textThis dissertation investigates the ways in which high school drama
teachers create opportunities for students to have powerful encounters with the
arts. Chapter 1 introduces my research question and important terms, such as arts
education, aesthetic education, and the aesthetic experience, and relates terms to
powerful encounters with the arts. Why powerful encounters with the arts matter
at this educational moment is also addressed.
Chapter 2 synthesizes relevant literature in the area of arts education,
aesthetic education, and drama education while forwarding the specific
conceptual framework for this study. The literature review seeks to highlight the
significant attention paid to the instrumental outcomes of arts education, the lack
of emphasis given to aesthetic concepts in recent arts education literature, and the
breadth of literature addressing drama in education. Within this chapter, the
concept of the aesthetic experience, and specifically wide-awakeness, will be
explored as the framework for my investigation of powerful encounters with the
arts.
Chapter 3 details the methodology that guided this investigation. Data
gathering within my study centered on participant observation in two high school
drama classrooms over a period of 16 weeks (8 weeks per teacher), interviews,
and a personal reflective journal. Data analysis focused on open coding of data in
an effort to identify emergent themes with respect to the ways in which high
school drama teachers create opportunities for powerful encounters with the arts.
Chapters 4 and 5 are case studies of two high school drama teachers. Each
case study articulates the specific ways in which each teacher creates
opportunities for students to have powerful encounters with the arts. In discussing
these methods and moments, I identify themes present in their teaching. In
looking at their teaching philosophies and practices, I highlight the variety of
ways in which these teachers create opportunities for students to have powerful
encounters with the arts.
Chapter 6 responds to the original research question. Included in my
response is a cross-case analysis of the two teachers involved in the study and a
presentation of overarching themes present in the ways in which they create
opportunities for students to have powerful encounters with the arts. This
dissertation concludes with a discussion of implication for various members of the
education community, suggestions with respect to future research, and the specific
implications of this study.Curriculum and Instructio