This qualitative study explores challenges and benefits of introducing theater techniques into Higher Education (HE) undergraduate intermediate Italian language classrooms. Drawing on student surveys and reflective essays, the study offers original insights into how collaborative, performance-based activities can result in greater student…

In this study, an in-person simulated role play as a worthwhile approach in preparation for work-integrated learning (WIL) through a theater and reality of the board (TROB) pedagogical model is explored. Students participated in a twelve week, in-semester TROB program, acting out in-person board room positions, such as Chair and Secretary before…

It is widely argued that the arts have a range of cultural, economic, and educational benefits. However, under state austerity arts curricula are devalued in favour of industry skills. To address this gap in arts education, a new type of student focussed informal arts engagement program has emerged. This article draws on a qualitative study of…

This study explores the utility of employing a student-created experiential narrative ePortfolio as a multimodal tool for reflective practice in WIL. It does so by examining a case study situated within the performing arts, where WIL discourses are rarely adopted, and few examples are present in the literature. This paper introduces a circular…

Pre-service drama teachers enter teacher training with established ideas and beliefs about teaching. These beliefs, based on experience, are informed by many hours spent in schools, and the pedagogies--both effective and ineffective--utilised by their teachers. This research explores the influence of some of these prior experiences on pre-service…

Despite the well-documented challenges that artists face in developing and sustaining a viable career, there is ongoing interest and enrolment in higher education programmes in the creative and performing arts. At the same time, extant research demonstrates that a higher education degree does not necessarily lead to enhanced career success for…

An actor from an Australian theatre group, touring American high schools, comments on the group's background, Australian government subsidies for "theatre-in-education," and the role of theatre arts in education. Briefly compares American and Australian students' awareness and attitudes towards theatre. (JMF)

This paper is the result of a research project that set out to document a group of adolescent musicians in a rural Australian secondary school as they wrote and performed their own music. The processes they developed are reflective of a cooperative approach to group composition where upwards of 21 students composed and "jammed" their way…