Co-constructing Critical Consciousness with Preservice Teachers using Drama-based Research and Pedagogy

In this three-article format dissertation, I explore the use of drama-based research and pedagogy as a tool for preservice teacher (PST) education, specifically for opening up spaces for dialogue, possibility, and most importantly co-constructing critical consciousness, which is the ability to recognize and problematize structural inequalities and taking action for social justice.The first article examines the use of dramatic inquiry, a type of drama-based pedagogy, with the aim of understanding the opportunities and tensions of using dramatic inquiry in the process of co-constructing PSTs’ critical consciousness. Drawing on drama artifacts, field observation, and in-depth interviews with PSTs, I present the opportunities as the following themes: emotional engagement, interrogation of beliefs and assumptions, and dialogic meaning-making. However, there were tensions such as PSTs’ experiencing emotional overwhelm, feelings of being in an unsafe space, and a noticeable delay in their critical engagement. Despite these obstacles, the study also highlights these constraints as potential avenues for enhancing PSTs’ critical consciousness. The second article presents an ethnodrama, a form of drama-based research, to engage teacher educators and PSTs to examine classroom dynamics aimed at creating spaces for critical consciousness. Grounded in the principles of Bakhtin’s dialogism, this ethnodrama spotlights pivotal moments of dialogic and monologic moments within the dramatic inquiry discussed in Article One. This research paints a vivid picture of classroom dynamics capturing the complexity of these exchanges, thereby shedding light on how these interactions affect dialogue. Article three proposes drama-based pedagogy as a “pedagogy of the possible”, an approach to education from possibility studies. This conceptual paper responds to a call for scholarly dialogue in the field of possibility studies. Drawing on my own personal experiences of using drama-based pedagogy, I demonstrate how drama-based pedagogy aligns with the eight possibilities of pedagogies of the possible – the possibilities of (1) not knowing, (2) failure, (3) uncertainly, (4) movement, (5) anticipation, (6) dialogue, (7) care, and (8) responsibility. Showing drama-based pedagogy as a pedagogy of the possible emphasizes the open-ended nature of learning with drama, foregrounding the boundless potential for growth and transformation.