Dorothy Heathcote: Drama as a Learning Medium

Dorothy Heathcote: Drama as a Learning Medium by Wagner, Betty J. paperback edition. ISBN: 9781893056008.

Were confident that this new edition of Betty Jane Wagners seminal work will be welcomed by drama educators throughout the English-speaking world. Heathcotes work has been profoundly influential in that world. Until the publication in 1976 of Dorothy Heathcote: Drama as a Learning Medium, however, Heathcotes techniquesthe pedagogy of dramalacked full explanation. Wagners book gives us just that: a close-up detailing of this gifted, dynamic teacher in a variety of classroom settings, along with analyses of Heathcotes remarkable improvisations with young people. Indeed, much of Betty Jane Wagners book can fairly be described as drama within a drama. Its an engrossing work, for we listen and watch as Heathcote elicits drama of their own making from students across grade levels and disciplines. Wagners goal is to share with teachers how they, using Heathcotes methods, can generate significant learning experiences.