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From Acting to Action: Developing GlobalCitizenship Through Global StorylinesDramaMarie Jeanne McNaughton aa University of Strathclyde , Glasgow , Scotland , UKPublished online: 12 Nov 2013.

To cite this article: Marie Jeanne McNaughton (2014) From Acting to Action: Developing GlobalCitizenship Through Global Storylines Drama, The Journal of Environmental Education, 45:1, 16-36,DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2013.804397

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THE JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, 45(1), 16–36, 2014Copyright C© Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0095-8964 print/1940–1892 onlineDOI: 10.1080/00958964.2013.804397

From Acting to Action: Developing Global CitizenshipThrough Global Storylines Drama

Marie Jeanne McNaughtonUniversity of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

This article describes research designed to find evidence that the methodology of Global Storylinesoffers a valuable pedagogy though which to explore concepts and issues, and to develop the associatedskills and values for both pupils and teacher, in education for sustainable development (ESD),and global citizenship education (GCE). The article presents the epistemological perspectives thatemerged from research in which educational drama, as part of Global Storylines topics exploringenvironmental themes and issues, was developed and implemented, and data gathered and analyzed.The article suggests that the relationships developed during drama contribute a unique pedagogicaldimension to ESD/GCE.

Keywords educational drama, education for sustainable development, global citizenship education,Global Storylines, pedagogy

This article emerges from research that sought (and seeks) to demonstrate the potential of educa-tional drama to contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD), and in the related areaof global citizenship education (GCE). The work is a response to the directive from UNESCO, inthe decade of education for sustainable development, in which educators were challenged to findinteresting and meaningful ways of helping young people to develop the knowledge, skills, values,and dispositions they will need to become actively involved in building a more sustainable future.This article argues that because of the unique nature of educational drama and, in particular,because of the specific relationships developed during drama activities developed as part of thepedagogy of Global Storylines, drama can make a valuable contribution to ESD/GCE pedagogy.

THE CONTEXT OF THIS ARTICLE

The epistemological perspectives presented in this article emerged from a research study inwhich educational dramas exploring environmental and global citizenship themes and issues weredeveloped and implemented, and data gathered and analyzed (McNaughton, 2008). The analysisculminated in the production of a pedagogical model, relationships in ESD/GCE through drama.This suggests that the unique nature of the relationships that developed between participants andwith the learning context during ESD/GCE-based dramatic experiences, substantially enhanced

Correspondence should be sent to Marie Jeanne McNaughton, Department of Childhood and Primary Stud-ies, Faculty of Education, University of Strathclyde, Southbrae Drive, Glasgow G13 1PP, Scotland, UK. E-mail:m.j.mcnaughton@strath.ac.uk

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opportunities for holistic, multi-faceted, engaging, and meaningful ESD and GCE. The analysisof data gathered from this current, ongoing study, Global Storylines, suggests that drama hasmade a particular contribution to learning in ESD/GCE, and that the findings from the original2008 study can be replicated and the model verified and extended.

The Global Storylines project, developed jointly by a team from The University of Strathclyde(M. J. McNaughton), the West of Scotland Development Education Centre and Glasgow Educa-tional Improvement Service, is a three-year, Department for International Development-fundedstudy, the overall aim of which is to embed an exploration of global sustainability and citizenshipissues into the learning experiences of pupils in Glasgow. Over the course of the project, teachersfrom 28 Glasgow primary and secondary schools will undertake action-research to implementand evaluate a range of ESD/GCE topics, developed by the project team, in their classrooms.The topics use the pedagogy of the Scottish storyline (Bell, Harkness, & White, 2007), whichrecognizes the power of story and narrative as a way of learning (Booth, 1994; Tooth & Renshaw,2012). Using a constructivist approach (Selly, 1999) based around a series of key questions,the teacher and learners create a fictional environment as the starting point for cross-curricular,environmental, and global citizenship learning. The storyline topic is planned as a number of“episodes.” A particular innovation in the Global Storylines project is the integration into thestoryline of a wide range of global citizenship activities and nongovernment organization (NGO)teacher support materials, from, for example, Oxfam, Save the Children, and Christian Aid (Mc-Naughton, 2012). A second innovation, and the focus of this article, is the inclusion of educationaldrama, not as an optional extra but as a key pedagogical approach within each Storyline. Theproject teachers all receive specific training in action research methodology, in ESD/GCE, in theStoryline approach, and in using educational drama as a learning medium.

This article focuses on the results of analysis of the data collected from the 16 teachers fromeight schools who took part in the first year of the project and, specifically, on their responses tousing educational drama as part of the project. Further reports are in preparation and these willfocus on other pedagogical aspects of the project.

The drama on which this research is predicated is not concerned, principally, with prewrittenscripts or with the preparation of a performance for an external audience. Instead, the naturalability of young people to play and pretend is harnessed so that drama becomes a mediumfor learning. Sometimes termed “process” or “living through” drama, (Bolton, 1992; O’Neill,1985) it is based improvised role-play and uses a wide range of theatre conventions (Neelands &Goode, 2000) such as still image, thought tracking, and conscience alley to enable the participantsto put themselves “in the shoes” of others and to explore ideas, emotions, values, and actionsfrom different perspectives. The strategy of teacher-in-role allows the teacher to take part inthe improvisation with the learners, often in a low-status role, seeking help or advice from thelearners’ characters, or playing devil’s advocate. A key feature of educational drama is reflectiontime, which allows the participants to look back, out of role, and critically reflect on theircharacters’ actions and responses during the drama activities.

ESD/GCE AND DRAMA: PARALLELS OF PRACTICE

There are many parallels between the philosophy and pedagogy fundamental to ESD/GCE andthose of educational drama. In ESD/GCE, Huckle (2002), Palmer (1998) and Stirling (2005),

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18 GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP THROUGH DRAMA

highlight the dichotomy between process and product in education. Sterling (2001) rejects mech-anistic planning and target setting in favor of more organic, participative, open, and evolvingpedagogies. He proposes an “ecological” paradigm encompassing “critical and creative inquiry;process, development and action; responsibility and democracy; and valuing of intuition, intellectand capability” (p. 59). In educational drama, Neelands (2002, 2007) urges drama educators tomove beyond defining drama within a narrow range of skills and to “reclaim the pedagogical heartof drama,” with a focus on a dialogue between “mindfulness and playfulness; planned and livedexperiences; necessary constraints and necessary freedoms; and imagination and knowledge”(Neelands, 2002, p. 8). Both ESD/GCE and educational drama embrace the “characteristics ofempowering pedagogies” (Appleby, 2001, p. 4).

