Distancing and Drama Pedagogy. Investigations of the significance of distancing in drama education - with a particular focus on Bertolt Brecht and Dorothy Heathcote.

Project summary

The project investigates distancing as an arts education concept, focussing particularly on its relevance in drama education. It takes an interest in understanding distancing as an aesthetic principle - its ontological aspect, and its application as a poetic and didactic device in drama pedagogy - its epistemological aspect. It finds that distancing represents a significant perspective in the didactics of drama education and that distancing constitutes an  important meaning making factor in drama pedagogy.

The project explores distancing in a historical and a present-day perspective. It has a particular focus on uses of distancing in the work of two leading representatives of educational drama/theatre: Bertolt Brecht (1898 -1956) and Dorothy Heathcote (1926 - 2011). Examples are taken from Brecht’s learning play theory, mainly his Lehrstück The Measures Taken (1929-30), and from Heathcote’s drama pedagogy, mainly her process drama Teaching Political Awareness through Drama (1981-82). The project looks at relevant points of contact regarding uses of distancing in Brecht’s and Heathcote’s theory and practice. An example of distancing applied in the researcher’s own practice is also discussed in the study.

A main part of the project is the doctoral dissertation Distancing at Close Range. Investigating the Significance of 'Distancing' in Drama Education. However, research articles written as part of the pre-study for the dissertation, and research articles written after the publication of the dissertation belong to the context of the project.