A Landscape of Drama in Educational Contexts: Paradigms, Concepts and Approaches of Scholars and Practitioners who Utilised Drama as a Pedagogical Tool

Abstract

          The purposes of this research were as follows: (1) to explore, review and identify the current body of knowledge on utilization of dramatic art process in educational context; and (2) to study the perspectives and theoretical concepts of international scholars and practitioners concerning the current direction, scope and status of the body of knowledge on utilization of dramatic art process in educational context. This study was a documentary research conducted by selecting various international academic publications written in English published between 2000 and 2018. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The research findings indicated that 1) the prominent themes emerged from this analysis were (1) the needed attributions of teachers who utilized the dramatic art process as a tool for creating learning were the possession of empathy, the ability to create in the learners the love of learning and the courage to participate, the communication skills, and creativity; (2) learning was a result of the learners being able to connect their experience in the imaginative world of drama with their experience in the real world outside the classroom; and (3) the participation in the learning process was not the necessary indicator that the learners had achieved learning; the teacher should help the learners to be able to connect their experience in the imaginative world of drama with their experience in the real world outside the classroom and; 2) for the perspectives and theoretical concepts of international scholars and practitioners concerning the current direction, scope and status of the body of knowledge on utilization of dramatic art process in educational context, it was found that the academics and practitioners who utilized the dramatic art process as a tool for creating learning were in agreement that the current body of knowledge in this field had extended to the new dimensions that were wider than those in the classroom, with the integration with the field of applied drama which was the field that covers every context of utilization of dramatic art to develop human potentiality.  As a result, the body of knowledge had become interdisciplinary with more channels for knowledge exchanges between the field of education and the field of dramatic art.  Nonetheless, this study also revealed a knowledge gap of the lack of academic documents written by researchers who worked in the diverse/various geographical and socio-cultural contexts.