Dorothy Heathcote (seen in the photo, right) has been described as one of the greatest teachers of this century. In spite of being labelled an early academic failure, she was to metamorphose from "Yorkshire mill-girl weaving war-time parachutes ... to internationally-renowned 'guru'"
In an extraordinary career, she changed the way many teachers thought about both drama and the school curriculum. Essentially self-taught, Heathcote was a practitioner and disseminator of a unique methodology based on the use of drama as a tool to stimulate holistic learning. Drama, when used in this way, invokes an educational process akin to a continual journey, in that learning is never completed and is always "just beginning". The relevance of her methods have found a continued resonance in a wide spectrum of applications at all levels from the primary classroom to the management boardroom.
During her time as a lecturer at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (1950-86) Heathcote supervised many students undertaking research in drama education up to Ph.D level, inspiring two generations of teachers and educationalists. At the same time she undertook extensive lecture tours working as both teacher and consultant all over the world.
Her work attracted much media interest culminating in a number of distinguished radio and TV documentaries, and these have underpinned her reputation as an educationalist of world-wide significance.
Thus, Heathcote's work in the field of drama education has been influential internationally and the network of those who have worked and studied with her extends into fields far beyond education.
Biography courtesy of 'The Dorothy Heathcote Archive', Manchester Metropolitan University (www.partnership.mmu.ac.uk/drama/archive.html)
Photo courtesy of Bealings School (www.bealings.net)