Performative Professionalisation in the Context of Teacher Training: First Experiments with the Use of Drama-Based Pedagogies Across the Curriculum

Opening up performative spaces in Swiss teacher education — Is there room for performative teaching and learning in Swiss teacher education? Staff and students at the University of Teacher Education Zug (PH Zug), Switzerland, are actively exploring this question and finding ways to create space for performative approaches in a densely packed three-year teacher education programme. The university is small, with approximately 370 student teachers working towards a bachelor’s degree in primary education (from kindergarten to grade six). The “all-rounder” programme (graduates will teach all ten school subjects, including math, music, physical education, German, and either English or French as a foreign language) includes several hands-on teaching internships in local elementary schools. Drama in Education (DiE) is a teaching and learning methodology that uses performative elements in a classroom setting, where the focus is not the final product but the learning process. It has a long history in the anglo-saxon tradition, dating back to the 1950’s. The recent introduction of DiE in several courses at PH Zug has opened up performative teaching and learning spaces across the curriculum. The integration of DiE in a variety of courses has students and staff reflecting on the impact of performance on teaching and learning. Drama is being used not only for teaching subject specific content, such as English as a Foreign Language, but also for personal and professional development. ThebasicpremiseofDiE is toaccess learning throughkinaesthetic (body), cognitive (mind), and affective (heart) channels, often in an imagined setting where the participants (students and teachers) are in-role as performers. Drama in Education has featured at PH Zug in several English methodology classes since 2017, as well as in a French language elective (since 2018), in a research and development class (since 2016), and in an intensive drama and theatre education elective course (since 2017). In addition, students may choose drama and theatre education topics for their bachelor’s theses. However,