Session Information
20 SES 09 A, Creativity and Pupil Participation
Paper Session
Contribution
Classroom teaching can never replace the experience gained in an authentic intercultural environment however, the use of applied drama can transform the classroom into a third space, where learning as performative inquiry is possible. This transcultural or liminal third space is co-created by the participants. The working method in question draws on elements of applied drama, intercultural communication and ecological/sociocultural theories of learning, applying them to the educational context of a university classroom. The focus is on the process of learning and not on formal a performance. The entire class is involved and no outside audience exists. Even when certain participants may be looking on as “audience members”, they are not passive spectators but spect-Actors (Boal, 1979), actively engaged in this communal process. The drama unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, built through a series of ‛episodes’ which allow for exploration of various themes and create an interrelated web of meaning. The learners move in and out of the drama world through the guidance of drama conventions and reflection. These may involve different ways of communicating ideas from discussions to nonverbal representations of meaning. Some of the themes addressed are personal values, tolerance of ambiguity, power and justice, the realisation of self and the acceptance of otherness, multiculturalism and plurilingualism. This paper will discuss some findings of ongoing postgraduate critical action research into a cross disciplinary approach to intercultural learning which integrates applied drama, as performative inquiry, and intercultural communication in order to further narrative understanding and “symbolic competence” (Kramsch, 2008). Its aim is to describe how students and their teacher experience this cross disciplinary approach and whether it can have an impact on university students' intercultural learning. A secondary aim is to use this understanding to further develop course curriculum and teaching methods.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
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