A global blueprint for arts-integrated education that turns schools into laboratories of transformation and collective growth.
How can drama and the arts reshape classrooms, empower teachers, and foster meaningful learning? Drama for Schools and Beyond: Transformative Learning Through the Arts explores two decades of research and practice from the Drama for Schools professional development model at The University of Texas at Austin. Through real-world stories, critical reflections, and global case studies, the authors reveal how arts integration can create more equitable, engaged, and inquiry-driven educational spaces.
This work is both a practical guide and a call to action for educators, teaching artists, and administrators seeking to transform learning environments. By centering collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, it challenges readers to examine their roles in shaping the future of education. Suitable for those invested in humane, democratic, and arts-based approaches to teaching, Drama for Schools and Beyond proves that learning through the arts is not just an enhancement—it’s a revolution.
How can drama and the arts reshape classrooms, empower teachers, and foster meaningful learning? Drama for Schools and Beyond: Transformative Learning Through the Arts explores two decades of research and practice from the Drama for Schools professional development model at The University of Texas at Austin. Through real-world stories, critical reflections, and global case studies, the authors reveal how arts integration can create more equitable, engaged, and inquiry-driven educational spaces.
This work is both a practical guide and a call to action for educators, teaching artists, and administrators seeking to transform learning environments. By centering collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking, it challenges readers to examine their roles in shaping the future of education. Suitable for those invested in humane, democratic, and arts-based approaches to teaching, Drama for Schools and Beyond proves that learning through the arts is not just an enhancement—it’s a revolution.
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Foreword
Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor
Acknowledgments
Authors’ Note
Introduction
PART I: DRAMA FOR SCHOOLS
1. What is Drama for Schools?
2. Planting Seeds, Establishing Roots: Drama for Schools Alaska
Kathryn Dawson
3. Transformative Professional Learning in Arts Integration
PART II: THREE STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION IN TEXAS
Part II: Introduction
4. Systems Change Transformation Story (Where)
Stephanie Cawthon and Kathryn Dawson
5. Constructivism Transformation Story (How)
Kathryn Dawson and Stephanie Cawthon
6. Social Justice Transformation Story (Why)
Beth Link, Lara Dossett, and Kathryn Dawson
Conclusion
PART III: TEACHERS TRANSFORMING EDUCATION FROM WITHIN
Part III: Introduction
7. Teachers as Researchers
It’s not about knowing
Lauren Smith
DBP in the collegiate foreign language classroom: From first encounter to online improv
Devon Donohue-Bergeler
You have all the tools you need: How DBP can strengthen and reframe participatory action research
Ally Tufenkjian
8. Teachers as Artists
Dialogue across difference: Global conversations on teacher identity and the ethics of care
Beth Link and Bindi MacGill
Disrupting hegemonic classroom culture with autobiographical playbuilding
Sarah Coleman
Teaching artists: The heART of creative body-based learning
Kerrin Rowlands and Eliza Lovell
9. Teachers as Collaborators
Collaborative pedagogy: Rethinking STEM teaching with drama-based practices
Khristian Mendez Aguirre and Jen Moon
Teacher professional learning through DBP in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alma Žero, Milica Jošic-Milinovic, and Kate Proietti
Learning when to bend the rules
Bridget Kiger Lee and Brian C. Fahey
10. Teachers as Agents of Change
Drama-based pedagogy: Radical acts of hope through the arts
Tamara Goldbogen
Re-imagining pre-service theatre education through DBP
Joshua Rashon Streeter
Inspiring student engagement in Adelaide, South Australia: Teacher-led action research approaches
Robyne Garrett and Joss Rankin
New educational perspectives through play
Noah Martin
Learning Forward
PART IV: TRANSFORMATIVE COALITIONS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Part IV: Introduction
11. The Student Learning Community in South Australia
12. The Student Teacher Learning Community in Texas
Learning Forward
Epilogue
Appendices
Appendix A Case Author Biographies
Appendix B Further Reading About Drama for Schools and Beyond
Appendix C Drama for Schools Partners
References
Index
Foreword
Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor
Acknowledgments
Authors’ Note
Introduction
PART I: DRAMA FOR SCHOOLS
1. What is Drama for Schools?
2. Planting Seeds, Establishing Roots: Drama for Schools Alaska
Kathryn Dawson
3. Transformative Professional Learning in Arts Integration
PART II: THREE STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION IN TEXAS
Part II: Introduction
4. Systems Change Transformation Story (Where)
Stephanie Cawthon and Kathryn Dawson
5. Constructivism Transformation Story (How)
Kathryn Dawson and Stephanie Cawthon
6. Social Justice Transformation Story (Why)
Beth Link, Lara Dossett, and Kathryn Dawson
Conclusion
PART III: TEACHERS TRANSFORMING EDUCATION FROM WITHIN
Part III: Introduction
7. Teachers as Researchers
It’s not about knowing
Lauren Smith
DBP in the collegiate foreign language classroom: From first encounter to online improv
Devon Donohue-Bergeler
You have all the tools you need: How DBP can strengthen and reframe participatory action research
Ally Tufenkjian
8. Teachers as Artists
Dialogue across difference: Global conversations on teacher identity and the ethics of care
Beth Link and Bindi MacGill
Disrupting hegemonic classroom culture with autobiographical playbuilding
Sarah Coleman
Teaching artists: The heART of creative body-based learning
Kerrin Rowlands and Eliza Lovell
9. Teachers as Collaborators
Collaborative pedagogy: Rethinking STEM teaching with drama-based practices
Khristian Mendez Aguirre and Jen Moon
Teacher professional learning through DBP in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alma Žero, Milica Jošic-Milinovic, and Kate Proietti
Learning when to bend the rules
Bridget Kiger Lee and Brian C. Fahey
10. Teachers as Agents of Change
Drama-based pedagogy: Radical acts of hope through the arts
Tamara Goldbogen
Re-imagining pre-service theatre education through DBP
Joshua Rashon Streeter
Inspiring student engagement in Adelaide, South Australia: Teacher-led action research approaches
Robyne Garrett and Joss Rankin
New educational perspectives through play
Noah Martin
Learning Forward
PART IV: TRANSFORMATIVE COALITIONS OF STUDENTS AND TEACHERS
Part IV: Introduction
11. The Student Learning Community in South Australia
12. The Student Teacher Learning Community in Texas
Learning Forward
Epilogue
Appendices
Appendix A Case Author Biographies
Appendix B Further Reading About Drama for Schools and Beyond
Appendix C Drama for Schools Partners
References
Index