Creative Collaborations Through Inclusive Theatre And Community Based Learning

Winner of the 2018 AATE Distinguished Book Award! In this book, the authors share stories of creative, community based collaborations to illustrate how educators can use the arts to expand creative thinking and promote social justice beyond the classroom. Using their work in theatre classrooms as a central point, examples of innovative, inclusive programs designed to inspire learning for people of diverse abilities are presented. Through this examination, Kramer and Fask reveal the excitement, challenges, and unexpected surprises that come along with implementing a creative approach to learning.

Applied Theatre with Youth is a collection of essays that highlight the value and efficacy of applied theatre with young people in a broad range of settings, addressing challenges and offering concrete solutions. This book tackles the vital issues of our time—including, among others, racism, climate crisis, gun violence, immigration, and gender—fostering dialogue, promoting education, and inciting social change. The book is divided into thematic sections, each opening with an essay addressing a range of questions about the benefits, challenges, and learning opportunities of a particular type of applied theatre. These are followed by response essays from theatre practitioners, discussing how their own approach aligns with and/or diverges from that of the initial essay. Each section then ends with a moderated roundtable discussion between the essays’ authors, further exploring the themes, issues, and ideas that they have introduced. With its accessible format and clear language, Applied Theatre with Youth is a valuable resource for theatre practitioners and the growing number of theatre companies with education and community engagement programs. Additionally, it provides essential reading for teachers and students in a myriad of fields: education, theatre, civic engagement, criminal justice, sociology, women and gender studies, environmental studies, disability studies, ethnicity and race studies.

Acting Together volume II continues where the first volume left off, presenting more inspiring examples of peacebuilding performances in conflict-ridden regions. Where the first volume emphasizes theater and ritual's potential for resistance and catharsis in the midst of direct violence and in the aftermath of mass violence, the second volume focuses on performance's ability to bridge gaps and create inclusion in the more subtle context of structural violence and social exclusion. Drawing examples from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe, this volume also includes practical recommendations for policy makers, a toolkit for practitioners, and a wealth of resources for artists and educators.

An eclectic mix of art, theatre, dance, politics, experimentation, and ritual, community-based performance has become an increasingly popular art movement in the United States. Forged by the collaborative efforts of professional artists and local residents, this unique field brings performance together with a range of political, cultural, and social projects, such as community-organizing, cultural self-representation, and education. Local Acts presents a long-overdue survey of community-based performance from its early roots, through its flourishing during the politically-turbulent 1960s, to present-day popular culture. Drawing on nine case studies, including groups such as the African American Junebug Productions, the Appalachian Roadside Theater, and the Puerto Rican Teatro Pregones, Jan Cohen-Cruz provides detailed descriptions of performances and processes, first-person stories, and analysis. She shows how the ritual side of these endeavors reinforces a sense of community identification while the aesthetic side enables local residents to transgress cultural norms, to question group habits, and to incorporate a level of craft that makes the work accessible to individuals beyond any one community. The book concludes by exploring how community-based performance transcends even national boundaries, connecting the local United States with international theater and cultural movements.

This edited volume presents interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches to drama and science in education. Drawing on a solid basis of research, it offers theoretical backgrounds, showcases rich examples, and provides evidence of improved student learning and engagement. The chapters explore various connections between drama and science, including: students’ ability to engage with science through drama; dramatising STEM; mutuality and inter-relativity in drama and science; dramatic play-based outdoor activities; and creating embodied, aesthetic and affective learning experiences. The book illustrates how drama education draws upon contemporary issues and their complexity, intertwining with science education in promoting scientific literacy, creativity, and empathetic understandings needed to interpret and respond to the many challenges of our times. Findings throughout the book demonstrate how lessons learned from drama and science education can remain discrete yet when brought together, contribute to deeper, more engaged and transformative student learning.

Partnerships in Education Research provides the epistemological and philosophical basis for engaging with partners in research and discusses many of the practical issues facing researchers such as finding the right research partner, developing partnership protocols, joint planning approaches and creating effective research relationships. The authors also consider the theoretical, ethical and socio-cultural aspects of partnership research and the potential for partnership research to have long lasting effects on educational practice. The book draws on a diverse range of case studies to explore practical issues, methodologies, challenges, and benefits of partnership research in education. Partnerships in Education Research offers a series of principles and models that can be applied to the development of an effective partnership research project.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of Out-of-School Learning documents what the best research has revealed about out-of-school learning: what facilitates or hampers it; where it takes place most effectively; how we can encourage it to develop talents and strengthen communities; and why it matters. Key features include: Approximately 260 articles organized A-to-Z in 2 volumes available in a choice of electronic or print formats. Signed articles, specially commissioned for this work and authored by key figures in the field, conclude with Cross References and Further Readings to guide students to the next step in a research journey. Reader’s Guide groups related articles within broad, thematic areas to make it easy for readers to spot additional relevant articles at a glance. Detailed Index, the Reader’s Guide, and Cross References combine for search-and-browse in the electronic version. Resource Guide points to classic books, journals, and web sites, including those of key associations.

Learning and Mobilising for Community Development introduces the reader to different ways of thinking about, and organising community-based education and training within different settings. Stories from the global south and north illustrate approaches to collective learning and collective action. The book provides not only an insight into the how-to of community-based education and training, but through a range of applications, demonstrates the often unspoken shadow side of the developmental work we undertake. The first section of the book outlines the key elements that underpin effective community-based education and training. It then locates community-based education and training within a broader pedagogical project, by tracing the tradition of transformative learning and education. The second half of the book focuses on stories and practice, distilling the application of theory and frameworks. The practitioners within this book emerge from unique and challenging contexts. From civil resistance in West Papua and youth empowerment in South Africa to financial freedom in Australia, these diverse experiences speak to a common quest for social change and justice.

Providing a critical look at how it is possible for institutions of higher education to go beyond the institutional constraints that plague the neo-liberal university, the authors of this volume explore the powerful role of transformative university-based research and education.