McNaughton’s (2008) research on using drama in ESD/GCE found that there was considerableevidence that the pedagogy of educational drama:

• provided the participants (teacher and learners) with meaningful contexts in which conceptsin ESD/GCE could be explored;

• allowed a wide range of skills linked to ESD/GCE to be developed and practiced; and• encouraged the consideration of dispositions, attitudes, and values necessary for positive

environmental citizenship.

As a result, McNaughton (2010) argues that educational drama can represent “ecopedagogy inaction” (p. 289). This argument has specific implications for environmental educators. Histori-cally, drama has represented “the nature/culture dualism and conflict” (Cless, 2010, p. 1) and, itmight be argued, is well situated to deal with human-environmental issues.

Neelands (2007) suggests that drama can contribute to an alternative educational paradigm,one that provides more positive, values-focused, critically oriented views of environmental issues(Vare & Scott, 2007). The exploration of both human relationships and relationships with thenon-human environment, developed through the context of the fictional communities and placescreated within the drama, can offer a powerful tool in the examination of human identity. Atthe same time, the fictional context of the drama provides a safe “distance” (Bolton, 1992) fromwhich fears, prejudices, values, and alternative choices and behaviors can be examined, andsolutions proposed. This approach is predicated on the development of positive relationshipsbetween learners and the learning contexts, and also between the all of the participants within thelearning context: thus, the focus of this article.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The research conducted during the Global Storylines project sought (and seeks) to explicate,through the work and, specifically, through the reflections of practicing teachers, examples ofwhat may be considered to constitute successful pedagogy in ESD/GCE (Scott, 2002). To this end,all of the participating teachers, all volunteers with teaching experience ranging from five yearsto more than 20 years, were given guidance to help them to carry our action research, related totheir Global Storylines projects, in their own classrooms during one school term. They collectedportfolios of a range of data, including classroom observations and samples of pupils’ writtenand oral responses and ongoing reflective, analytical field notes. At the end of the school term,

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the project teachers met to share their work and experiences and to reflect on the development oftheir own learning about effective GCE.

Addressing the Research Aims

At the beginning of the Global Storylines project, and as part of the funding bid, the researchteam set out the following three project aims:

1. to discover which specific GCE/ESD learning outcomes, for example, in concepts, skills,values, positive attitudes, sympathy/empathy with others, may be addressed throughstoryline;

2. to examine the pedagogical strategies and associated activities, linked to storyline anddrama, that might be employed in order to help children explore issues and extend theirlearning in GCE/ESD; and

3. to examine the development of teachers’ understanding of, and attitudes toward,GCE/ESD issues and approaches as a result of taking part in the Global Storylinesproject.

This article seeks to address these aims with a particular focus on the educational drama elementof the Global Storylines. The overarching research strategy on which this article is based isNarrative Inquiry (Clandinin & Connolly, 2000). “Narrative is understood as a spoken or writtentext giving an account of an event/action or a series of events/actions chronologically connected”(Czarniawska, 2004, p. 17). The research team undertook a close and systematic analysis andinterpretation of the portfolios of data gathered by the 16 teachers from year one of the project.The specific focus was on the teachers’ ongoing and summative commentaries (the narratives oftheir classroom experience) on the phenomena occurring during, and as a result of, the dramaactivities within their Global Storylines work. The teachers’ commentaries included examples ofpupils’ evaluative feedback and this element was particularly useful in providing the authentic“voice” of the pupils.

The intended GCE/ESD learning outcomes, set out for each Global Storyline, were adaptedfrom the Oxfam (2006, pp. 4–7) Key Elements for Global Citizenship descriptors. These setout an analysis of GCE learning in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes and cover aspectssuch as social justice and equity, sustainable development, critical thinking skills, co-operationand conflict resolution and empathy. In their commentaries, the teachers were asked to noteexamples of evidence relating to the specific learning outcomes (and beyond). They were alsoasked to record and reflect on any pedagogical approaches that were particularly successful (orless successful). Finally, they were asked to reflect on the development of their own pedagogicaland GC/ES knowledge and values emerging as a result of using the Global Storylines method. Theanalysis of the teachers’ commentaries would reveal that drama made a contribution to the threeproject aims being addressed. The pedagogical model relationships in ESD/GCE through drama(McNaughton, 2008) was used to illuminate the possible reasons for the successful contributionof drama.

It must be noted that this specific focus is only one aspect of a wider qualitative meta-analysis (Paterson, Thorn, Canam, & Jillings, 2001) of the individual descriptive and analyticalcommentaries from the teachers’ action research. Not only did the teachers describe and reflecton many aspects of the Global Storylines project, for example, about the progression and learning

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20 GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP THROUGH DRAMA

from and about the Storyline methodology, but additional data accrued from video diaries, teacherfocus groups, children focus groups, photographs, and children’s written and oral work producedduring the topics. In subsequent iterations of the analysis, planned for later in the project, thefocus will be different (for example, the Global Storylines methodology in GCE/ESD) and thescope of the learning from the perspectives of both the pupils and the teachers, across the widerange of activities included in a Global Storylines project, will be set out.

Full ethical approval for all stages of the research, that is, the data collection, analysis, anddissemination, was obtained (from university, schools, parents, and pupils involved) before anyof the work was undertaken.

Global Storylines

In each of the Global Storylines topics, the participants, both teacher and learners, create thestories of communities of people, set in a specific place and time (often closely mirroring actualcommunities). The stories are centrally focused on the importance of that place, of the situatedenvironment, of the community. In each case, the community is faced with a problem, issue, orchallenge. In the first year of the project, two Storylines were trialled by eight Level 1 teachersand eight Level 2 teachers.

Year 1, Level 1(6–8-year-olds): The Village and the Giant

A village enters a competition to be the “best village community in the country.” However, theirplans are thwarted by the presence of a troublesome giant who is making a mess and beingantisocial. What does this giant want? Can the villagers help him to fit into the community and,if so, how can they do so while still maintaining their best village status? The specific GCE/SDElearning focus was based on the following Oxfam (2006) descriptors:

• value and respect for diversity (inclusion, fairness and equality);• working together (co-operation, development of self-esteem, willingness to make a differ-

ence);• rights and responsibilities (needs and wants, making informed decisions); and• critical thinking (asking questions, listening to others with respect, expressing opinions,

justifying reasons).

