ABSTRACT

The shift in the demographics and growth of migration is leading to increased diversity in schools. The purpose of the research was to learn how drama-teaching methods can be used teaching multicultural groups of pupils. The aim of the narrative inquiry was to gain understanding and knowledge that would bring to light the learning and development for the teacher and the pupils. Participants were a teacher educator and a researcher from the University of Iceland, two student teachers, classroom teachers and their pupils. Data were collected through observation using recordings and note taking, videos, photos, conversations with the pupils and a research journal.

The narratives shape the findings as we explored how drama-teaching methods were used with the immigrant students as they learned both a new language and about a new environment. The findings indicate that as the pupils took on new and different roles they felt more free to talk and at the same time gained understanding of the subject the teacher was teaching.