The living newspaper program : drama-based collaborative professional development with teachers of English and Spanish as a foreign language

The Living Newspaper Project, a project-based learning model in which students conduct research on a topic, create a script, and perform their work for their peers, has been an outreach program in the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Texas at Austin since 2005, but its potential as a professional development program has never been explored at this institution. This MFA Thesis documents the process of designing, implementing, and analyzing a collaborative professional development program for the Living Newspaper Project. The Living Newspaper Project collaborative Professional Development Program was piloted with an English teacher in Austin, Texas, and three Spanish Teachers in Merida, Venezuela. This document examines their thoughts, observations, and experiences in the program, as well as the writings of theorists and the work of other professionals in arts-based professional development to determine what aspects of a professional development program enable teachers to implement a Living Newspaper in their classrooms.