Year 1, Level 2 (9–11-year-olds): The Water Source

A remote, generally self-sufficient community, reliant on one water source, is asked to offer refugeto people who have become displaced as their water supply has dried up. Will they help? How doesthe extended community share the resources? What happens when the extended community alsobegins to suffer from water shortages? How can the community survive? The specific GCE/SDElearning focus was based on Oxfam (2006) descriptors, as follows:

• sustainable development: valuing resources (the “preciousness” of water, sustainability ofharvesting, and consumption of natural resources);

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• participation and social justice (community cohesion, making informed decisions, willing-ness to make a difference);empathy (sense of common humanity, awareness, and compas-sion for the needs of others; concern for the environment); and

• critical thinking (asking questions, expressing opinions, justifying reasons, challenginginjustice).

In the second and third year, further Global Storyline topics focus on issues of how communitiesare affected by land grab, the effects of the vagaries of global commodities prices on small-scalerural farmers, and problems caused to communities and their way of life by the introduction oflarge-scale mineral extraction. (See Table 1.)

THE GLOBAL STORYLINES PROCESS AND HOW DRAMADRIVES THE STORY

It may be useful to offer the reader a brief overview of how a Global Storyline works. A storylinetopic is built around a number of “episodes” that gradually develop the line of the story. Crucially,a series of “key questions” drives the Storyline and shapes the learning intentions, and assessment,for each episode. A storyline topic usually lasts between six to eight weeks and encompassesmany areas of the curriculum. This example is based on The Water Source topic. In Table 1 abrief overview of the episodes is set out. “Context Building 1” exemplifies the planner: how keyquestions, learning intentions, pupil activities, and assessment opportunities are planned for eachepisode. In The Water Source, the teacher and learners begin by studying a number of geographicallocations and features to help them decide on a suitable environment in which to base the storyof “a remote community with only one water source.” The class then works together to createa visual representation in the form of a large frieze, of the particular environment (for example,different classes decided on an island, a mountain, and a desert community). They then create theindividual characters who comprise the community within that environment. Each pupil has theresponsibility for, and ownership of, one character. After extensive discussion and negotiation,each makes a small representation of the character to add to the frieze and composes a biography.In this case, because in storyline, the teacher always holds the “line” of the story, all of thecharacters must have some responsibility for working with or looking after the community’swater source (for example, plumber, engineer, scientist, cook). As the storyline episodes unfold,the pupils bring the characters “to life” in drama. Many curricular links are made throughout thetopic, for example, social studies (understanding needs and wants in a community), and science(studying the importance of water and looking at access to and uses of water by humans). Thusthe context for the Global Storyline is developed.

Dilemmas and issues drive every storyline in a series of “episodes” and present problems for thecharacters that the learners must try to address. Each episode serves as a context through which anumber of ESD/GCE issues and learning opportunities, and curriculum areas, are addressed. Thechildren can become very involved in the unfolding lives of the characters and, thus, motivationis high. In episode 1 of the Water Source, the children were asked to recreate, using mime,movement, and simple musical instruments, the water celebration held each year by the peopleof the community. This involved researching formal ceremony, customs and traditions in variouscultures and devising their own ceremony. In episode 2, the children look more closely at roles

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22 GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP THROUGH DRAMA

TABLE 1The Water Source Storyline: Examples of Questions, Learning Intentions and Activities, Story Development

and Drama

Global storyline planner: The Water Source, Level 2 (9–11 year-olds)

Storyline episode Key questions Learning intentions Learner activities Assessment

Context-building 1:A Remote

Community(no drama)

• Where are we?• What is the

environmentlike?

• Who lives here?• What are their

needs?• How does their

environmentaffect theirlives?

• To work together todecide the environmentand characters for thestory

• To understand that weare all members ofmany different kinds ofcommunities, includinga global one.

• To work together toagree on the basicneeds of the Storylinecommunity within thechosen environment

• To understand the rolesand needs of differentmembers of thecommunity

• To understand thedifference betweenneeds and wants.

• Discuss possibleremote environments,e.g., forest, mountain,coastal, island, desert,tundra . . .

• Make initial decisionon setting theenvironment for theStoryline; remindpupils that this isflexible at this stage.

• Explore what the term“community”means—whatcommunities do webelong to? What arethe needs of our localcommunity? What dowe contribute to ourcommunity? Chooserelevant activitiesfrom Save theChildren’s “What is aCommunity?” lessonideas.

• Make initial decisionon who lives in thissetting

What could be the needsof the community inthe Storyline setting?Christian Aid “GlobalClass” activity;British Council/UNICEF wants andneeds activity

• Pupils make initialclass concept-map ofthe setting.

• How do pupilsdescribe acommunity andexplaining thedifferent kinds ofcommunities theybelong to?

• How do pupilsdemonstrate anunderstanding ofthe differencebetween luxuryand necessity?

• How do pupilsdemonstraterespect fordiversity withintheir communitymembers?

Context building 2: Our Water Source: The Heart of the Community (no drama)

Episode 1: Water Celebration Day (drama: Water source celebration ritual; music with simple instruments; movement;choral interpretation of simple community-based texts)

(continued on next page)

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TABLE 1The Water Source Storyline: Examples of Questions, Learning Intentions and Activities, Story Development

and Drama. (continued)

Episode 2: A Day in the Life (drama: Still image, occupational mime and role-play of daily routines and responsibilities;small-group improvisation demonstrating and justifying community roles)

Episode 3: A Stranger Arrives with a Worrying Message (drama: Whole-group meeting with teacher-in-role as strangerseeking help from the community; conscience alley decision making. Should we help?)

