"The Wizard of Oz" Engages with Third Grade Students Drama Education as a Cross-Curricular Lever in the New Primary School Curricula


Διεθνές Επιστημονικό Περιοδικό Ανοιχτής πρόσβασης ¨"Εκπαιδευτικές Διαδρομές" (Educational Routes) της Διεύθυνσης Πρωτοβάθμιας Εκπαίδευσης Χίου
Published: Apr 7, 2025
Keywords:
Theater Education, New Curricula, Primary School, Interdisciplinarity, Project.
Panagiotis Papanastasiou Papanastasiou
https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8770-3089
Abstract

This article explores the interconnection of individual disciplines within the New Curricula in Primary Education by examining a characteristic case study. The central focus of the study is the New Curriculum for the subject of Theater Education in the third grade of primary school and its connection with other disciplines in the school timetable. In addressing specific research questions concerning the integration of the New Curricula across various disciplines with the corresponding Theater Education curriculum and the extent to which they complement each other, the article examines the design and implementation of a cultural educational project by the author. As a primary stimulus, the fairy tale The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum was utilized as a textual and performative framework for implementing the cultural educational project. Within the project, the fairy tale serves as a tool to highlight the foundational elements of theatrical language (e.g., the embodiment of speech, the art of acting), linking them to the intended learning objectives of the Theater Education curriculum for the third grade. Simultaneously, it connects with the goals of other disciplines (e.g., Language, Visual Arts, Music), which, in this context, "interact" with acting and, more broadly, the art of theater.


 

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Author Biography
Panagiotis Papanastasiou Papanastasiou, Πανεπιστήμιο Πελοποννήσου

Panagiotis Papanastasiou is a teacher and theater specialist. He works in primary schools as a substitute teacher in Special Education and Training, while also serving as an adult educator in non-formal education settings (Vocational Training Institutes and Second Chance Schools). He holds three undergraduate degrees: Communication, Media & Culture (Panteion University), Theater Studies (University of the Peloponnese), and Primary Education (University of Patras). Additionally, he has earned a postgraduate degree in Communication & Mass Media: Film and Cultural Studies from the Department of Communication and Mass Media of the University of Athens and is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Theater Studies at the University of the Peloponnese. His articles and studies have been published in Greek in books, collective volumes, and scientific journals, focusing on the relationship between mass media and culture, as well as theater and education.