In the hotseat this is Cecily O’Neill. Cecily has written a number of books on drama education, including Drama Worlds: A Framework for Process Drama. One of the foremost authorities in the field. She divides her time between London and the United States, where she is an associate professor of drama education at The Ohio State University. She works with students, teachers, playwrights, directors, and actors throughout the world, leading drama workshops, speaking at conferences, and carrying out research. So pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy the conversation about drama in education

In the hotseat this week is John O’Toole. John has been teaching drama and applied theatre for over fifty years, to all ages and on all continents. From secondary English teaching he moved via theatre-in-education into drama education, especially of teachers. He has written and co-written over twenty text- and research books on drama and the arts, and in 2010 was the Lead writer for Arts and for Drama in the new Australian Curriculum. He became Professor of Drama and Applied Theatre at Griffith University Queensland, then Chair of Arts Education at the University of Melbourne. In 2014 he was awarded the Order of Australia (AM) for services to drama education. So pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy this conversation on drama in education with John O’Toole.

In the hotseat this week is Peter Lutzker. Prof. Dr. Peter Lutzker was born in New York City in 1957 and studied Music and Literature in the United States and Germany. After first working as an orchestra musician, he then studied Steiner/Waldorf Pedgagogy and became a high school teacher for Music and English in Waldorf Schools in Germany from 1986-2011. From 1991 on, he has been active as a teacher educator in different European countries including Germany, Hungary, Russia and England. Since 2010, he has been a Professor at the Freie Hochschule Stuttgart (Waldorf Teachers College). In 2019 he was appointed an Honorary Professor at the Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. He has written numerous articles and books in English and in German, most recently the 2nd edition of his book “The Art of Foreign Language Teaching: Improvisation and Drama in Teacher Development and Language Learning" was published in 2022.So pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy this conversation on drama in education with Peter Lutzker.

In the hotseat this week is Carmel O’Sullivan. Carmel is a Professor in Education in the School of Education in Trinity College Dublin, and the convenor of the Arts Education Research Group (AERG). She is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for Creative Ireland (Pillar One), and involved in several funded research projects in the areas of Social Drama and Autism Spectrum Disorder, early childhood arts education, and an innovative work readiness programme for young adults who face significant barriers to entering the workplace (Career LEAP). Carmel has particular expertise in the areas of creativity and inclusivity in education, working nationally and internationally with students, academics, practitioners and policy makers from the worlds of education, health, business, and community. She organises an international Summer School in Drama and Theatre in Education each year (M.Ed.), and is a founding member of ADEI (the Association for Drama in Education in Ireland). Carmel is a regularly invited speaker at national and international conferences, and has delivered lectures and workshops in academic and professional institutions worldwide. She has organised numerous national and international seminars, workshops and conferences. Carmel is very active in her local community and has continued to work with children and young people on a weekly basis throughout her professional career. So pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy this conversation on drama in education with Carmel O’Sullivan.

In the hot seat this week is Christine Hatton. Christine is a lecturer in the school of education at the University of Newcastle in Australia. Christine’s work has centred around teaching, research and professional learning in Drama Education in schools. She has led workshops and created resources for teachers and regularly gives professional development workshops for teachers on playbuilding, using technologies in drama and curriculum planning and assessment. She regularly presents at conferences in Australia and internationally. Christine has a longstanding interest in the nature of teaching and learning in drama and the arts – drawn from her PhD study on transformative learning and teaching in drama. She is interested in the way research can capture and allow analysis of the nuances of what drama teachers do, what works and what makes a difference to students' lives in complex times and contexts. So pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy this conversation on drama education with Christine Hatton

In this episode of Hotseating, Aoibhinn Finnegan speaks to Luke Abbott. Luke studied for his Masters Degree with Dorothy Heathcote at Newcastle University in 1980/81. At the time Mantle of the Expert was being established as a teaching and learning approach and Luke was among the pioneering group of Dr. Heathcote’s students who first researched and then used the approach in their classrooms.

In over forty years of practice Luke has taught in hundreds of schools all over the UK and abroad. His work is internationally recognized and he has been instrumental in advancing the scope and application of Mantle of the Expert. Luke has worked extensively in Europe, China, America, and New Zealand and Palestine,. He is now a project tutor for the NEU Mantle of the Expert Programme and leading Mantle of the Expert projects in many schools across the country. So pour yourself a cup of tea, sit back, relax and enjoy.

In this episode Aoibhinn Finnegan interviews Michael Finneran. Michael is Senior Lecturer in drama at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. He is the founding Head of the Department of Drama and Theatre Studies at the College, and Programme Director for the BA in Contemporary & Applied Theatre Studies. Previously, he held the post of Head of the Department of Arts Education & Physical Education in the Faculty of Education at MIC. He holds a PhD from the University of Warwick, completed under the supervision of Prof. Jonothan Neelands. Make a cup of tea, sit back and enjoy our conversation about Drama Education.

In this episode, Aoibhinn Finnegan is hotseating Brian Edmiston. Brian is Professor of Drama in Education in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. His scholarship focuses on drama in literacy, language, and literature teaching, dramatic inquiry as a P-12 cross-curricular pedagogy, and drama as ethical education. He regularly teaches and conducts research in P-12 classrooms in central Ohio. He has also conducted research, led workshops for teachers, and taught in classrooms in both England and Northern Ireland. He has authored over forty publications including four books.

Season 1 of the podcast features Kathleen Gallagher, Brian Edmiston, Michael Finneran, Luke Abbott, Christine Hatten and Carmel O’Sullivan. This trailer is a little sneak peek of what you can expect this season.

In this episode, Aoibhinn Finnegan is hotseating Dr Kathleen Gallagher. Kathleen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a Distinguished Professor in the department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, cross-appointed to the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto.