Theatre as metaphor and Perfomative Learning

The theatre in education does not only act as an instrument. A strong analogy may be drawn between the experience offered by education and that offered by theatre. Viewing theatre as a metaphor for education implies drawing attention to an ambivalent relationship and a crucial element of pedagogical experience. A theatre workshop enables us to acquire a new familiarity, an art, a mindful presence and the ability to reflect competently about ambivalent structure of educational experience. The pedagogical richness of the metaphor of theatre is not only an outcome of the relationship between theatre and “forms” of education, educational tools and didactics. The pedagogical relevance of theatrical practice is more structural: it concerns the relationship between a fictional and material situation, present in every educational scenario, and an expressive situation that generates affective knowledge. This kind of experience could foster transformative learnings through performative learning.