approaches, particularly in the areas of voice and word choice. A need for a wider range of assessments used in writing and literacy instruction is highlighted, including those assessments of artistic elements alone and in relation to narrow views of literacy as reading and writing.
For two years, I studied three teachers using drama as a tool for teaching and learning in their ... more For two years, I studied three teachers using drama as a tool for teaching and learning in their classrooms. The K-3 (K-5 in the second year of the study) school, McDowell Elementary (all names are pseudonyms to preserve anonymity) belonged to a large urban district in a major Southeastern city whose population was 74% African American, 15% Caucasian, 10% Asian, and 1% Latino. Over 80% of the students qualified for the federal free-or-reduced lunch program. The drama program was fully funded by an area church with support from a local children's theatre, as part of a philanthropic program "to enrich the lives o f . . . inner-city children both academically and artistically." The three focus teachers, Geri (kindergarten), Janine (third grade), and Lane (first grade), willingly collaborated with me as I taught with them and reflected on our collaborations. The school, Geri and Lane, as well as many children and colleagues were familiar to me as I had been the drama specialist at McDowell two years earlier. The larger research study on which this article draws is a narrative case study using ethnomethodological and phenomenological methods. Each case shared here tells a unique story; collectively they represent a significant range of teacher perceptions and interpretations of classroom drama that I saw over the two years of the study.
In response to our editors ’ call for this special issue on “Mental Illness, ” we begin with an e... more In response to our editors ’ call for this special issue on “Mental Illness, ” we begin with an excerpt from Han Nolan’s novel Crazy (2010). Teen-aged Jason navigates the swirling worlds of his mother’s death, his father’s undiagnosed mental illness, and his own emerging adolescent identity—accompanied by the voices in
He worked slowly and carefully, keenly aware of his danger. Gradually, as the flame grew stronger... more He worked slowly and carefully, keenly aware of his danger. Gradually, as the flame grew stronger, he increased the size of the twigs with which he fed it. He squatted in the snow, pulling the twigs out from their entanglement in the brush and feeding directly to the flame. He knew there must be no failure. When it is seventy-five below zero, a man must not fail in his first attempt to build a fire—that is, if his feet are wet. If his feet are dry, and he fails, he can run along the trail for half a mile and restore his circulation. But the circulation of wet and freezing feet cannot be restored by running when it is seventy-five below. No matter how fast he runs, the wet feet will freeze the harder. –Jack London, “To Build a Fire” (1908)
Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor, This map becomes their window and these windows Th... more Unless, governor, teacher, inspector, visitor, This map becomes their window and these windows That shut upon their lives like catacombs, Break O break open ’till they break the town And show the children green fields and make their world Run azure on gold sands, and let their tongues Run naked into books, the white and green leaves open History is theirs whose language is the sun. (Stephen Spender Trust 2015)
In an era of multimodality where research says literacies are richly plural and stretch far beyon... more In an era of multimodality where research says literacies are richly plural and stretch far beyond the linguistic and auditory to include the visual, gestural, and spatial, the Socratic dialogue circle, with all its advantages, frames intellect as exclusively in our heads and mouths. Valuable discussion-meaning- making between people-emerges from all sorts of physical and social classroom interactions. One such interaction is a performed, choral interpretation, when a group of students enliven a text orally with movement. For English language arts (ELA) classrooms working on text-based talk, an in-class, choral interpretation of a literary text requires deep individual and social meaning-making and can serve as a scaffold toward whole-class discussion. Catalyzing spoken words with embodied commerce widens the circle of participation and deepens classroom discussion. This dynamic is especially true in classrooms that marginalize English language learners not by cognitive ability, but...
This study is a phenomenological exploration of assessment practices in elementary-level drama ed... more This study is a phenomenological exploration of assessment practices in elementary-level drama education. Through analysis of interviews with fourteen drama educators, it describes how elementary drama teachers conceptualize assessment in theory and practice. Specifically, it discusses teachers’ explicit definitions of assessment; the content matter they assess (and do not assess); their expectations for student performance; and the scaffolded, iterative, and formative nature of much assessment practice. The study recommends specific policy reforms at the state, district, and school levels related to ensuring appropriate assessment measures are implemented and supported; promoting teacher agency in assessment development; and increasing student access to quality drama education at the elementary level.
ABSTRACT In this article, we narrate a self-study that emerged through a collaborative, arts-base... more ABSTRACT In this article, we narrate a self-study that emerged through a collaborative, arts-based inquiry around Latinx diversity, especially those arising from citizenship status at the individual and family level. Coming from distinct professional educational landscapes (theatre/drama education, middle/secondary education, and elementary education), we worked inter-disciplinarily to orchestrate a series of workshops for a cohort of elementary teacher education candidates. Our specific focus was rooted in the meanings that applied theatre teaching strategies suggested for us as teacher educators and for the teacher candidates we prepare to teach in schools. We also sought implications that might cultivate broader critical discourses within and across teacher education about diversity. Our blending of self-study with arts-based pedagogies was a purposeful effort to expand our students’ and our own professional subjectivities by disrupting xenophobic and racialized public discourse about national borders using play-based strategies to foster risk and generativity.
