AbstractsEducation Research & Administration

Integrative drama/theatre is a process founded upon the principles and practices of educational drama/theatre, and incorporates approaches and techniques intended to facilitate the integration of students with disabilities into regular classrooms. This educational approach is open-ended, creative and child-centred. This study explores the integrative drama/theatre process in two projects implemented in a regular high school in Montreal. Subjects for the study were 30 students from the school. The 17 students in the integrative drama project were from grade seven, and the 13 students in the integrative theatre project were from grade eleven. Three of the students in each project had disabilities and had had a significant portion of their previous education in segregated schools. A variety of qualitative and quantitative data gathering instruments were incorporated into the design of each project in order to observe and record what happened. Data analyses suggest that both projects were effective in promoting the acceptance of students with disabilities by their non-disabled peers, and in providing students with disabilities experience and confidence working in integrated environments. The integrative theatre project seemed more successful than the integrative drama project. Student age, program content, teacher style and experience, the level of student social interaction skills and time management were found to be significant factors in influencing the relative effectiveness of the integrative drama/theatre process in these projects. The implication of these results, the study's limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.