ABSTRACT
The events described in this chapter took place in the early 1980s. It was a time when educational drama (Slade 1954) and drama therapy (Jennings 1973), as well as psychodrama, were taking their place amongst other developments in a movement towards the ‘education of the whole person’, and around which there was great excitement. But can a project that took place nearly 30 years ago be relevant now? Discussing this question at length, we the writers found ourselves looking beyond short-term utilitarianism, remembering that education is, among other things, an exploration into what it means to be human. Our project still seems to us both universal and timeless. We believe it represents an educational approach still being fought for in today’s mainstream classroom – exemplified, indeed, by the publication of this book. In due course, a full account of the project may be published elsewhere. For now we offer a fragment based on an edited version of the record made at the time. We have kept as close as possible to the original text, adding some new reflections to facilitate the reader’s understanding. All names have been changed.
