Milli mála - 01.01.2010, Page 161

they are studying. For instance, Heathcote and Bolton16 speak
about the impact that drama can have in teaching culture to stu -
dents who study a foreign language; drama also creates a space for
trying things out and allowing the use of imagination in quite a
distinctive way. We are writing as people who appreciate drama
and provide space for drama, and we value bringing this space for
exploring this experience of the ‘unreal’ (see p. 159) into our teach-
ing. Jean Mcniff17 speaks about the importance of living one’s
own values and about how her work gives her considerable pleas-
ure, but she is not so pleased when she does not manage to live her
values in a way she would like to. We agree with with her and
Whitehead18 and think that it is no good to us or anyone else if the
values that give our lives meaning are denied in our practice and
make our lives meaningless. Based on this, we should ask our -
selves whether we want to subvert and resist entrepreneurialism
and its discourses in higher education, which are based on the “new
hegemonic managerial discourse”19, if these turn out to clash with
the values that give our lives meaning.
Similar to Pierra20, the theatre performers Jensen and Hermer21
speak of “learning by playing” to describe their language teaching
approach, which is aimed at the entire person and not only at cogni-
tive skills. They aim for “a full sensory, physical and emotional
appreciation of the language”22 in order to engage the learner with
the target language as much as possible. Learning by ‘playing’
means for them a playful approach but with a serious intention.
anDrEa MILDE anD ÁSTa IngIBJarTSDÓTTIr
161
16 Dorothy Heathcote and gavin Bolton, “Teaching Culture through Drama”, pp. 161–162.
17 Jean Mcniff, “How Do I account For The good In What I Claim as Quality Educational
research?”, a paper presented at the Philosophy of Education Special Interest group, at the
British Educational research association annual Meeting on the 7th September 2007 at the
Institute of Education, university of London, 2007, p. 1.
18 Jack Whitehead, “Creating a Living Educational Theory from Questions of the Kind, ‘How
do I Improve my Practice?’”, Cambridge Journal of Education 19(1)/1989, p. 137–153.
19 nigel Thrift, ‘Soft capitalism’, Cultural Values, 1(1)/1997, p. 36, cited in andrea Mayr,
Langu age and Power, 2008, p. 45.
20 gisèle Pierra, Une esthétique théâtrale en langue étrangère, Paris: L’Harmattan, 2001, p.
79.
21 Marianne Jensen and arno Hermer, “Learning by Playing: Learning Languages through the
Senses”, Language Learning in Intercultural Perspective: Approaches Through Drama and
Ethnography , pp. 178–192, here pp. 178–179.
22 Ibid, p. 179.
Milli mála 2011_Milli mála 1-218 6/28/11 1:38 PM Page 161