Teaching English Language Arts to English Language Learners, 2016
Contemporary “humanizing” English Language Arts (ELA) classroom pedagogies emphasize teacher mind... more Contemporary “humanizing” English Language Arts (ELA) classroom pedagogies emphasize teacher mindfulness of the lived experiences of diverse learners and how those experiences are represented in culturally and linguistically complex ELA instruction (de la Piedra, J Adolesc Adult Lit 53(7):575–584, 2010; del Carmen Salazar, Rev Res Educ 37(1):121–148, 2013; Lucas et al., J Teach Educ 59(4):361–373, 2008; Paris, Language across difference: Ethnicity, communication, and youth identities in changing urban schools. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011; Souto-Manning, Engl Educ 42(3):248–262, 2010). This chapter describes the potential of young adult literature (YAL) for engaging English language learners (ELLs) and their peers in issues of class, culture, language, and race/ethnicity. Through a series of additive instructional frames this chapter explores generative possibilities of consciously leveraging the lived experiences of diverse learners in humanizing ways.
What events, patterns, or people have shaped the field or marked its milestones since Youth Theat... more What events, patterns, or people have shaped the field or marked its milestones since Youth Theatre Journal’s (YTJ’s) first issue in 1986? We put the call out to YTJ readers, this rich array of ent...
Abstract One of the 16 core beliefs of middle level thinking is that schools and families must wo... more Abstract One of the 16 core beliefs of middle level thinking is that schools and families must work together on behalf of every young adolescent (National Middle School Association, 2010). However, in classrooms and on curriculum nights, communication emerges as a critical issue. This is especially true when it comes to teachers’ interacting with Latino immigrant newcomer families. That is to say, in our regional context, the vast majority of middle level educators and administrators are monolingual English speakers; they themselves often see their monolingualism/culturalism as a stumbling block for communicating caring to Latino parents and the trust such caring generates. A recurring question we encounter in our various teacher education courses and on-site with our partners is: “How can teachers and institutions demonstrate a language and practice of caring in situations when they do not necessarily speak the same language?” Drawing from intercultural communication theory, we outline two over-arching intercultural communication principles that can be leveraged for communicating our interconnectedness and interdependence within and beyond increasingly culturally and linguistically diverse schooling contexts. Our intent here is more than to argue that we should care. Rather, we hope to provide practitioners with concrete intercultural “moves” for initiating the safe, productive learning spaces where Latino newcomer families can engage in the collaborative work of schools
This book speaks directly to actors working solo or in groups, as if Flacks is teaching them pers... more This book speaks directly to actors working solo or in groups, as if Flacks is teaching them personally. In this relationship with performers, the author offers some very fresh insights into actors’ eternal struggles. Of these, the most intriguing is the question of what to do with hands. Of all the specific psycho-physical scenarios covered, this one is the most immediately adaptable to the actors’ toolkit. She discusses the problem of too much relaxation in contemporary acting training, which has replaced overly melodramatic Delsartian gesturing with limply hanging hands. Here, Flacks most ingeniously demonstrates the mind/body tug of war as she discusses the instinctive responses of the hands—first from danger, then from other, more subtle stimuli as the extremities become very active. Amusingly, with her embrace of big gestures, she disposes of one of the time-honored rules of acting: “Never indicate!” One can almost hear the glee in her voice as she states: “In life we ‘indicate’ like mad!” (107).
This article examines the assessment terrains and processes employed formally and informally by a... more This article examines the assessment terrains and processes employed formally and informally by a theatre-focused group of adults adapting and performing children’s original writing as plays for young audiences through a project called YOUR Stories on Stage. The journey of three anchor child-written exemplars from original form through screening into script then onto rehearsal and performance is chronicled and questioned to help articulate specific ways a theatre lens on children’s writing finds strengths and assets in the work, with particular attention to elements of multimodal literacy (Cope and Kalantzis 2009; Jewitt and Kress 2003). The same three pieces of writing are also analyzed with the well-established criteria of six-traits writing analysis (Spandel 2012) used widely in various forms by classroom teachers, school systems, and testing organizations. Complementary and contrasting patterns are identified and discussed with findings pointing to echoed connections between the two approaches, particularly in the areas of voice and word choice. A need for a wider range of assessments used in writing and literacy instruction is highlighted, including those assessments of artistic elements alone and in relation to narrow views of literacy as reading and writing.
For two years, I studied three teachers using drama as a tool for teaching and learning in their ... more For two years, I studied three teachers using drama as a tool for teaching and learning in their classrooms. The K-3 (K-5 in the second year of the study) school, McDowell Elementary (all names are pseudonyms to preserve anonymity) belonged to a large urban district in a major Southeastern city whose population was 74% African American, 15% Caucasian, 10% Asian, and 1% Latino. Over 80% of the students qualified for the federal free-or-reduced lunch program. The drama program was fully funded by an area church with support from a local children's theatre, as part of a philanthropic program "to enrich the lives o f . . . inner-city children both academically and artistically." The three focus teachers, Geri (kindergarten), Janine (third grade), and Lane (first grade), willingly collaborated with me as I taught with them and reflected on our collaborations. The school, Geri and Lane, as well as many children and colleagues were familiar to me as I had been the drama specialist at McDowell two years earlier. The larger research study on which this article draws is a narrative case study using ethnomethodological and phenomenological methods. Each case shared here tells a unique story; collectively they represent a significant range of teacher perceptions and interpretations of classroom drama that I saw over the two years of the study.
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