Spontaneous Dramatization as Dialogical Space in the School Context

Abstract

Abstract The use of dramatization as teaching/learning methodology, useful for the improvement of social, emotional, creative skills, and for the acquisition of knowledge on subject matters such as history, is an established field of research and practice. Yet, there are very few studies on children’s spontaneous dramatization in educational context and its potential role in development. The term dramatization, as we will use here, refers to the human activity of staging in narrative and ritualistic form, enacted through the whole person and multiple channels, communicative and self-presentation meanings. The school context is a privileged arena to observe spontaneous dramatization between peers and between children and adults. Besides, school everyday routine is often filled with staged dramatizations aimed for instance at building collective identity or providing moral orientation. We propose a new theoretical framework and analyse field observation in kindergarten and primary school to interpret spontaneous dramatization and collective school routines.