Browsing by Subject "Theatre education"
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Item Arts participation and academic achievement(Texas Tech University, 2005-12) Morgan, Jimmie SalesArts education is a controversial topic in the realm of education reform: the need for it, the value of it, the teaching of it, which students receive it and at what point in their education are all areas of interest about arts education. New theoretical concepts about cognition and learning have spurred new research into creativity/divergent thinking/imagination which in turn has led to attempts to reform arts education. Ongoing research indicates that arts education may be far more important than previously considered. In order to promote changes in the perception of the value of authentic arts education in current educational practice, evidence that students who participate in authentic arts education can do as well or better on accountability measures of the core curriculum for reading, writing, mathematics and elementary science is needed. This evidence can also point out one effective method of developing creativity: arts education. If, as has been proposed, the survival of the human species has always depended on creative innovations and solutions to physical and social complexities, then encouraging the development and training of creativity through the process of education is perhaps the most important goal of the process. This study was conducted in a private school. The academic achievement of thirty-four participants in a theatre arts program were compared with thirty-three students who did not participate in the theatre program. The statistical analysis of the study consisted of two parts, the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The study provided at least partial support for the enhancing effect of theatre education on student academic performance. Students who participated in the program had better academic performance in mathematics and general academic performance defined as the Total Grade Equivalent Score and the Total Normal Curve Equivalent scores produced by the Terra Nova standardized test than those who do not participate in the theatre education program.Item Arts participation and academic achievement(2005-12) Morgan, Jimmie S.; Lan, William; Price, Margaret A.; Marks, Jonathan; Dolter, Gerald T.Arts education is a controversial topic in the realm of education reform: the need for it, the value of it, the teaching of it, which students receive it and at what point in their education are all areas of interest about arts education. New theoretical concepts about cognition and learning have spurred new research into creativity/divergent thinking/imagination which in turn has led to attempts to reform arts education. Ongoing research indicates that arts education may be far more important than previously considered. In order to promote changes in the perception of the value of authentic arts education in current educational practice, evidence that students who participate in authentic arts education can do as well or better on accountability measures of the core curriculum for reading, writing, mathematics and elementary science is needed. This evidence can also point out one effective method of developing creativity: arts education. If, as has been proposed, the survival of the human species has always depended on creative innovations and solutions to physical and social complexities, then encouraging the development and training of creativity through the process of education is perhaps the most important goal of the process. This study was conducted in a private school. The academic achievement of thirty-four participants in a theatre arts program were compared with thirty-three students who did not participate in the theatre program. The statistical analysis of the study consisted of two parts, the descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The study provided at least partial support for the enhancing effect of theatre education on student academic performance. Students who participated in the program had better academic performance in mathematics and general academic performance defined as the Total Grade Equivalent Score and the Total Normal Curve Equivalent scores produced by the Terra Nova standardized test than those who do not participate in the theatre education program.Item Broadway Junior : musical theatre for youth performers(2016-05) Streeter, Joshua Rashon; Schroeder-Arce, Roxanne; Wolf, StacyThis MFA thesis identifies the junior musical as an umbrella term for commercial American musical theatre adapted for youth performers and explores the value of these adaptations in schools. Interviews and survey responses comprise this qualitative study that examines interest in and opportunities created by Broadway Jr., a specific musical theatre program for middle school students. Through an analysis of current practices and statistics in performance and education, this thesis positions the Broadway Jr. program as an educational theatre model that flexibly responds to the needs of the particular schools and communities it serves. Findings invite practitioners and scholars to consider what comprises quality musical theatre education for young people in schools in the twenty-first century.Item Serious play : exploring literacies and masculinities within drama companies for young adults(2010-05) Bogard, Treavor Lowell; Bomer, Randy; Cary, Lisa; Mosley, Melissa; Schallert, Diane; Skerrett, AllisonThis multi-site case study examines literacy practices across four theatre companies for young adults. The study draws upon ethnographic methods including interviews, field notes, and video data to show how composing practices situated with acts of design fostered multiple entry points through text, a multimodal stance when reading, collaboration, play, shared response, and sustained engagement in the orchestration of available modalities in the creation of characters. Drawing upon theories of multimodality, play, and masculinities, the study links literacy practices in drama with the configuration of historically subordinated, non-normative masculinities, including self-identified gay youth. These young men reported excessive self-monitoring and identity management strategies within heteronormative school contexts, but took-up a plurality of masculinities as they engaged design practices that encouraged play, risk-taking, and the appropriation of available media in their design of characters. The study cultivates an awareness of how literacy practices in drama intersected with affirming construction of non-normative gendered and sexual identities typically subordinated in school settings, but that were reportedly more aligned with informants’ sense of self. The study draws implications for how educators may help young people critique structures of heternormativity and hegemonic masculinities that often limit the identities and masculinities available in school. In addition, the study draws implications for classroom practice in the language arts that position youth as designers of multimodal texts that allow for multiple representations of the self.Item Sustaining learning through the arts : capacity building through a trainer of trainers professional development model(2014-05) Dossett, Lara Rose; Dawson, KathrynThis MFA thesis document investigates the experience of teachers participating in a trainer of trainers (TOT) professional development model in drama-based instruction in K-12 schools. This document explores a two-phase research study in which teachers attended an Advanced Summer Institute and then took on the role of teacher trainer in their school context. The mixed-methods study uses narrative thematic analysis of interview data as well as quantitative scales to describe the experiences of the drama-based instruction teacher trainers. Throughout, this document argues for more effective, sustainable professional development practices that draw on the instructional knowledge of teachers. The findings suggest organizational support largely determines the amount of participation of teacher trainers in their school context. The document concludes with a discussion of how to better support teachers as teacher trainers on their campuses as part of a larger effort to build capacity and sustain ongoing drama-based instructional practice in K-12th grade schools.Item This object holds : exploring adolescent identity through object-based performance(2016-05) Bower, Briana Rae; Lazarus, Joan; Duffy, PeterAs a growing body of research from the fields of psychology, anthropology, and social sciences describes how engagement with objects not only shapes our cognitive processes, but helps us organize our identities and form our sense of self, this document considers how educators and researchers might transition this research into an embodied practice in the classroom (Malafouris 2; Csikszentmihalyi 22; Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 330). This MFA thesis documents a series of object-based performance workshops facilitated in a middle school theatre class. This project served as the basis for a qualitative, grounded theory research study that looked closely at how students engaged with and responded to the project as a means to explore questions concerning students’ construction and performance of identity and their perceptions of value surrounding this object-based performance work. In order to explore these notions, this research is placed in conversation with prevalent theories of adolescent identity formation and notions concerning the performance of identity. Based on the data collected, this document posits that object-based artistic work serves as a compelling site in which students to explore their identities. Through these performances, students shared a variety of identity markers in relation to their objects and made choices, consciously or otherwise, concerning what to share and what to conceal to their classmates. When discussing the value of the project, students named the ability to explore identity and the ability to share their identities most frequently as qualities of value. Finally, this document addresses discoveries concerning the facilitation and perceived impact of this work, and proposes questions for further research concerning youth identity exploration through object-based performance work.