According to the Ancient Greeks, the purpose of theatre is "To teach and to please," but there's more ways to do this than putting on a play. Creative Dramatics is a term coined by Winifred Ward in the 1920s to refer to a broad spectrum of techniques that apply principles of theater and drama to the education of children. A formal theatrical presentation is only one way that children can benefit from the experiential learning that drama provides. Creative Dramatics demonstrates how theater games, improvisation, storytelling, and other activities can be incorporated into classroom work and guided by a teacher for the benefit of children with different learning styles.

Several years ago, Howard Gardener of Harvard University began a conversation about the way we learn and the multiple types of intelligences that human beings possess. For example, one student may struggle with linguistics but have an innate kinesthetic sense of things and excel at physical movement. Others may struggle to express themselves in discussion with their peers but be able to write with great ability. Educators have found that by designing classroom curricula that allow these different types of intelligence to be engaged adds greatly to the learning experience of students. The challenge was to find a form that utilized all the various facets of expression. Educators began to look at aspects of the dramatic process -- text analysis, speaking aloud, reflecting on meaning and intention, working together cooperatively, using the body for expression -- as a way to activate and nurture a range of learning styles.

In addition, a Brazilian theater practitioner, Augusto Boal, developed a method for using these same dramatic tools to empower oppressed individuals from all walks of life to raise up their voices, tell their own stories, speak to the needs of their individual communities.

In the fall of 2007, a handful of Boston College students will learn about these techniques while working alongside Professor Luke Jorgensen. For the first time for this course, they will then put these theories and techniques to the test when they help to work with twenty sixth-graders from the Brighton/Allston community. Students will be introduced to theater games and forms of improvisation and look at text from Aesop, Shakespeare, and other writers. While serving as a hands-on introduction to Creative Dramatics for BC students, the course also aims to challenge middle school students in the area to express themselves through creative dramatics, culminating with a live performance open to the community.