Episode 4: The Other Community Arrives (drama: Linked still images—leaving the old life behind; thoughttracking.—What do we REALLY think? Silent pairs improvisation. Sharing old and new ways)

Episode 5: The Water Is Drying Up (drama: Overheard character (teacher in role). A member of the communitydiscovers a problem with the water source; hot-seating teacher-in-role. Who is to blame? Whole class human“sociogram” demonstrating range of opinions on both sides and justifying position taken)

Episode 6: How Does It End? The Big Debate (drama: Whole-group improvisation with teacher in role; prepared groupimprovisation; speaking/performing to camera as impartial outside news crews)

and responsibilities within the Water community and consider, in role during the drama, how todeal with potential rule breakers (for example, those who waste water). Activities such as the Hart(1992) UNICEF participation ladder help to focus the children on the causes and consequencesof antisocial behavior. In episode 3, things take a dramatic turn for the community when, in thedrama, a stranger (teacher-in-role) arrives and discloses that she has been sent from her verysimilar community to seek aid. In her community, the water source has dried up and they areasking for refuge. This dilemma for the people of the Water Source is the driver for the rest ofthe story. In episode 4, the focus changes and the children view life from the perspective of thedrought community. They take on roles as parallel characters in the other community. This is animportant element of the storyline as the children are able to explore refugees/displacement fromthe points of view of both the incomers and the host community. In episode 5 of the Water Source,the community learns, through observing a character (teacher-in-role) making the discovery, thattheir water has begun to dry up. Causes and consequences, and blame and recriminations, areexplored. The final episode focuses on how life changes for communities faced with water povertyusing activities such as, consequences chain (Oxfam, 2006) and possible/probable futures (Hicks,2001) and culminating in a debate in which the two communities strive to find ways to worktogether. The topic concludes with an invitation to the school, parents, and community to viewpresentations of some the children’s work and learning.

In the Water Source topic, as in all of the Global Storylines, the conventions and strategiesof educational drama allow the learners not only to learn about the characters but, for a shorttime, to be the characters. They examine the environmental (and associated social and economic)problems faced by the community. Working in and out of role, they explore the causes andconsequences of a range of responses to the environmental problems using “what if” strategies(Egan, 1992) to suggest alternatives and to reach conclusions. Based on the previous researchfindings, (McNaughton, 2008) it was anticipated that participation in the dramas would enablethe participants to relate more fully to the learning context and with each other and, thus, toexperience vicariously the environmental problems and issues that confront communities andindividuals and would strengthen and enhance learning. In the following sections, this article

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discusses the data from the teachers’ reflective accounts that related specifically to the linksbetween drama and learning GCE/ESD (rather than learning from the entire Storyline pedagogy).Then, with reference to the relationships model (McNaughton, 2008), it goes on to suggest whydrama might make a valuable contribution to pupils’ effective learning in ESD/GCE.

WHAT THE TEACHERS WROTE ABOUT DRAMA AND GCE/SDE:DATA FROM REFLECTIVE LOGS

In their learning logs, the teachers were asked to describe and reflect on their experiences ofusing the Global Storyline. This provided the research team with an extensive amount of richdata. In this section, the data from the logs, which specifically relates to the drama element ofthe project, was gathered and examples presented under three subheadings: evidence of pupillearning; reflections on effective drama pedagogy; and reflections on their own learning in andvalues about GCE/SDE-drama. The data are presented and discussed in terms of the three projectaims set out in the Research Methodology section here.

Data Related to Pupil Learning

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the teachers focused much of their learning log commentaries on theirdescriptions of and reflections on the pupils’ learning. In each teacher’s logs the pupils’ learningwas attributed, at least in part, to their participation in the drama related to the topic. Three maincategories of pupil learning emerged from the analysis: learning in sustainable development;critical thinking skills; and values, respect, and empathy.

Learning in sustainable development. All of the teachers identified aspects of learning inand about sustainable development that were addressed through the drama. Although it was clearthat most of the knowledge-based learning took place during classroom research and discussiontasks, the teachers were very clear that the engagement in the GCE-drama aspects of the topichelped to establish a meaningful context within which the children could focus their ESD/GCElearning. The pupils’ awareness of the range and diversity of environmental issues was alsodeemed to have increased. Teachers wrote:

I think that because they’ve “been” a community, my class is now really interested in finding outabout other communities—in other places in the world. We now have the globe out constantly. Andthey are finding out stuff at home. I was amazed they wanted to talk about the Chilean Miners andthe flooding in Australia—they are aware! (Teacher B)

It was great to see children’s curiosity and interest growing about the water poverty problems facingtheir fictional community. They are more aware now of similar issues in the world that I thought theywould be. (Teacher C)

Engaging in drama, the teachers reported, helped the pupils to make connections between theenvironmental issues facing the fictional drama communities and related “real world” issues.

Critical thinking skills. An area of development in understanding and skills, identified byall of the teachers, was critical thinking. They cited many examples of how the drama offered

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the pupils opportunities to, for example, conceptualize, analyze, synthesize, make reasonedarguments and evaluate all skills that underpin ESD/GCE. Many of the teachers expressedsurprise (and delight) at the high level of reasoning and debate occurring during the drama. Thefictional communities were required to make difficult decisions about their future (Should theyallow the giant to be in their community? Should they offer help to potential refugees? And atwhat cost?) Teacher D wrote:

Pupils asked for and listened to others’ opinions in role at the committee meeting, putting forwardreasoned arguments for and against taking the Giant into the community. (Teacher D)

Teacher A wrote of a debate held during a drama lesson in the Water Source topic:

Some responded to criticism at the meeting by saying things like: “I know you feel angry about thisbut . . . ”; “I can see why you would think that but . . . ”; “Although I don’t agree with what you aresaying I think your complaint shows us that next year we should . . . ” No one in group felt criticismwas personal—the group had made the decision so the group should deal with the criticism was thegeneral feeling. (Teacher A)

The drama also offered the pupils many opportunities to experience the effects of lack of criticalthinking: prejudice, simplistic responses, and misunderstandings. Writing of a “gossip” scenewithin the Water Source drama, Teacher F noted:

The pupils did look at different viewpoints and realized how they were being manipulated by whatothers were telling them. They said it was fun portraying people behaving in a way they, as pupils,knew they shouldn’t. They also felt annoyed in character when people were saying things about themthat were not true and frustrated that they could not get people to listen to them. They agreed thatonce gossip begins it is very hard to convince people that there is not some element of truth in it.(Teacher F)

Here, the teacher has described how, within the fiction, their characters were able to communicate,and experience, negative or prejudiced ideas and values. Out of role, they would explore the effectsof prejudice, both on the fictional community and, later, in relation to issues in the real world.

