The Department of Drama in Education at DAMU focuses on finding ways of bringing together drama, theatre and education and exploring their relationships in various formal and informal education contexts. The Department’s establishment in 1993 reflected the academy’s gradual transformation and a shift in the approach to the arts in formal education that both took place in the 1990s. While initially the Department focused on drama in formal education, it later expanded its scope to examine the role of drama outside schools.
For more than 10 years, the Department has explored the role of the theatre educator which is seen to have an important potential. Since 2015, students have had a chance to practice theatre education working with the faculty’s DISK theatre, and many student projects took place at other theatres, too.
Theatre educators give theatres the access to find new ways to contribute to local, cultural and community development, such as audience development, community outreach, regional development, etc. Naturally, many graduates of the Department employ the goals and methods of theatre education in their subsequent profession of a drama teacher.
The Department of Drama in Education supports the establishment and activities of the Association of Theatre Educators. It encourages the Association’s efforts to popularize the profession of a theatre educator, bring this topic to attention within discussions about the new role of cultural institutions and create a space for mutual inspiration and self-development among educators.