Drama Boreale - Åbo Akademi

In the third and final phase with experiments dramaturgy was not used as specific
models, but aspects of the dramaturgical models were used in two experiments.
Dramaturgy is rarely used according to “pure” models, but rather are different aspects of
models chosen in an eclectic way. This makes the learning process more complicated to
analyse, because the combination of different dramaturgies implies combination of
different epistemologies and learning strategies. Two schools, two teachers and 35 pupils
participated in the third phase. The research methods in use for gathering data were
observation, tests and interviews.
The experiments in the third phase were done in accordance with the teacher priorities
within a) the syllabus in the different subjects (social studies, science and mathematics),
and because of b) specific problems with the learning climate in the two classes
involved.
In one of the classes the teacher wanted a project about Galileo Galilei, and the teacher
wanted to use dramaturgy in order to create a specific learning process. This teacher
wanted a learning process that was rewarding both to both high achieving pupils (but
bored of school; mostly girls), the majority of ordinary pupils, but not so bored of school
(both boys and girls), and pupils that were low achieving, and bored of school (mostly
boys).
The second teacher wanted to create a similar learning situation in mathematics, i.e. a
creative process that is not just adapted to ordinary and low achieving pupils, but that
might also be rewarding to the high achieving. In the first class I as participating action
reseracher created a drama about Galilei and the inquisition, according to the aims of the
curriculum, using physical experiments, the convention teacher-in-role, and some more
or less conventional methods. I carried out the teaching and was leading the learning
process, while the teacher was observing it, and assisted with video-documentation and
offered some technical support (sound effects, etc.).
In the other class the teacher did all the planning, and she also carried out the teaching
and supervised the learning process. I observed the experiment and documented it on
video tape. The teacher wanted to examine if, or how, simultaneous dramaturgy might be
composed and carried out in order to create a rewarding learning process for both high
achieving and low achieving pupils. In the following paragraph I will concentrate on the
Galilei experiment and a description and analysis of the third phase of the project.
Before the analysis I present my theoretical framework connected to the concept
dramaturgy.
Dramaturgy and learning
Dramaturgy is traditionally understood as the technique or poetics of dramatic art which
formulates principles for how a drama is composed or structured. In late modernity
dramaturgy is more often understood as an ‘art of telling and performing’, and may
therefore be used in the composition and presentation of news, politics, teaching,
demonstrations, religious ceremonies, military operations, architecture, etc. 4 All teaching
and learning has an element of composition, presentation and communication. Therefore,
it is meaningful to examine how the concept dramaturgy can be applied in school, and
how it can contribute to improve the repertoire of teachers with a focus on teaching and
learning processes. I understand dramaturgy in teaching and learning processes as a
4 See Olav Njaastad’s use of the term in relation to journalism (Njaastad 2004: 172), and the article
‘Dramaturgy and Architecture’ in Dramaturgy. A User’s Guide, London: Central School of Speech
and Drama
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