Values, respect, and empathy. The drama was deemed by the teachers to have beenparticularly useful in developing positive environmental and citizenship values, and in helpingthe pupils to explore their personal views, and the views of others, both in and out of role. Theyexpressed concern for the fictional environment and for social justice issues. This concern, theteachers believed, was brought back from the drama into the real world concerns that were beingexplored in the topics:

I was surprised at how much the children responded to the need for the community to protect andvalue their water source. Their characters selected jobs that helped to monitor water use, cleanliness,anti-pollution measures, fair distribution, etc. (Teacher G)

The children were concerned that giant would be hurt and they were very against this. (Teacher H)

I feel the children have a growing commitment to social justice. They are very willing to speak upfor others and were happy to learn from the “incomers.” (Teacher A)

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In all of the teachers’ commentaries the level of empathy engendered by the drama was noted.They reflected that, over time, the drama process had offered opportunities for learners to beginto form a deeper understanding of, and empathy with, their Storyline drama characters and theirsituations. They were aware of the social and environmental dilemmas facing the characters andthey expressed concern for, and understanding of these, both in and out of role:

The children really seemed to care what happened to their characters. It was as if “becoming” thecharacters in the drama gave them a deeper and more personal insight into the plight of peoplewho were dispossessed as a result of economic and environmental factors beyond their control.(Teacher B)

The children showed empathy with the situation of the giant, by showing interest in him/his feelings/hisattempts at being “friends” in difficult circumstances. They displayed understanding about commonneeds and about having compassion for others in different situations to themselves. (Teacher J)

Many teachers also note, and were touched by, the way that children responded with kindnessand respect to each other while in role, welcoming newcomers, helping, teaching, and beingsupportive:

I was pleasantly surprised at the level of empathy, showing patience when teaching each other newskills. At no point did they think the newcomers should act in a way that they didn’t care aboutlearning and the existing members didn’t feel they should get fed up or frustrated. (Teacher B)

Pupils are becoming increasingly respectful of different viewpoints and are more willing to considerthe opinions of others. This was evident during the debate to decide whether villagers would meetthe giant or not. (Teacher E)

Wow! The children instantly wanted the other community to join us. “We have room.” “They mightdie.” “We said we needed more help.” (Teacher M)

In summary, the teachers’ views were that participation in the drama had enabled their pupils todevelop positive environmental and social disposition toward learning and toward environmentalissues.

Data Related to Effective Pedagogy in Drama

The teachers were asked to include specific comments on their use of drama in their logs.During the pre-topic training days, the drama aspect was the one area that all of the teachers hadidentified as engendering most nervousness. As part of the training, drama workshops affordedthe teachers opportunities to experience a wide range of the drama conventions and techniques,and to ask questions about drama pedagogy. Because including drama in the Storyline topics wasone of the project innovations, the research team was particularly interested to read the teacherscomments relating to this. In fact, the teachers’ responses were overwhelmingly positive. Of therange of drama conventions and techniques used in the dramas, three in particular impressedthe teachers: whole class improvisation with teacher-in-role; conscience alley; and still/movingimage (sometimes with thought tracking). These form the focus of the following discussion.

Whole class improvised role play, with teacher-in-role. In whole class improvisation,sometimes called “living-through” drama, the participants attempt to recreate a situation in away that it might happen in real life. This convention lies at the heart of educational drama.

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Bolton (1998) noted that in this sort of improvisation, although the participants behave “as if”the situation is real, they are also fully aware that they are pretending. Learning takes place, hesays, because of the tension of maintaining a balance between the real and the imagined worlds.An important aspect of the training for the teachers was to give them strategies to help them towork in role alongside the pupils, teaching and facilitating learning from within the drama. Akey strategy, and one mentioned by almost all of the teachers was the use of the phrase, “Stopthe drama,” if at any time they felt that they wanted to explore out of role the direction that thechildren’s improvisation was taking. Teacher F wrote:

I was taking the part of the dissident villager who didn’t want to take part in the community. Thechildren’s reaction to me was very angry so I stopped the drama. This gave us an ideal opportunity tolook at conflict resolution. We then continued from where we left off. The children are really enjoyingit. They are thinking quite deeply about their roles. (Teacher F)

At some point in the logs, every one of the teachers expressed surprise, and often delight, at howeasily the pupils got into role and how they were engaged with and committed to the communitiesthey were recreating:

It’s surprising how well the children react to being in role. I thought they would hate changing roles[to the characters in the second community]. They quickly understood that this was the next part ofthe story and they showed a real awareness of similarities/differences between the two communities.(Teacher A)

The children [as villagers] were totally engaged in talking to the giant and in trying to help him tobecome part of their community. Brilliant! (Teacher D)

At some times in the dramas, the teacher was required to take on a lower status role, perhapsseeking help or advice, while the children’s characters held the balance of power. This wasboth exhilarating and challenging for the teachers, though many found that it led to particularlyhigh-quality learning—and high-quality teaching:

I feel the cross-questioning of myself as the stranger was very positive in that some quieter pupilswere able to speak to me in a less respectful and more persistent way than they would normally. Therewas a role reversal that I think made them feel quite powerful and to be honest made me feel slightlyunder attack. It’s made me aware that it’s important to be prepared to relinquish your comfort zone asthe teacher especially as you are expecting the pupils to be more proactive in forming the outcomesof the lessons in taking on leadership roles themselves. (Teacher F)

When you’re in role, you have to really delve deeply to get true responses from pupils rather than thesuperficial correct answers that they are used to giving in lessons. Being characters allowed pupils todiscuss and portray ideas that perhaps help them to explain why people think and behave as they dotowards each other and the environment. (Teacher M)

Almost all of the teachers commented on the importance of out-of-role reflection. It was important,they observed, to debrief: to help the pupils make connections between their experiences withinthe drama and the “real life” aspects of the topic that they were studying. Indeed, Teacher Breflected that it was in the debriefing sessions and follow-up lessons that the power of the dramaas a learning medium could really be observed.

