Drama in Educational and Societal Contexts (DESC)
The research group is an interdisciplinary group within lifelong learning. The main purpose is to promote research and development work with a focus on drama and theatre. Simultaneously, we aim to develop collaboration and research expertise that addresses various target audiences.
The aim is to strengthen the quality of research projects, collaborative projects and artistic development work. The aim will be achieved through critical constructive collaboration and by sharing experiences about research design and research processes.
The research group covers several and different research projects related to drama in both educational and societal contexts, including drama for lifelong learning, applied drama and applied theatre. Several of the group's members participate in local, national and international collaborative projects and development projects.
Research Contexts
- Kindergartens
- Primary School
- Secondary School
- Highschool
- Folk high school
- Cultural School
- Vocational education and higher educatiuon
- Libraries
- Museums/Art Centres
- Theatres
- Prisons
- Retirement centres
- Rehabilitation
- Other social and cultural facilitators
Topics for the research group include:
- Applied drama and applied theatre in Social-, Public Art-, Community- and Educational Contexts (from early childhood to adult education)
- Improvisation and participatory theatre
- Cultural awareness and expression
- Creativity and innovation
- Critical and design thinking
- Communication and collaboration
- Intercultural skills, democracy and civic engagement
- Inclusive education
Research procjects
Ongoing projects:
- Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Programme (2025-2032): “Theatre SPACEs”; Theatre in Social, Participatory Art, Community and Educational contexts. Theatre Spaces website: Erasmus Mundus Master: Applied & Community Theatre.
- Horizon Europe “Civic Stage” (2026-2029): Citizenship-, Identity-, European Values-, Inclusion-, and Community development through Societal Participatory Theatre Activities in a Global Europe.
- NORDPLUS TEN Network: Innovative and sustainable aesthetic methods for citizenship and cultural understanding education.
- Erasmus+ KA2: Beyond the Walls (2025-2028): The program aims to encourage teachers,youth workers, and young people to implement action-oriented programs that respond to real societal challenges.
- Erasmus+ KA2: TIM (Teater-i-Matematikk/Theatre-in-Mathematics)
- Erasmus+ KA2: AI-TECH
Featured publications
Selected publications from the last five years:
Eriksson, S.A. (2025). Using narrative analysis to create story drama with Jon Fosse’s fairy tale The Fiddler Girl as example. Drama Research volume 16.2 Special Edition.
Lyngstad, M.B. (2025). Using drama in café dialogue as an alternative approach in multicultural educational processes. Front. Educ., 01 October 2025. Sec. Language, Culture and Diversity. Volume 10 - 2025
Vik, Bekka (2015). Barnetragedien: arven etter Suzanne Osten sin revolusjon. Nordisk Drama- og teaterpedagogisk tidsskrift DRAMA. Tema: Teater med barn og unge. No1.2025.
Bernsen, A. S., & Thoresen, E. (2025). Processmodell for utforskende praksis – barn som medskapere. BUKS - Tidsskrift for Børne- & Ungdomskultur, 40(69), 20.
Cziboly, A., & Bethlenfalvy, A. (2024). Trends of educational theatre practices in Hungary: effects, impacts, contents, central issues and opinions. Applied Theatre Research, 12(1), 47–63.
Cziboly, A., & Bethlenfalvy, A. (2024). The big picture: objectives, strategies, attributes, financing, participants, leaders and significance of educational theatre programs in Hungary. Applied Theatre Research, 12(1), 29–45.
Cziboly, A., & Bethlenfalvy, A. (2024). Methodology of the national mapping of educational theatre programs. Applied Theatre Research, 12(1), 9–28.
Rios, S. L. H. (2024). Kunsten å gi mening til byens middelalderhistorie. Drama, 61(1), 76–81.
Cabot, M. A., Iversen, G. T., Ulveseth Lilletvedt, A-B. & Vangsnes, V. (2023). Lærer-i-rolle som døråpner for kritisk tenkning og interkulturell kompetanse i engelskfaget. I H. Berdinesen (Ed.) Demokrati og medborgerskap i skolen : teoretiske overveielser og didaktiske muligheter (s. 231-256). Dreyers forlag.
Cziboly, A., Bethlenfalvy, A., Nemeth, Sz., Rajnai, R. (2023). Learning patterns and risks in distance learning during the COVID-19 lockdown – the pupils’ perspective in drama pedagogy-based focus groups. Research in Learning Technology, Vol 31.
Eriksson, S. A. (2023). Experiencing and Learning through Story and Educational Drama: A Workshop Example. In L. Ma and J.L. Subbiondo (eds.), Theories and Practices of Integral Drama Based Pedagogy. Deep Connections and New Integrations of Education (p. 127-143). BRILL.
Eriksson, S. A. (2023). Reflections on 'living through' and 'distancing': a critical essay related to Heathcote's and Brecht's poetics, Drama Research. International Journal of Drama in Education, Vol. 14 (No. 1).
Allern, T-H. and Eriksson, S. A. (2022). Conceptions of drama and theatre, Applied Theatre Research, Vol. 10 (Issue 2: Chinese and Norwegian Perspectives on Drama and Applied Theatre), 141–154.
