INTRODUCTIONfabric of each chapter. “You try it, too,” <strong>the</strong> authors seem to be say<strong>in</strong>g. Try it for<strong>the</strong> joy of <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>tense student <strong>in</strong>volvement, communication, and self-confidence<strong>drama</strong> delivers. But try it, as well, for <strong>the</strong> cognitive and social skills and <strong>the</strong>perceptions and empathy it <strong>in</strong>spires.In press<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>ir rationale for <strong>drama</strong>’s goals as a compell<strong>in</strong>g <strong>teach<strong>in</strong>g</strong> andlearn<strong>in</strong>g medium, <strong>the</strong> manual’s authors affirm what many researchers havediscovered about <strong>the</strong> range of skills supported by educational <strong>drama</strong> throughobservations of <strong>drama</strong> practice <strong>in</strong> <strong>classroom</strong>s and o<strong>the</strong>r venues (Wagner, 1998;Brown and Pleydell, 1999; Grady, 2000; Anderson, Cameron, and Carroll, 2009).Much like claims made <strong>in</strong> this book, research evidence asserts that, among o<strong>the</strong>rabilities, participation <strong>in</strong> <strong>drama</strong> activity encourages students and teachers to:− <strong>in</strong>tegrate concepts, skills, and ideas from various subject areas, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>gsocial students, ma<strong>the</strong>matics, science, and literacy;− ga<strong>in</strong> an understand<strong>in</strong>g of real world events from <strong>the</strong> past and <strong>the</strong> present, <strong>the</strong><strong>in</strong>dividuals who shaped <strong>the</strong>se events, and <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividuals who may <strong>in</strong>fluence<strong>the</strong>m <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> future;− develop read<strong>in</strong>g comprehension skills by enter<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> world of a text throughrole play<strong>in</strong>g, <strong>in</strong>teract<strong>in</strong>g with o<strong>the</strong>rs, visualiz<strong>in</strong>g events, concepts, and <strong>in</strong>formation,and <strong>drama</strong>tiz<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> experiences of fictional characters and real-life<strong>in</strong>dividuals;− produce written works <strong>in</strong> a variety of contexts for different audiencesthat demonstrate <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g technical skill, self-confidence, and effectivemanagement of multimodal and electronic texts;− discover and scrut<strong>in</strong>ize ethical aspects of social issues such as equity, socialjustice, citizenship, civil rights, bigotry, bully<strong>in</strong>g, and o<strong>the</strong>r forms ofantisocial behavior and <strong>the</strong>ir reversals from various po<strong>in</strong>ts of view;− generate and use spoken, written, visual, and multimodal texts that demonstrate<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g fluency <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> way of vivid description, sensory details, andeffective persuasive and self-reflective writ<strong>in</strong>g;− understand and develop compassion for o<strong>the</strong>rs’ representations of ideas, values,beliefs, experiences, and life conditions –from literary characters andchallenged <strong>in</strong>dividuals to historical figures);− acquire critical th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g skills <strong>in</strong> terms of exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g, question<strong>in</strong>g, and perhapschalleng<strong>in</strong>g social practices and <strong>the</strong> language, actions, and beliefs thatdrive <strong>the</strong>se practices, and <strong>in</strong>vestigat<strong>in</strong>g and evaluat<strong>in</strong>g texts concern<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>irmanner of represent<strong>in</strong>g certa<strong>in</strong> people, groups, and notions of reality;− ga<strong>in</strong> social skills through group problem solv<strong>in</strong>g, listen<strong>in</strong>g to differ<strong>in</strong>gviews, respect<strong>in</strong>g, weigh<strong>in</strong>g, and perhaps act<strong>in</strong>g on ano<strong>the</strong>r’s proposals, andexpress<strong>in</strong>g empathy and compassion; and− develop appreciation for <strong>the</strong> art of <strong>drama</strong> and <strong>the</strong>ater.In an era when educators are too often obliged to sacrifice <strong>the</strong> aes<strong>the</strong>tic andmoral aims of education to only those manifestations of learn<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>teach<strong>in</strong>g</strong>that can be quantified, scored, and tabulated, it’s <strong>in</strong>vigorat<strong>in</strong>g to come across atext that offers educators sound advice from <strong>the</strong> practice of professionals like7
ANTHONY MANNA<strong>the</strong>mselves. They are, after all, a group of professionals that has discoveredvalid and reliable strategies for unlock<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>herent creativity of studentsand channel<strong>in</strong>g that power <strong>in</strong>to a dynamic process that has all <strong>the</strong> potential tomake learn<strong>in</strong>g enjoyable and memorable. Welcome to Teach<strong>in</strong>g Drama <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>Classroom: A Toolbox for Teachers!REFERENCESAnderson, M., Cameron, D., & Carroll, J. (2009). Drama education with digital technology. NewYork: Cont<strong>in</strong>uum.Brown, V. & Pleydell, S. (1999). The <strong>drama</strong>tic difference: Drama <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> preschool and k<strong>in</strong>dergarten<strong>classroom</strong>. Portsmouth, NH: He<strong>in</strong>emann.Grady, S. (2000). Drama and diversity: A pluralistic perspective for educational <strong>drama</strong>. Portsmouth,NH: He<strong>in</strong>emann.Ravitch, D. (2010). The death and life of <strong>the</strong> great American school system: How test<strong>in</strong>g and choiceare underm<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g education. New York: Basic Books.Rob<strong>in</strong>son, K. (2001). Out of our m<strong>in</strong>ds: Learn<strong>in</strong>g to be creative. Chichester, West Sussex: Capstone.Wagner, B. J. (1998). Educational <strong>drama</strong> and language arts: What research shows. Portsmouth, NH:He<strong>in</strong>emann.8
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