ABSTRACT
Rooting its theoretical intervention in a reading of Freire’s foundational Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), this chapter theorizes drama-based pedagogy as a means by which reflective practitioners at colleges and universities might resist a host of neoliberal administrative moves including, most prominently, what I refer to as “the pedagogy of the fire marshal.” A tongue-in-cheek term meant to capture both the absurdity and the seriousness of the neoliberal tendency to conceive of student populations and student outcomes in numerical and economic terms, the pedagogy of the fire marshal roots itself in the assumption that the only acceptable initial parameter governing instructional design is the question of how many students can literally survive inside a classroom simultaneously. In the face of increasing pressure to accommodate neoliberal institutional agendas in their instructional design, I argue faculty might helpfully renew their engagement with theories and practices in drama-based pedagogy not only to respond to such pressures creatively but to resist them both rhetorically and in praxis. I interrogate the pedagogy of the fire marshal along with other commonly deployed pedagogical maneuvers in order to theorize pedagogy rooted in Freire’s loving dialogue as a vital mode of resistance and a source of invaluable philosophical and pedagogical tools for college and university educators aiming to effectively advocate for learner-centered, embodied, and justice-oriented pedagogical practices.