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Conscience alley. The convention of conscience alley uses the art form of drama to exploretwo opposite perspectives on an issue. It is often used when a character needs to make a decisionor to reach a conclusion and is often the culminating activity in a scene. All drama participantsare asked to stand in two lines, facing each other, forming an “alley.” A nominated person,representing a character who is facing some sort of dilemma (sometimes the teacher-in-role),walks between the two lines. The two lines represent the internal voice (or conscience) of thecharacter and, as the character passes, a person from each line, in turn, offers a point of view foror against the dilemma. For example, in the Water Source drama, the community leader was giventhe task of deciding whether the refugees should be taken into the community. Teacher-in-roleas the community leader walked between the two lines while her “internal voice” was provided bythe participants: “They will use up our resources”; “They may have new skills that we can profitfrom.” The teachers found this a particularly useful way of summarizing a range of perspectivesand helping the pupils to articulate difficult concepts:

Taking a role in conscience alley was really good at helping the children to present reasoned argumentsfrom their characters’ point of view and to persuade my character to think about how she felt andwhat she believed. (Teacher M)

I love conscience alley! The way the children can present a reasoned argument and try to persuadeothers with their cases. (Teacher B)

The evidence from the teachers, then, suggests that the convention of conscience alley affordedthe pupils opportunities to develop a range of critical thinking skills necessary for successfulESD/GCE.

Still image (sometimes with thought tracking). The use of still image is a well-recognizedconvention in the art form of drama. It is used to isolate and depict a “moment in time” of astory, and participants have to consider both the external and internal action of the characters inthat moment (for example, on hearing bad news or being faced with a surprise). Images can bemade individually or in groups. Creating a series of linked still images can extend the convention.Still image can also be extended to include thought tracking, when each person in turn, bringsthe character to life for a few seconds, and speaks the internal thoughts of that character in thatmoment. The teachers found that using the conventions helped the pupils to think deeply aboutthe fictional characters’ responses to a specific incident, both physical and emotional, and toexpress this accurately and succinctly:

What I liked about the still images and slow motion was that it really slowed the children down andgot them to think about all aspects of the characters, their feelings and what that would look like intheir bodies. (Teacher A)

The series of still images in leaving scene was very emotional. One child said “standing there withthe music playing made me feel really sad for them.” (Teacher C)

These conventions were also used a way of sharing interpretations of events with the rest of thegroup, who acted as an audience and offered opportunities to extend their ideas:

When pupils had the opportunity to view images and mimes from other groups, they then used differentideas and viewpoints to make changes to their own ideas. They were able to resolve problems andreach compromises. (Teacher E)

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Many of the teachers recognized that power of convention of still image lay in its use ofkinesthetic rather than verbal responses. By “doing and showing” rather than “describing andexplaining,” the pupils were able to tap into another mode of learning, one that is particular todrama.

Data Related to Teachers’ Own Learning and Values

In the logs, the teachers seemed much more comfortable writing about the development of thechildren’s learning and the pedagogy of Global Storylines than they were in reflecting on theirown learning. However, all of the teachers described how their teaching modes had been extendedand how their attitudes toward the children, and their abilities, has changed. Eight of the sixteenlogs also contained statements about how the teachers’ own awareness of and interest in globalissues had developed as a result of taking part in the project. Several themes emerged.

A common theme among almost all of the teachers was that of feeling that they had previouslyunderestimated the pupils’ ability to understand, and to empathize with, some of the complexissues underpinning the Global Storyline topics. The drama seemed to provide a medium for thedevelopment of these concepts:

At first I was really sceptical about this whole process, about letting the children make decisionsand not always agreeing with them. I found it very hard at first to stand back—it felt like not beingin control. But as the topic went on I was so surprised by the children’s ideas and their involve-ment. They really CARED about the people and made all sorts of imaginative plans to help them.(Teacher M)

Another theme that emerged was that of the teachers’ increased confidence, their willingness totake a chance on the pupils making decisions that they might not agree with:

I was relieved that the pupils voted to allow the other community to join us. It was by no meanscertain how things would go based on the arguments being put forward. (Teacher C)

After the debate was won marginally by the group who wanted the new members of the communityto leave one pupil stated, “So you are willing to be responsible for mass murder then?” We then hadto stop the drama and come out of role to discuss how comments like that are inflammatory and canlead to arguments. We also made it clear that after the drama was over, we come out of role and weleave the characters behind in the fiction of the story. (Teacher F)

This last statement demonstrates that the teacher had developed confidence in using the dramaeffectively to help the children explore and deal with issues of conflict resolution, an importantaspect of ESD/GCE.

In their logs, most of the teachers reflected that they believed that their own awareness ofsustainability and global citizenship issues had increased as a result of participating in the topics:

This project is challenging the pupils to think about issues in a very real way and giving them theopportunity to explore real issues. At the same time, I had to think about the issues and the more Ifound out, the more I began to realize how difficult life is in some parts of the world. (Teacher E)

I find myself looking at news stories about water and food issues in a different way. I used to thinkthat there was nothing I could do; now I try to think of things I can do. (Teacher A)

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Although few teachers related this growth in awareness directly to the use of drama, there isperhaps an implication that the participation in drama made at least some small contribution here.

The Pupils’ Views

Finally, in this section, I think it is illuminating to present a few of the quotes from the pupils,reported by the teachers:

Now I think we take water for granted and waste it and if we do that, we kind of don’t think aboutpeople in other countries. In the drama, the people really appreciated their water and looked after it.(Pupil A)

I think we should continue to learn in this way because it’s a new way and more interesting than justresearching it. You get to act it out. (Pupil M)

I though drama was a good idea, because it was kind of like using both sides of your brain—thecreative part and the research side. (Pupil D)

If we’d just learned about water and how it affects the world, you wouldn’t have the same emotions,you wouldn’t have the emotional aspect where you learned about it and then you felt what it wouldbe like, well not really, but like a sample of what it would be like to actually experience that. Whereasif you’re just learning about it you’re just thinking about it, like “Oh that must have been really bad,”but you don’t actually know, you just think you know. (Pupil F)

To conclude, the storyline topics’ aims were that the learners should develop knowledge andawareness about the ESD/GCE issues involved, should develop positive attitudes toward theenvironment and should feel empowered to take action in the fictional and the actual environment.All but two teachers noted that, as well as demonstrating awareness, expressing opinions, andtaking action within the school-based activities, many of the learners carried out additionalactivities away from school, in their own time, for example: Internet searches; home waste andpurchase checks; and talking to their parents about environmental and global citizenship issues.

