Chapter Four

4.1: Interpreting the Data:

4.1.1: Ken Dryden: "For today’s kid"  Ken Dryden came to T.L. Kennedy Secondary School in Mississauga for one year in 1993 to gather research about the life of a typical Canadian school for a book on that subject. He needed to shadow a number of students who coincidentally happened to be enrolled in my grade 10 Drama course. And that is how he became a regular, weekly visitor to my Drama class throughout the first semester of the academic school year (1993/94).

4.1.2: Julie Hard: "Choosing the mask"  Julie Hard was a former student of T.L. Kennedy Secondary School where she studied Dramatic Arts for a period of four years. I had been one of her Drama teachers. At the time of this interview, she was a third year student in the kinesiology program at McMaster University. She hoped her studies would lead her to a career in education, physiotherapy, or something that would "deal with people".

 4.1.3: Stephen La Frenie: "Theatre is the therapy"  Stephen La Frenie is the artistic director of Graphic Mime Theatre. His forte is mime and physical theatre, which is mainly based on physical expression as opposed to acting or spoken theatre. Stephen has always considered himself primarily a teacher, although he writes, directs and performs as well.

4.1.5: Terry Slater: "Reflections on both sides of the mirror"  Terry Slater teaches Drama at Morningstar, a Secondary School in the Peel District School Board. He has been teaching Dramatic Arts for over 10 years. I was fortunate enough to work with Terry for his first eight years in the Drama Department at T.L. Kennedy School.  He holds a Master of Arts degree specializing in Drama. Terry studied as a professional actor at the Drama Centre in London, England and he is a member of both professional actors’ associations in Canada, ACTRA and Actors’ Equity.

4.1.6: Larry Swartz: "The melding of the two approaches"  Larry’s background as an educator/artist began at the Faculty of Education at the University of Toronto, in 1976, where he majored in Art. His minor subject was Drama. When he first got a job he was a Language Arts Teacher but enjoyed additional qualification Drama courses so much that it became a part of his teaching in Language Arts. Since then he has gone on to do workshops, and has taught at the Faculty of Education. He also has taught classes at the Young People’s Theatre which has helped him to experiment with Drama-in-Education on his own terms.

4.1.7 Naomi Tyrrell: "You make it into a jewel"  Naomi began her story by putting on a character mask that she had constructed. In a reversal of roles, she became that character telling me about Naomi’s educational background. It was a wonderful way for her to ease herself into the interview, and to help her reflect while revealing herself to the video camera and me.

4.1.8 Bernie Warren: "A double balance in context"  Bernie has been acquainted with me since 1987 as a professional colleague and friend. He has worked for nearly 30 years as a Drama and Dance Specialist in the field of Education. He has also worked professionally as an actor, director, choreographer, and dancer with various Theatre and Dance companies in the United Kingdom and Canada. Mostly, his work has been associated with "Theatre for Change", "Theatre for Young Audiences", "Theatre in Education" and "Drama-in-Education" but he has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Shakespearean Drama. His work as a multi-disciplinary specialist in Educational, Institutional and Community settings has taken him around the world.

Group Forum:  I met a second time with the same group of Educators and Artists who I had interviewed for this study. My purpose was to give them another forum to restate and reflect on their views regarding the extent to which Dramatherapy fits into the Arts curriculum. The Forum included the two professional Artist/Educators: (Stephen) La Frenie and (Naomi) Tyrell, and the two Secondary School teachers: (Steve) Russell and (Terry) Slater. I was a participant and moderator of the forum.