What are the enabling and what are the constraining aspects of the subject of drama in Icelandic compulsory education?

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to look at what aspects enable and what aspects constrain the subject of drama in Icelandic compulsory education, using the lens of practice architectures theory. The chapter is based on my PhD study entitled Understanding Drama Teaching in Compulsory Education in Iceland: A Micro-ethnographic Study of the Practices of Two Drama Teachers. Based on a socio-cultural frame of understanding, an ethnographic study of the culture and the context for the implementation of drama was carried out. The ethnographic account is based on thick descriptions and thematic narrative analyses summed up as a cultural portrait of the drama teaching practices in two primary education schools in Iceland. The theory of practice architectures, proposed by Stephen Kemmis and Peter Grootenboer, was used to interpret the findings. Enabling and constraining arrangements in the practice architectures connected to the implementation of drama as a subject in compulsory education. The findings reveal that the enabling aspects of drama teaching are less visible than factors that constrain the teaching.