THE RELATIONSHIPS MODEL: A VIEW OF THE CONTRIBUTIONOF DRAMA IN GCE/ESD

In the previous section, the teachers’ comments relating to drama were presented and analyzed.However, it is possible to undertake a storyline topic without using drama. Indeed, the inclusion ofdrama as a key pedagogical component of the storyline process is unique to the Global Storylinesmethod. It is for this reason that one of the threads of the research sought specifically to examinethe teachers’ responses to using drama (often for the first time) in an EDS/GCE-based topic. Theanalysis of the teachers’ reflective logs revealed evidence that matches relationships themes setout in the model developed by McNaughton (2008). In this, the nature of the relationships withindrama-GCE lessons was broken down into four subthemes:

1. The participants’ relationships with the learning context;2. The participants’ relationship with the fictional context;3. The relationships between the participant learners; and4. The relationships between the teacher and the learners.

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In the following sections, the four relationships themes are addressed in relation to the analysisof the teachers’ (and pupils’) responses to the Global Storylines drama. They suggest why dramamight be an effective pedagogical tool to facilitate learning in GCE/SDE.

Participants’ Relationships With the Learning Context

The drama lessons in this research were predicated on the belief that learners learn best whenthey are actively engaged, when the learning contexts are meaningful, and when learners areactive partners in the process, rather than passive recipients of information and data (Bruner,1961, 1996). It was important for both the teacher and the learners that the contexts and contentof the lessons were engaging and were seen as relevant (Black & Williams, 1998). Ensuring thatthe learners were aware of the purposes of the activities from the teacher’s perspective affordedthem high status within the learning experience and allowed them to monitor and evaluate thelearning processes.

The lessons not only integrated the areas of drama and ESD/GCE, they also provided acontext for making connections through cross-curricular learning, for example in informationand communications technology, reading, writing, art, geography, science, and music. Within thedrama lessons, the learners and the teacher had opportunities to engage in a range of activitiesthat provided them with opportunities to experience four of modes of learning: “living through”concrete experiences; actively experimenting; planning and thinking; and reflecting on theiractions and the action of others (Bolton, 1998; Kolb, 1984).

Participants’ Relationships With the Fictional Context

Csıkszentmihalyi (2002) uses the term “flow” to describe the state in which learners are fullyimmersed and involved in a creative experience. The teachers reflected that not only the learnersbut they too felt at times that they were “in the moment” of the drama and that they were energizedand uplifted by the experience. The stories of the SD/GC problems faced by the characters werecentral to the Global Storylines, and all of the participants became caught up in these. O’Tooleand Dunn (2002) describe it thus:

In drama, we can investigate what those imagined people in that situation might do, or did do, anddiscover why they behaved in that way. In the drama class it is safe because we can stop the pretenceat any time we like, and walk away unscathed . . . but not untouched—we will know and understandmore because, briefly but as authentically as we may, we have been there ourselves. (p. 3)

However, it is important to note that although initially situated in the fictional world of the dramastory, ultimately, in each of the topics, the learning was opened out into the context of authentic,parallel real world problems. In addition, within the fictional context of the drama the characterswere afforded many opportunities to plan for and take positive, sustainable action to try to addressthe issues they faced, thus allowing the learners meaningful ways to rehearse skills for activeenvironmental citizenship (McNaughton, 2010).

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Relationships Between the Participant Learners

The teachers cited a good deal of evidence to support their claim that, within the drama lessons, thelearners were able to work collaboratively in ways that enhanced individual and group learning.They worked together to share their ideas and impressions about what had occurred, and to planfuture actions or possible responses (Huckle, 2002). Skills in communicating and collaborating,central to environmental citizenship, were practiced and developed.

The whole group participation in the creation of the fictional communities within the dramalessons allowed the whole class to experience what Bolton (1998, p. 271) describes as “beingpart of a collective enterprise, culturally determined in language and action.” Both the “real”classes of learners and the fictional communities shared common goals. For the class, there wasthe goal of developing and maintaining the fictional context. For the fictional community, therewas the goal of enhancing or sustaining the environment in which they lived. Teachers reportedthat during the drama work there were very few instances of disruption or negative behavior, asthe learners appeared to be aware of their responsibility to the collective task. Respect for others,and for one’s self, central to sustainable development and citizenship education (LTS, 2002), wasevident throughout the drama lessons.

A unique feature of drama is the physical and kinesthetic aspect of the learners’ experiencesand relationships. A feature of the drama that all of the teachers found surprising was thelearners’ apparent comfort with physical proximity during a lot of the drama work: touching,moving together, and exploring relationships through posture and gesture. This research suggeststhat drama can add this “human dimension” (Hertenstein, Verkamp, Herestes, & Holmes, 2007,p. 19) to environmental learning, unavailable in any other learning mode.

Relationships Between the Teacher and the Learners

There is evidence that, although there were pre-stated learning outcomes in ESD/GCE, and pre-planned drama story outlines, the teaching was responsive and reactive to the learners’ activeparticipation, decisions, views and ideas, rather than seeking to impose rigid lesson structureson the learners. Thus, the drama afforded teachers strategies with which to create a positiveclassroom climate (Massey, 2003).

A particular aspect of the drama work that the teachers were most surprised by and enthusiasticabout was their teacher-in-role work alongside the learners, especially when these were low-status roles. High-status learner roles enabled the teacher-in-role to seek help and advice, to beinterrogated, and to be ignored and defied, all of which were relationships outside the normalclassroom pupil-teacher dynamic (Bolton, 1998). The project teachers recognized that thesestrategies were predicated on a certain set of teacher values about the nature of teaching andlearning (Hayward, 2007): that learning is a democratic process and that the teacher’s role is tooffer strategies that facilitate learning rather than imposing it. The evidence suggests that theserelationships, and the open sharing of reflections and evaluations between the teacher and thelearners, were instrumental in allowing learning in ESD/GCE to take place. They also noted thatthe learners were more willing to engage in critical discussion about aspects of their own and theteachers’ work, and the teachers had to be open enough to accept this in the spirit in which it was

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offered: mutual respect and the desire to work toward the common goal of positive environmentalcitizenship.

