Process drama and digital games as text and action in virtual worlds : developing new literacies in school

This article explores the intersections between drama and digital gaming and the educational possibilities for literacy of both. The article draws on a model for the educational uses of digital gaming and three case studies from the Australian Research Council funded three and a half year project, Literacy in the digital world of the twenty first century: Learning from computer games. This model theorises the scope of the possibilities for literacy outcomes from the usage of computer games. The article describes how the model works, and then applies the model to drama education, specifying some new ways of thinking about the literacy outcomes from drama education. Process drama is theorised as the creation of text-in-action.

Ethno-religious tragedy rebuilds in Iraq

In the shadows of Syria's deadly civil war, a new tragedy is building right next door, in Iraq

Viewpoints, creativity and embodied learning : developing perceptual and kinaesthetic skills in non-dancers studying undergraduate university drama

Viewpoints are a structural approach to training and directing for theatre. Originating from the innovative, inventive and exploratory approach of Mary Overlie and the self- confessed scavenger approach of Anne Bogart, Viewpoints offers a practical philosophy of working. As a training approach it begins with a disciplined engagement  of the body in space and time. The tangible elements of the Viewpoints provide a set of tasks on which the student can focus, thus freeing the imagination and spirit to  create. Yet at the same time the systematic logic of Viewpoints supports novice practitioners to begin to question their perception, invest in creative practice that demands action and exploration, and to deconstruct, re-organise and rebuild scores and sequences in the pursuit of theatre that is visceral and visual. This essay reports on undergraduate student experiences of learning Viewpoints. It interrogates the demands of embodied learning of the movement/structural system on non- ancers and examines student-actor experiences of embodied learning from multiple of subject positions – observer/participant/creator/reflector/actor.  

Developing creative citizens through experiential learning environments in applied drama

The Seoul Agenda (2010, p.8) recognizes the value of arts education in enhancing creative and innovative capacity in young people. It goes so far as to suggest that applying arts will “cultivate a new generation of creative citizens”. This paper documents a specific area of arts education in university level drama degrees. In a case study approach, it discusses the outcomes of a work-based learning approach for students of applied drama. It explores the drama student‟s experience and considers how engaging in the study of applied drama and applied performance and having the support and opportunity to transfer these skills in real contexts acts to develop creative capacity and to contribute to consolidating the students‟ identities as citizens