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'You Get to Move around Which in Science You Cannot Do': Children's Identity Work and Positioning in Dramatizing Science

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Title: 'You Get to Move around Which in Science You Cannot Do': Children's Identity Work and Positioning in Dramatizing Science
Language: English
Authors: Maria Varelas (ORCID 0000-0001-8212-2674), Rebecca Kotler (ORCID 0000-0001-5569-4028), Ronan Rock (ORCID 0009-0000-7048-2867), Rebecca Woodard (ORCID 0000-0003-2397-3211), Nathan C. Phillips (ORCID 0000-0003-1571-5503), Rachelle P. Tsachor (ORCID 0000-0002-9640-2770), Amanda R. Diaz, Hannah Natividad, Phillip Bowen, Audrey Bixby, Jaegen Ellison
Source: Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 2026 63(3):236-258.
Availability: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 23
Publication Date: 2026
Sponsoring Agency: National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
Contract Number: 1908272
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Descriptors: Science Education, Elementary School Science, Elementary School Students, Urban Schools, Science Instruction, Teaching Methods, Drama, Story Telling, Instructional Effectiveness, Self Concept
DOI: 10.1002/tea.70038
ISSN: 0022-4308
1098-2736
Abstract: A growing interest in leveraging the arts, and particularly the performing arts, to disrupt prevailing paradigms in science education that uphold the mind-body divide and privilege the mind and thinking over the body and feeling, and to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences, has led to a school-university/research-practice partnership to design and study ways to strengthen science learning by engaging in science theatre. In this instrumental case study, we drew on identity theory and positioning theory to study how theatre/dramatizing in science classes disrupt prevailing science narratives. We learned from students in fifth- and sixth-grade science classes in an urban public school that serves predominantly bilingual, emergent bilingual, and multilingual children, many children of color, and many immigrants or with families who have immigrated in the United States, and who have experienced a "science-arts borderland" for a school year. The children's narratives and their practice, with the multimodal discourse acts in it, showed that the theatre/dramatizing experiences they had in their science classes catalyzed "bends" of the prevailing storylines related to science and science learning that were part of their identity negotiations. Three theatre norms/practices catalyzed three "bends" and expanded storylines. First, the collectivity of theatre bent the dominant storyline of individual success and struggle in science learning and offered children ways of seeing themselves as helping each other learn in collective ways. Second, the engagement through effort and commitment valued in theatre bent the dominant storyline of correctness valued in science learning and allowed children to embrace mistakes as part of learning. Third, the multiple forms of recognition in ensemble theatre work bent the dominant storyline of narrow ways one gets recognized in science class, expanding how children saw themselves and their peers and how peers and teachers saw them as knowledge producers.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1498461
Database: ERIC
FullText Text:
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  Data: 'You Get to Move around Which in Science You Cannot Do': Children's Identity Work and Positioning in Dramatizing Science
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Maria+Varelas%22">Maria Varelas</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8212-2674">0000-0001-8212-2674</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rebecca+Kotler%22">Rebecca Kotler</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5569-4028">0000-0001-5569-4028</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Ronan+Rock%22">Ronan Rock</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7048-2867">0009-0000-7048-2867</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rebecca+Woodard%22">Rebecca Woodard</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2397-3211">0000-0003-2397-3211</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Nathan+C%2E+Phillips%22">Nathan C. Phillips</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1571-5503">0000-0003-1571-5503</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rachelle+P%2E+Tsachor%22">Rachelle P. Tsachor</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9640-2770">0000-0002-9640-2770</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Amanda+R%2E+Diaz%22">Amanda R. Diaz</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Hannah+Natividad%22">Hannah Natividad</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Phillip+Bowen%22">Phillip Bowen</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Audrey+Bixby%22">Audrey Bixby</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Jaegen+Ellison%22">Jaegen Ellison</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Journal+of+Research+in+Science+Teaching%22"><i>Journal of Research in Science Teaching</i></searchLink>. 2026 63(3):236-258.
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  Data: Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
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  Data: Y
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  Data: 23
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  Data: 2026
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  Data: National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL)
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Education%22">Science Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Science%22">Elementary School Science</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Students%22">Elementary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Urban+Schools%22">Urban Schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Instruction%22">Science Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Drama%22">Drama</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Story+Telling%22">Story Telling</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Instructional+Effectiveness%22">Instructional Effectiveness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Concept%22">Self Concept</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1002/tea.70038
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  Data: 0022-4308<br />1098-2736
– Name: Abstract
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  Data: A growing interest in leveraging the arts, and particularly the performing arts, to disrupt prevailing paradigms in science education that uphold the mind-body divide and privilege the mind and thinking over the body and feeling, and to create engaging and meaningful learning experiences, has led to a school-university/research-practice partnership to design and study ways to strengthen science learning by engaging in science theatre. In this instrumental case study, we drew on identity theory and positioning theory to study how theatre/dramatizing in science classes disrupt prevailing science narratives. We learned from students in fifth- and sixth-grade science classes in an urban public school that serves predominantly bilingual, emergent bilingual, and multilingual children, many children of color, and many immigrants or with families who have immigrated in the United States, and who have experienced a "science-arts borderland" for a school year. The children's narratives and their practice, with the multimodal discourse acts in it, showed that the theatre/dramatizing experiences they had in their science classes catalyzed "bends" of the prevailing storylines related to science and science learning that were part of their identity negotiations. Three theatre norms/practices catalyzed three "bends" and expanded storylines. First, the collectivity of theatre bent the dominant storyline of individual success and struggle in science learning and offered children ways of seeing themselves as helping each other learn in collective ways. Second, the engagement through effort and commitment valued in theatre bent the dominant storyline of correctness valued in science learning and allowed children to embrace mistakes as part of learning. Third, the multiple forms of recognition in ensemble theatre work bent the dominant storyline of narrow ways one gets recognized in science class, expanding how children saw themselves and their peers and how peers and teachers saw them as knowledge producers.
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      – SubjectFull: Science Education
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