Creativity in drama : explanations and explorations

Educational rhetoric often includes calls for teachers to promote creativity in the classroom. The concept of creativity is not often unpacked or explored, especially in relation to specific curriculum areas. This article seeks to explore what creativity in drama might mean, drawing on relevant literature and research with secondary drama students. Concepts drawn from socio-cultural and systems explanations of creativity signal the importance of building individual capacities but also domain knowledge and interactions with fields of other participants and exponents as central to the cultivation of creativity. Research involving drama educators and students suggests that specific features of creative practice in drama are the opportunities for students to engage in imaginative work that expresses their ideas through specific dramatic forms, the importance of the embodied kinaesthetic experience, the potential to work collaboratively with others and explore and perform versions of identity.