The Place of Theatre and Theatrical Practices in School Education: Teachers' Opinions

This article examines the place of theatrical practices in school education. It is based on interviews with Moscow teachers, who gathered information about theatrical practices in modern schools and attendance at professional theater performances. The empirical basis of the study was expert online interviews with 41 Moscow teachers. The study's goal was to determine the role of amateur and professional theater in educational work in schools. A separate topic of the study was joint visits to professional theater performances organized by teachers and their educational value. The study showed that the number of school theaters in Moscow public schools is decreasing, unlike private schools, although all teachers are confident in their high value for the education of schoolchildren. Teachers are convinced that participation in the school theater brings children and adolescents new social skills, teamwork, and a better understanding of art, and regret that these opportunities are not always realized when there is no theater at school or only a small number of students have the opportunity to participate in theater activities. As for organizing collective visits to professional theaters by schoolchildren, almost all teachers consider this necessary, but many of them, especially in public schools, rarely do so because they are unfamiliar with the repertoire of Moscow theaters or focus only on productions based on works included in the school curriculum. The study revealed that both theatrical activities and the use of the city's theatrical resources for the educational process in schools are considered important and valuable by teachers, but they are not fully utilized.