Explorations with affective engagement: Combining process drama with the Canadian history curriculum

Teenagers frequently view history as a boring subject, with little relevance to their personal lives. This study integrated historical content and process drama activities to engage teenagers in the topic of World War I. Participants had registered in an after-school drama program offered by an Ontario theatre company. The study aimed to discover whether or not process drama enhanced affective engagement in an historical event and, if so, what specific aspects of drama promoted this engagement. Participant journals and audio-taped interviews, program facilitator observations and researcher field notes provided core data for the investigation. Results indicated that participants did experience affective engagement during the eight process drama sessions. Data analysis uncovered themes related to three major topics: content, response, and creation and expression of ideas. The research yielded seven features of process drama that encouraged affective engagement.