Language Inclusion through Drama Project

Approximately 25% of young people in the Netherlands speak a language other than Dutch at home . It is crucial that teachers draw upon learners’ full linguistic repertoire in the classroom to nurture a sense of belonging, identity development and academic achievement. While (pre-service) teachers and teacher educators increasingly recognize the importance of employing linguistically diverse pedagogy, many have reported feeling ill-equipped to do so. An increasing body of research suggests that incorporating improvisational drama techniques (IDTs), such as role-plays, can serve as a promising approach for teachers to integrate home languages into the classroom. Offering activities in which learners wear this figurative ‘drama mask’ can create safety, in turn invoking greater participation in the learning process. Drama also allows participants to step into another’s shoes, thereby building empathy. Through the Language Inclusion through Drama Project, we will conduct a design study focused on creating a professional development program (PDP) to train teachers to integrate home languages into IDTs that will support sense of belonging and willingness to participate among learners. In Cycle 1 we will develop and implement the PDP prototype with a cohort of teacher educators, pre-service teachers and secondary school teachers, as each population possesses a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges related to multilingual drama pedagogy. We will examine which PDP characteristics foster teachers’ skills and self-efficacy to integrate home languages into IDTs. In Cycle 2, we will refine the PDP design and carry it out with a second cohort. In this cycle we will discover how teachers’ integration of home languages into IDTs support sense of belonging and willingness to participate. Our ultimate goal is to help teachers cultivate an inclusive space where all learners feel empowered to use their multilingual repertoire.