ABSTRACT
The case studies which form the bulk of the second part of this book explore in practice how classroom drama with fairy tales as pre-text can engage children in moral processes and encourage them to explore and articulate ethical concepts. I have taken as my starting point that, historically, one of the cultural functions of drama in western civilization has been to open moral debate by poblematizing accepted social and moral values expressed within a society’s shared mythology; and have chosen to focus on my own teaching to explore the issues involved. However, in my critique of Edmiston’s account, I focused upon issues of value bias, indicative of the dangers inherent to such reflexive analyses of one’s own practice. There are other research models available, of course, and my reasons for rejecting them need to be explored.
