Drama pedagogy: subverting and remaking learning in the thirdspace

Abstract

This qualitative, ethnographic research highlights how drama pedagogy using translanguaging-based Readers Theatre supports students learning English as an Additional Language or Dialect (EAL/D) to develop knowledge of language central to their engagement with learning (Authors, 2020). Using socio-spatial theory of Lefebvre (1991) and Soja (Annals of the Association of American Geographers 70:207–225, 1980), we argue that drama pedagogy can shape a creative translanguaging space as reported by Li (Journal of Pragmatics 43:1222–1235, 2011) in which the high-stakes test based pressure to narrow curriculum and pedagogical breadth can be resisted, and classroom spaces remade so that literacy learning is identity-affirming and caters for the diverse needs of students.

Teachers’ perceptions about their work with EAL/D students in a standards-based educational context.

“…In conclusion, the findings of this research highlight that all teachers could use the EAL/D Elaborations to accurately set professional learning goals for their work with EAL/D students. As opposed to the APST, the EAL/D Elaborations provide the detail necessary to support the creation of new social spaces for differentiated learning for EAL/D students and the introduction of an innovative culturally responsive pedagogy (Dutton & Rushton, 2022Li, 2014;Morrison et al, 2019).…”

Representing Identity: The Importance of Literature and the Translanguaging Space for EAL/D Early Years Literacy Learning

“…Studies have explored the creation of a vast array of identity texts including language trajectory grids [39], poetry [2], language maps [7,28,40], biographical texts [41], readers' theatre scripts [42], multilanguage digital narratives [43,44], and multilingual flip books [45]. When shared with audiences of peers, teachers, parents/carers, and the broader school community, the texts have been shown to generate positive feedback resulting in affirmation of self in interaction with the audience(s).…”

“…• Affirm students' identities as intelligent, imaginative and linguistically talented [6,13,42,46]. D'warte's study of language mapping in linguistically diverse settings also aligns with Cummins' definition of identity text but does not employ the term [28].…”

“…Increase students' awareness of the relationship between their home language and the language of the school [6,39,42].…”

“…This perspective positions identity investment as a sociological construct in which language learners are conceived as possessing a complex identity that is reshaped through experience and across time-with the influence of social power relations and interactions experienced being central. Creative genres enable students to create enactments of identity [42] and poetry offers rich possibilities for young EAL/D writers as the medium rewards brevity and offers a safe transition from spoken to written language. It also provides a vehicle for voicing personal representations of language and identity [2,33,34].…”