Theatre for Inclusion: Drama-Based Strategies for Diverse and Multicultural Classrooms
Introduction
Discover the transformative power of theatre to create inclusive, empathetic, and culturally responsive classrooms. This course equips educators with practical drama-based strategies to engage diverse learners, foster belonging, and address social issues through creative expression.
Description
This course explores the pedagogical potential of drama and theatre as powerful tools for fostering inclusion, equity, and intercultural understanding in diverse classrooms. Grounded in experiential learning and inclusive education frameworks, it equips educators with practical strategies to support learners from varied cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic backgrounds. Participants engage in embodied activities such as role-play, storytelling, and forum theatre, enabling the development of empathy, communication, and collaborative skills. The course addresses key challenges including bias, marginalisation, and language barriers, while promoting active participation and student voice. Through reflective practice and collaborative design, participants will learn to create safe, inclusive learning environments and adapt drama-based methodologies to their own teaching contexts.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
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Understand key principles of inclusive education and their application through drama pedagogy
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Use theatre-based techniques to foster empathy, perspective-taking, and intercultural awareness
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Design and facilitate inclusive drama activities for diverse and multilingual classrooms
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Apply strategies to support participation of learners with different abilities and needs
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Address stereotypes, bias, and social issues through creative and critical approaches
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Create safe and supportive learning environments that promote student voice and belonging
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Integrate drama-based methods into curriculum planning across subject areas
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Reflect critically on their teaching practice and adapt methodologies to their context
Methodology and Assessment
The course follows an experiential, learner-centred methodology combining practical workshops, collaborative learning, and reflective practice. Participants actively engage in drama-based activities, peer feedback, and micro-teaching sessions. Assessment is formative and continuous, based on participation, reflection, and the design and presentation of inclusive lesson plans.
Materials, Digital Tools & Other Learning Resources
Participants will use a range of creative materials including scripts, visual prompts, and storytelling tools. All materials are adaptable and designed for immediate classroom application.
Preparation
After registration participants will receive pre-course questionnaire which will be used by the trainer to learn about participants’ teaching backgrounds and to assess their exact needs. Before the beginning of the course a basic reading list will be suggested to participants to prepare for the training. Participants will also be asked to prepare a presentation about themselves, their professional context and their culture which will be presented during the course. Participants will receive information about the country they are going to visit in order to prepare them for their cultural experience.
Follow up
After the course participants will be asked to share what they have learned with the rest of the staff in their schools. Further books and articles to deepen the topic and contacts with some other practitioners all over Europe and in the world will be suggested by the trainer. The methods shared and explored and the bibliography given will allow the participants to complete and improve their educational path.
Certificate
Each participant will get a course attendance certificate and on request we will complete the Europass Mobility Document.
Accommodation
We do not directly offer accommodation and subsistence and participants are responsible for organizing it by themselves.
Paperwork
We also provide all the support with paperwork you might need for your Erasmus+ project documentation such as mobility agreement and registration letter.
Fee: 560 €
Cancelation policy
Free cancellation up to 30 days before the start. After that, the reservation is not refundable. Changes in name and profile of the participant are possible any time before the start of the course (replacement participants from the same school/org are accepted at any time). In case the school/org doesn't find a replacement, we will still offer a place at any of our confirmed courses later in the year without any additional costs but we can not guarantee that every course session will be confirmed and the school/org will only be offered to choose from already confirmed course sessions. In case it will not be possible for the participant to attend the course or for us to organize the course due to extraordinary circumstances (classified as such by the European Commission) which present themselves in the period of less than 30 days before the start of the course and we don’t manage to find an alternative solution, we will keep 50 % of the payment and refund the remaining balance of 50% to the payer’s bank account.
Draft Programme - 35 didactic hours
Day 1
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Welcome and introduction
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Outline of the programme
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Cultural exchange
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Warm ups and icebreakers
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Course expectations and needs analysis, setting up a collaborative learning environment and creating an educational contract
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Introduction to Drama pedagogy
Day 2
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Foundations of inclusive education
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Barriers to participation in classrooms
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Creating psychologically safe environments
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Drama as embodied and experiential learning
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Managing sensitive topics through drama
Day 3
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Exploring identity through drama
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Empathy and role-play
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Stereotypes and bias
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Inclusive classroom climate
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Drama rituals for group cohesion
Day 4
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Introduction to Process Drama
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Process Drama and inclusion
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Creating a shared fictional context
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Structuring a narrative
Day 5
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Deepening the fictional context
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Collaborative meaning-making
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Framing questions and dilemmas
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Ethical dilemmas in fictional contexts
Day 6
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Differentiation through drama
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Accessible drama techniques
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Scaffolding participation
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Reflecting from different perspectives
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Linking fiction to real-life contexts
Day 7
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Design of personal plan for implementation of drama-based strategies for diverse and multicultural classrooms
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Presentation of outputs(personal implementation plans)
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Group reflection, feedback and discussion
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Dissemination strategy and european dimension
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Validation of the learning outcomes
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Evaluation of the course
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Closing session