“In developing a drama pedagogy, the educator needs to be aware of creating an inquiry stance for dramatic interaction with toddlers to co-construct the narrative.” (Quinones et al., 2019, p. 15)

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In Developing a Drama Pedagogy for Toddler Education, Quinones, Ridgeway, and Li (2019) posited, with evidence from a case study, three qualities for a drama pedagogy with toddlers:

  1. A space that has dramatic qualities
  2. Dramatic interactions (i.e. educators and toddlers use of expressions, educator’s voice intonation)
  3. Conversational narratives through dialogue commentary, which “includes dialogic explanations that promote questioning and invite co-construction of dramatic action” (Quinones et al., 2019, p. 14)

These elements, they say, foster an inquiry stance in toddlers.

 

In the case study used to illustrate their conclusions, the authors described what to me, looked like a very ordinary moment in everyday early learning and care with very young children – the educator and three children went to look at the pet rabbits and had a conversation. Quinones, Ridgeway, and Li broke down this interaction and illustrated how each of their three qualities of drama pedagogy was present in this moment. The space where the rabbits are kept is a shared lobby of sorts in the childcare centre and with its interesting features (pets) and lighting, the authors asserted these as dramatic qualities. The invitational language, body language and expressions of the educator, and the engagement and response of the children were evidence of dramatic interactions. The dialogue commentary was evidenced by the educator’s inquiring attitude that encouraged the children to build on the narrative (Quinones et al., 2019)

 

While the authors focused on drama with toddlers (no age specified) instead of infants, I feel that their methodology is more closely aligned with infant practice than the vast body of literature on school-aged drama education. Further, it describes hundreds of interactions that already occur in infant and toddler centres. Fait accompli! Well, maybe not. Tune in tomorrow to see how it all ties together.

Reference

Quinones, G., Ridgway, A., & Li, L. (2019). Developing a drama pedagogy for toddler education. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 17(2), 140–156. https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X18823235