Asserts that there is a need for more empirical research in the area of theatre for young audiences. Discusses myths about empirical research. (MS)

Synthesizes teachers' evaluations of university productions of theater for children from 1977 to 1995 by analyzing emergent themes and common factors among teachers' perceptions across play content. Compares teachers' interpretations of their students' experiences with children's responses to selected plays to help explain similar and discrepant…

Describes a four-hour drama session, held one hour for each of four weeks, in which 15 girls and one boy ages six through eight participated with 17 college participant observers in a 1991 Children and Drama course, during which a drama teacher came to a "different" playmaking process, guiding children to direct their own dramas, without…

Some parents fear that what their children learn in school theatre programs departs from family values. School theatre proponents have opened a Pandora's box by promoting theatre's potential to teach, rather than focusing solely on its aesthetic goals. Both sides in the theatre censorship controversy share the misperception that theatre causes…

A study explored perceived reality and developmental differences in viewing theater. Subjects, 33 second graders, 33 fourth graders, 23 sixth graders, and 23 college students viewed a production of "This Is Not a Pipe Dream," a non-representational play based on biographical facts about the early life and work of the surrealist painter…

Describes the theater arts teacher education program at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. Asserts that "connected teaching," in which individual teachers and their students are colearners, forms the foundation for the program. Includes an appendix listing current Kansas standards for certification of drama teachers. (CFR)