• Home
  • About April
  • Portfolio
    • Directing >
      • Community-Engaged Productions
      • Devised Work
      • Theatre-in-Education
    • Teaching >
      • Classroom Instructor
      • Teaching Artist
    • Training >
      • Pre-service
      • In-service
    • Writing >
      • Articles
      • Plays
      • Poems
    • Arkansas Artist Roster
  • Press
April Gentry-Sutterfield

Pre-service Teacher Education

My thesis work at the University of Texas at Austin centered on pre-service theatre teacher education.  Over two years, I co-founded and developed UT Connections, the UT Theatre Department's resident youth theatre, which also served as a teaching laboratory for graduate and undergraduate theatre education students.  In my document Embracing Change and Challenge: Recommendations for Secondary Theatre Teacher Education, I use grounded theory research methods to present a case study of how participation and facilitation in youth theatre rehearsals affects the growth of four preservice theatre teachers.  I then set forth four recommendations for theatre teacher educators in facilitating preservice theatre teachers:  1)  Provide preservice theatre teachers with a learning laboratory; 2)  Incorporate five key instructional strategies (experimentation, reflection, collaboration, individualization, and observation) in all course work; 3) Immerse preservice theatre teachers in realistic teaching situations early and often; and 4)  Use Realistic Teacher Education (RTE) as a model for teacher education programs.  University of Utrecht professorts Fred Korthagen and Jos Kessels developed RTE as a systemic approach to facilitating preservice teachers in integrating theory and practice.

Abi Pierce, one of the preservice teachers with whom I worked in UT Connections now teaches theatre at a middle school in Plano, Texas.  She said of her experiences in UT Connections:
"Being a part of UT Connections was one of the best experiences of my college career.  So much of what I learned from the program I am still using in my classroom today...I would consider April the best mentor I have had in my career path up to this point."  

In addition to my work with preservice theatre teachers at the University of Texas, I facilitated a workshop for general and mixed education preservice teachers at Ouachita Baptist University on incorporating drama into curriculum to engage all learners.
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.