Perezhivanie and the experience of drama, metaxis and meaning making

Many educators have long understood that affective, social and experiential components impact on learning and in particular on longer lasting, meaningful learning. To further understand the dimensions of such experience and how this phenomenon may be understood, cultivated and researched, the concept of perezhivanie is being revitalised and interrogated. In the field of sociocultural or cultural–historical theory this concept builds on foundational work by the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. There are different understandings of perezhivanie and this paper examines how it may be conceptualised as a transformative phenomenon in educational contexts. It also offers some propositions regarding how researchers might be able to work with it conceptually as something that might be traced, analysed and cultivated. The paper will focus on the nature of educational drama experience, the notion of metaxis, and how these may contribute to perezhivanie, learning and meaning making.