Argues that the physical and emotional experience of performing on stage is an opportunity for young female performers to gain knowledge about their gender identities. Maintains that physical learning of gendered "acts" may be part of the crisis many young women encounter in adolescence and that such "acts" can take place on…

Presents a rationale for viewing theatre as a form of education, and looks at several different ideas for why and how drama should be taught; considers what types of skills children should acquire from a theatre class, and whether drama should focus on the internal, subjective experience of theatre, or the external mechanics of it. (JC)

Indicates that informal classroom drama is not widely used on a regular basis in the eight metropolitan school districts studied. Reports that 20 building principals interviewed cited curriculum load, lack of support from various sources, and teacher training as the most significant reasons that their schools did not do more informal drama. (JD)

Examines C. Chorpenning's 1940 children's play and compares it with S. Zeder's 1983 children's play. Reveals how the plays are deeply embedded in dominant cultural attitudes of their time and in historically situated models of female adolescence and yet are resistant to these same narratives. Discusses how they have contributed, positively and…

Describes how the author used "democratic" directing methods in her after-school play rehearsals of Shakespeare to help high school students navigate the shifting space between their own creative freedom and the conventional confines of a public high school. Details her use of unorthodox rehearsal strategies involving student…

Describes the Dutch national system of creativity centers. Notes that these centers promote arts education by providing continuing education in the arts to the general public, by supporting in-school programs and by offering in-service programs for teachers. (MM)

Reviews the goals of drama/theater education set forth by the National Theatre Education Project. Provides an overview of the knowledge and skills teachers need to teach theater and drama in elementary and secondary schools. (MM)

Offers guidelines for working with deaf actors and sign language interpreters. Contains useful information for directors wanting to cast deaf actors in roles of deaf characters and to include sign language-interpreted performances of some of their regular productions. (JD)

Uses semantic differential to assess specific and global attitudes of children toward the theater experience. Shows that the semantic differential can be used with fifth grade children. (SR)

Discusses four trends in the field of children's theatre: (1) international exchanges of performances; (2) the unification of arts associations and emphasis on advocacy; (3) television's seemingly new awareness of youth and implementation of high quality, substantial programs; and (4) corporate involvement with education. (MS)

Examines five versions of the Cinderella story. Argues that children's fairy tale drama presents female beauty as a moral absolute, not merely as a physical characteristic. Cites feminist theories of the female body to demonstrate ways in which fairy tale drama establishes female beauty as an unchanging, "universal" concept. Considers…

Surveys elementary and secondary teachers who are members of the American Alliance for Theater and Education on their efforts to highlight the experiences of specific ethnic groups through theatre productions and their use of classroom drama. Discusses this multiethnic infusion in terms of teacher actions, teacher goals, teacher concerns,…

Responds to "Toward Civilization, A Report on Arts Education" by the National Endowment for the Arts, published in May, 1988. Examines implications of the report for drama education as part of the curriculum in elementary school, focusing on the purposes of understanding civilization and developing aesthetic literacy in drama. (MM)

Shows that, because the school administration did not recognize the need for team building, a group of four magnet theater teachers did not form an effective group. Discusses how unresolved task, procedural, and interpersonal conflicts, and a lack of confidence in themselves as theater professionals also prevented the formation of an effective…

Describes how the author facilitates drama experiences in the foundations of education courses that she teaches for preservice teachers. Suggests the course helps students gain an understanding of the philosophies of education, the rationale for arts in the curriculum, as well as multiple perspectives of dramatic art, by learning through…