Speaker
Description
During the first Covid lockdown in spring 2020, Czech and Slovak drama teachers had to adapt to distance learning. The research gets a general overview of the teaching practices and map changes in them. I conducted surveys with 148 drama teachers and analysed the responses and lessons. Almost three quarters of drama teachers continued to teach during the first lockdown, but many of them reduced the number of lessons. The choice of drama strategies, creative process, focus, and tasks seems to have changed. Creative writing and performance analysis came to the fore. The creative process was often enriched with new art forms. The focus of the lessons tended to change to group and personal well-being. Adapting lessons usually led to a reduction in the complexity of the tasks. One of the main outcomes of this research is the website and Facebook group where drama teachers’ lessons and experiences are shared.
CV
Kateřina Žarnikov
Kateřina Žarnikov is drama teacher, PhD student of the programme Theory and Practice of Drama Education at the Theater Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, member Creative Dramatics Association (member of IDEA Europe). She has been teaching drama education for 15 years. She organizes and leads drama education workshops in the Czechia and Slovakia. During the COVID-lockdown she collected and shared experiences of Czech and Slovak drama teachers. In her doctoral research she compares the position of drama education in primary and lower secondary education in the Czech Republic and in neighboring countries.
