Theatre in education: A case of foreign language teaching in Italy

Abstract

Theatre in education is a form of applied theatre that is widely utilized in foreign, second, and/or additional language education. Even though several theoretical frameworks are provided, single cases play a key role to reflect on and to understand this hybrid entity of arts and education. This case study explains a case of Theatre in education company that provides theatre in education programmes for the schools in the north of Italy. The qualitative inquiry collected data by interviewing the theatre-makers about their experiences. Furthermore, the performances were observed in a certain rationale. The thematic analysis is grounded on code weights and code co-occurrences within the data. The results indicated that the programmes provide a learning experience that fosters active learner participation. The reasons that lead to learner participation are discussed; moreover, practical implications are given in the conclusion.