Drama for Schools (DFS) is an arts integration professional development program that trains teachers to use drama-based instruction techniques. The DFS strategies aim to connect student learning to their lived experiences in a manner consistent with authentic instruction principles. The focus of this mixed-methods study was on the relationship between increase in authentic instruction, level of student engagement, and articulation by teachers regarding the participation of their middle school students in classroom activities. Pre-post measures indicate that student engagement increased as a result of drama-based instruction strategies. These lesson plan measures also demonstrated how teachers changed their articulation of student engagement. Discussion focuses on how the relationship between the DFS program structure, participants’ pedagogy, and student outcomes fit into, and challenge, the overall critical pedagogical framework of the program.

This article tells the story of Jenny Harrison, a visual arts middle school teacher who became an Action Research Teacher (ART) fellow in Drama for Schools, a professional development program in drama-based instruction. Through an action research model of teacher training and her own line of inquiry, Jenny investigated how drama-based instruction impacted her teaching and her students’ articulation of visual arts concepts. Artifacts from this project include interview transcripts, teacher reflections, student work-products, and lesson plans. The integration of drama-based instruction into Jenny’s visual arts curriculum paved the way for in-depth, intentional learning for students, for herself, and for the Drama for Schools program.