Teacher as Performer:
Unpacking a Metaphor in Performance Theory and Critical Performative Pedagogy
Monica Prendergast
University of British Columbia, Canada
Citation: Prendergast, M. (2008). Teacher as performer: Unpacking a metaphor in performance theory
and critical performative pedagogy. International Journal of
Education & the Arts, 9(2). Retrieved [date] from http://www.ijea.org/v9n2/.
Abstract
This survey paper explores the interdisciplinary literature of performance theory and critical
performative pedagogy in an attempt to consider metaphorical applications of performance to
pedagogy. This exploration involves looking at teaching as performance in the broadest cultural
sense of the word - interested more in efficacy of communication and mutual empathetic
understanding - than in the more commonly-held economic, technological and political senses
of performance which are more interested in setting, raising, and maintaining standards of
efficiency and effectiveness (see McKenzie, 2001). In examining these issues in both performance
studies and education, the conclusions are that educational researchers and teacher educators can
benefit significantly from a critical awareness of the proliferation of metaphors for teaching as
performance that highlight both aesthetic and socio-political challenges inherent in a life in the
classroom.
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