ABSTRACT
Inclusive teaching practices are only as effective as their capacity to provide opportunities for all students to learn. Drama-based pedagogy, an adaptation of drama-in-education developed in the United States public schools, is a pedagogical approach that encourages educators to consider meaningful engagement for all students. Accessible and inclusive arts in education practices fulfill their potential when both the pedagogy and the educational system that surround them are designed with the broad student population in mind. This chapter shares a case study (data, processes, and products) of an inclusive primary school in South Australia committed to a multi-year, whole school implementation of arts in education practice across the curriculum. Through a mixed-method analysis of our work, we explore the opportunities for and obstacles to adapting drama-in-education practice within special education. We also consider how drama-in-education professional learning (models, structures, and program impact) can be designed with educators, administrators, and students in special education settings to align with the intentional, ongoing, and systemic needs of an inclusive learning environment.
