Drama at the Heart of English: Transforming Practice in the Secondary Classroom

Drama at the Heart of English is unique in its exploration of drama’s potential to revitalise English as a secondary school subject. It focuses specifically on the value and inclusive nature of educational drama practices in the reading of literary, dramatic and multimodal texts in the English classroom.

Examples from the authors’ research show English teachers working in the drama-in-English mode with real learners as part of their everyday classroom activity. Challenging current curriculum and assessment constraints, the authors argue that drama-in-English pedagogy re-establishes English as a creative, imaginative and interactive subject. This book:

• offers a blend of theory and practice to demonstrate the powerful potential of drama-in-English
• proposes that drama is a uniquely sustainable form of learning in English when fully integrated into the daily work of classroom teachers
• highlights the intrinsic connection that exists between drama and the playful qualities of literary texts
• analyses landmark moments and key policy shifts that have shaped the development of the relationship between drama and English over time

This resource is for all educators interested in and passionate about the field of English and Language Arts. It is a must-read for the international academic community of researchers, practitioners, teacher-educators and teachers of English, as well as student-teachers of English/Media/Drama.

Theo Bryer leads the English with Drama PGCE at UCL’s Institute of Education and works on the MA English Education programme.

Maggie Pitfield is an experienced English and Drama teacher and former Head of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Jane Coles is a former Head of English and recently led the MA English Education programme at UCL’s Institute of Education.