Allern, T-H., Zheng, S. and Eriksson, S. A. (2022). Interview with Li Yingning, Applied Theatre Research, Vol. 10 (Issue 2: Chinese and Norwegian Perspectives on Drama and Applied Theatre), 205–226.
Allern, T-H., Zheng, S. and Eriksson, S. A. (2022). Educational drama, traditional Chinese culture and current government policies, Applied Theatre Research, Vol. 10 (Issue 2: Chinese and Norwegian Perspectives on Drama and Applied Theatre), 103–118.
Cziboly, A. (2022). Is This Art or Vandalism?: An Online Process Drama. Art Education, 75(4), 45–46.
Cziboly, A., Lyngstad, M. B., & Zheng, S. (2022). The influence of the “conventions approach” on the practice of drama in different cultures. In The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education (pp. 94-109). Routledge.
Eriksson, S.A. (2022). Experiencing and Learning through Story and Educational Drama: A Workshop Example, Beijing International Review of Education, 3 (2021), 606–624. [doi:10.1163/25902539-03040008]
Eriksson, S.A. (2022). Christmas traditions and performance rituals: a look at Christmas celebrations in a Nordic context. In J. O’Toole, P. Bundy and P. O’Connor (eds.), Insights in Applied Theatre: The Early Days and Onwards (p.269-278).
Eriksson, S. A. (2022). But Damn It, Without The Illusion, What Would Man Have Been Then? In S. Busby, K. Freebody and C. Rajendran (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Young People (p. 349-352). Routledge.
Eriksson, S. A. (2022). Distancing as topos in process drama. In M. McAvoy and P. O’Connor (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Drama in Education (p. 18-31). Routledge.
Eriksson, S. A. (2022). Gruppe V-est. Nettverk for kunstfag på Vestlandet». I J. Saakvitne og E. Ertresvaag (red.). Høgt under taket. Lærarutdanning i Bergen 1953-2016 (s. 221-229). Bodoni forlag.
Eriksson, S. A. and Allern, T-H. (2022). Educational drama in Norway: From cultural expression to curriculum element, Applied Theatre Research, Vol. 10 (Issue 2: Chinese and Norwegian Perspectives on Drama and Applied Theatre), 155–168.
Eriksson, S. A. og Heggstad, K.M. (2022). «Drama. Kampen for tilværelsen - faget gjennom 45 år». I J. Saakvitne og E. Ertresvaag (red.). Høgt under taket. Lærarutdanning i Bergen 1953-2016 (s. 203-220). Bodoni forlag,
Gjærum, R.G., Cziboly, A., Eriksson, S.A. (2022). ILSA in Arts Education: The Effect of Drama on Competences. In T. Nilsen, A. Stancel-Piątak, JE. Gustafsson, (Eds.) International Handbook of Comparative Large-Scale Studies in Education (pp 547–577).Springer.
Heggstad, K. M., & Heggstad, K. (2022). 7 veier til drama: grunnbok i dramapedagogikk for lærere i barnehage og skole (4. utgave.). Fagbokforlaget.
Xu, J. and Eriksson, S. A. (2022). From short story to process drama: A Chinese and a Norwegian classroom approach, Applied Theatre Research, Vol. 10 (Issue 2: Chinese and Norwegian Perspectives on Drama and Applied Theatre), 169–186.
Zheng, S. & Cziboly, A. (2022). What can the translation of key terms reveal about the understandings of drama education in China? Applied Theatre Research, 10(2), 119-140.
Aksnes, K., Sørvig, M. S., & Knudsen, M. N. (2021). Dramaturgiske muligheter i det digitale klasserommet. DRAMA, 58(2), 50–55.
Birkeland, I.M. og Eriksson, S. A. (2021). Den problematiske faggruppen praktiske og estetiske fag, Drama – Nordisk dramapedagogisk tidsskrift, (57)1, s. 42-47.
Cziboly, A., Lyngstad, M.B., & Zheng, S. (2021). Influence of the ‘conventions approach’ on higher education in drama. NJ, 45(2), 128–143.
Eriksson, S. A. (2021). Drama/Theatre and Bildung. Reflections on the Norwegian Discourse of Bildung and the ‘Theatre as Bildung’ Project in Bergen, Norway (2013). In U. Pinkert, I. Driemel, J. Kup, E. Schüler (Hg.). Positionen und Perspektiven der Theaterpädagogik (p. 52-66). Schibri-Verlag.
Thue, H.G. (2021). Drama som uttrykk for djup læring. Høgskulen på Vestlandet.
Vagnsnes, V. (2021). Prosessdrama som estetisk læreprosess: Ein strategi for utforskande iscenesetjing av sentrale verdiområde i Fagfornyinga. Acta Didactica Norden, 15(2).
Zheng, S. (2021). Process drama in Chinese education: Possibilities and challenges in governmental policy papers and the curriculum of moral education. Applied Theatre Research, 9(2), 155–172.
Cziboly, A., & Bethlenfalvy, A. (2020). Response to COVID-19 Zooming in on online process drama. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 25(4), 645-651.
