Signs of Change presents the best of secondary school theatre in an era of change and against a backdrop of the end of the Industrial Age. Critical and theoretical works – as well as textbooks and anthologies on so vast a subject – remain for others to do. It is not a comprehensive and definitive look at secondary school theatre education in the twenty-first century, nor is it a step-by-step roadmap to best practice. It is important here to note what this book is not. It is a record of multiple versions of the best of what is possible in secondary school theatre education today. Altogether, the book is both a celebration of advances in the field and a call for change and action. Field notes from observations of classes and rehearsals and quotes from teachers and other published writers appear within and around the text as a backdrop, counterpoint, and partner in the conversations. I highlight recurring themes and share individual and composite stories and lessons related to some of the most effective aspects of their practice. ![]() To capture the passion and potency of their various approaches, I include interview excerpts and written responses from the teacher-artists themselves as illustrations of the characteristics and elements of best practice in the field. ![]() As is also the case with gifted teacher-artists, this work, which is often intuitive and organic, rarely exists in detailed notes, plans, or other documented forms. The challenge comes from trying to capture in so few words a collection of insights and experiences that are broad, rich, diverse, and are redefining theatre with adolescents. My research into best practice for over a decade has been a blissful opportunity to talk to, dream with, and learn from remarkable people. The joy comes from the opportunity to observe and talk at length with dedicated professionals who are passionate about theatre with secondary school students. It has been both a joy and a challenge to write a book like this. Major portions of the original text have been revised for greater clarity and to create meaningful intersections with the newly added material. Fresh and revised examples of best practice have been added and selected resources have been expanded at the end of each chapter. More than 50 percent of this edition is new material, including new and fuller interviews with teachers, invited essays by some of the best thinkers in theatre teacher education, in-depth profiles of teachers and their practice, references throughout to current research, trends, and initiatives in education and arts education, and more than one hundred and forty additional works cited. This revised and amplified edition remains an invitation to eavesdrop on conversations with a group of successful educator-artists who work with young people in dynamic and compelling ways. I hope that the teachers, future teachers, teacher educators, and artists who read Signs of Change find some light in these pages, some inspiration and practical ideas to help them embrace change and ensure a promising future for our field. I am the gatherer, the one trying to capture the ephemeral nature of others’ work. I met many of them as strangers and parted from them feeling a bond, a shared passion, as people moving together with eyes fixed on a common goal.Īs author of this book, I am like the child on a summer evening who tries to capture all the fireflies she can in an attempt to illumine the whole backyard. Some of the interviewees I knew well or had heard of some were fresh acquaintances whose work was new to me. ![]() All were recommended to me by colleagues, students, co-teachers, or professional organizations. I am inspired and intrigued in my quest for change by the more than two hundred and twenty-five theatre teachers, teaching artists, arts administrators, college professors, and students who contributed to the revised and amplified edition of this book. Ihave been wondering a lot about change: how it happens, why it happens, and how I can contribute to the positive change I desire for my field.
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