FINAL DISCUSSION

The data from the teachers’ reflective commentaries suggest that, with in the Global Storylinesproject, the educational drama offers access to combination of powerful, and sometimes unique,pedagogical tools. These, it might be suggested, helped the learners to explore the difficult, andsometimes controversial, ESD/GCE issues that emerged from the storylines. The teachers inthe project highlighted the fact that going from the particular (the specific story) to the general(parallel stories developing awareness of real-world issues) was facilitated by the story and thedrama. The children were able to understand and empathize with the plight of their people, in theirstory: they had “been” these people. This provided a frame though which to view highly complexissues and events. The use of a number of excellent support materials designed by, for example,OXFAM, helped to break down the issues into manageable, age-appropriate steps. It was alsoimportant, given the age of the children, to end each Storyline on a note of hope, though not oneof unrealistic optimism. Looking at real-life examples of how various communities throughoutthe world have dealt with, and are dealing with, environmental and social threats in positive ways,helps to ground the Global Storylines learning firmly in the real world. The data from the Year1 teachers suggest that the participation in this integrated approach also extends and deepens thelearners’ affective response to the issues being explored, encouraging the development empathyand allowing the learners to identify with the issues on a “human” level (Jarvis & Parker, 2005).

It is important to emphasize that Global Storylines, built on an integrated, holistic pedagogicalapproach, was developed as a way to help teachers address the new Scottish curriculum. InCurriculum for Excellence (Scottish Government, 2008) educators are advised that:

Learning should be made available in a range of ways including interdisciplinary learning and a rangeof opportunities which ensure a broad approach, enabling, for example, a coherent understanding ofenvironmental issues. (p. 5)

After 15 years of working with a more subject-based curriculum, Curriculum 5–14, many teach-ers felt insecure and underskilled when faced with planning for more open-ended, integratedapproaches to learning. Now, in the third year of the project, and with considerable evidence thatthe pedagogy meets many of the success criteria of the Scottish government, Global Storylineshas been recognized by Education Scotland, established in 2011 as a key national body support-ing quality and improvement in Scottish education, as making a useful contribution to effectivecurriculum delivery. However, the methodology is not straightforward and many teachers willneed some support to ensure effective implementation. To that end, a number of three-day train-ing courses have been proposed and these will begin to be rolled out across Scotland in 2013.It is anticipated that individual schools will fund teacher attendance at these courses from theirstaff-development budget. Recently, several countries hoping to build Global Storylines traininginto their educational programs have approached the project for advice.

It must be recognized here that not all education systems favor an integrated approach tolearning. However, as the data from the Global Storylines project accumulates and is disseminated,is it anticipated that it will be possible to demonstrate that integrated, cross-curricular methods do

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not in any way preclude the development of specific subject-based knowledge and skills. Indeed,offering a meaningful context through which to study the individual subjects included within theGlobal Storyline can strengthen and extend learning and understanding. It must also be recognizedthat Global Storylines is viewed as only one approach from a wide menu that should be availablewithin the school year. Other complementary approaches, both traditional and progressive, willoffer pupils the best chance of a “broad general education” (Scottish Government, 2008, p. 5). Theproject also aims to offer secondary educators from disciplines such geography or science—areasthat might be viewed as the more traditional home of ESD/GCE—ways of extending theirpedagogy and of working collaboratively.

For many teachers, including those within the project, using educational drama within theGlobal Storylines approach is a rather daunting prospect. At the beginning of the three-dayGlobal Storylines training for the project teachers, the participation in drama was the area thatalmost all identified as being most nervous about. However, as the training progressed, and whenthe teachers used drama within the projects in school, there was a marked change in their attitudesand confidence:

Before the project, I would never have used drama with my class, especially teacher-in-role, as I feltthat it was something outside my expertise. Now I can’t see how I could do a Global Storyline withoutdrama. The children respond so well and get so much out of it. (Teacher M)

Here, again, the role of training was very important. This demystified the drama techniques anddemonstrated how they could be part of the teaching and learning process. Several excellenttexts, for example Baldwin (2009) and Winston and Tandy (2009) also helped to set out clear andunambiguous advice for the non-specialist.

The evidence from this research suggests that the intersubjectivity (McKenzie, 2008) ofdrama activities within the Global Storylines, that is, the personally experienced making andsharing of meaning among the drama participants, allows the participants to explore and developrelationships among themselves and with the environmental contexts of the drama. The individualand collective responses to the environmental issues that arose within the fictional societiesembodied by the participants facilitated opportunities for the development of what might beconsidered as positive environmental citizenship.

However, Jensen and Schnack (2006) identify criticisms of “simulations, games, role plays,etc., and their artificial ‘as if” situation” (p. 435) as the reasons that many schools now favor anenvironment-based, action-orientated perspective in ESD/GCE. There are, they claim, “increaseddemands to authenticity and thus, also, for participation in the reality of society as part of teaching”(Jensen & Schnack, 2006, p. 435). These criticisms come, perhaps, from a lack of appreciationof the complex, critical, and reflective nature of well-executed educational drama. I suggest thatthis research offers ESD/GCE educators a model that analyzes the underpinning pedagogical andsociological dimensions of the themes that can be addressed through the educational drama usedduring the project. Thus, it may extend the repertoire of educational methods to help learnersto deepen their understanding of and experience in dealing with complex environmental andcitizenship issues.

UNESCO (2012) makes clear its views that increasing the amount of education is not enoughto ensure a more sustainable future: the quality and relevance of the education is at least asimportant as the quantity. The advice is that educational planners and policy makers should seekto develop programs based on holistic and interdisciplinary approaches. It asserts that quality

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education should be based on the four pillars of education for all—learning to know; learningto do; learning to live together and with others; and learning to be (Delors et al., 1996). In thiscontext too, this research makes a contribution to the field in terms of demonstrating that thetype of drama strategies used as part of the Global Storylines topics can be effective in helpingto make links across the curriculum and in providing children with meaningful contexts in whichconcepts in sustainable development and global citizenship can be explored and skills developedand practiced. In addition, through the activities both in-role and outofrole, a range of attitudesand values may be considered.

In conclusion, this article recognizes that drama is not the only, or even the major, toolin ESD/GCE. Many aspects of the knowledge and skills developed during the topics werebest undertaken in the pre- and post-drama classroom-based lessons. However, strong evidencesuggests that the educational drama within the Global Storylines provided the participants, bothteachers and learners, with meaningful contexts and real purposes for extending their learningabout, and responses to, the environmental, social, economic, and political issues facing humanityin the twenty-first century.

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