Meet our team!

Rachel Dickinson

Leads the PGCE in Drama with English which was successfully judged as category A following inspection by HMI. She is also a freelance consultant specialising in theatre projects for young people and school improvement through drama. Her most recent publication Improving Your Primary School Through Drama is based on a three year ethnographic study of the introduction of drama into a challenging and diverse city centre primary school. [more...]

Professor Jonothan Neelands

Is a National Teaching Fellow and Chair of Drama and Theatre Education in the Institute of Education, where he teaches graduate and research students and is Director of Graduate Studies. He is an experienced trainer and workshop leader with a national and international reputation for delivering high quality professional training and development opportunities. Research interests include the politics of cultural and education policy-making, teaching in urban settings, the sociology of educational disadvantage and the articulation of a pro-social pedagogy of dramatic practice.

He is an associate of the CAPITAL Centre for creativity and performance in teaching and learning, which is a joint initiative between the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He is closely involved in the RSC's Time For Change campaign to improve the quality of Shakespeare teaching at secondary and HE levels. Jonothan also advises government on the identification and training of talented young performers.

Jonothan is the author of several texts for teachers and students, which have influenced the development of drama in recent years including Structuring Drama Work, Beginning Drama 11-14, Key Shakespeare 1 and 2 and Drama and Theatre Studies at A/S and A level. His latest publication is Improving Your Primary School Through Drama. [more...]

Professor Joe Winston

Is Associate Professor (Reader) in Drama and Theatre Education and currently co-ordinates the Masters programme. Formerly a head teacher, he specialises in primary / middle school drama and in drama's relationship with moral / values education. He is recognised as a leading international theorist and practitioner in both of these fields. His publications include Drama, Narrative and Moral Education and Beginning Drama 4-11 (with Miles Tandy). His latest book, Drama and English at the Heart of the Curriculum, was praised by the Times Educational Supplement as 'pulsating with exciting and challenging ideas'.

He is joint editor of Research in Drama Education, generally recognised as the world's leading academic and research journal in the fields of educational and applied drama.

He has a national and international reputation for his work as a workshop leader and for his professional development work with primary teachers. [more...]

Rachel King

In 2007 Rachel King received Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funding as part of their Collaborative Doctorate Award (CDA) scheme to work in collaboration with Warwick Arts Centre (WAC) and School of Theatre Studies, Warwick. Her research is practice based and investigates the notions and perceptions of multiculturalism and internationalism as generated by particular aspects of the theatre and performance programming and creative activities of WAC. This research project is, in part, designed to be relevant to other UK arts organisations by potentially providing appropriate audience reception and feedback methods that can inform and determine commissioning and programme choice and can offer new perspectives on participatory outreach work within increasingly diverse and globalised regional communities.

She is Programme Manager for the MA in Drama and Theatre Education at The University of Warwick. She freelanced as a drama educator and was a Theatre In Education facilitator across Merseyside 2004-2006. She has been assistant course leader on the IGGY Shakespeare, Performance and Myth course in 2009 and 2010. She is an assistant practitioner for the Institute for Advanted Teaching and Learning. In 2010 she led a group of young people from President Kennedy High School, Coventry in a collaborative devised process and performance in WAC's Creative Space.

She is a keen performer and received the Timothy West Award at The Sunday Times National Student Drama Festival 2008 for her performance as the title role in Caryl Churchill’s The Skriker. She is a member of Dumb Show Theatre which received national critical acclaim at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2008 for their sell out run of ClockHeart Boy and has since completed a run at Cochrane Theatre, London and The Manchester Exchange. Dumb show are currently researching and developing their next show for Edinburgh Fringe and beyond in 2011. She is interested in the pedagody and processes of devising and improvisation and has been directed by Chris Johnston's Fluxx Theatre at WAC and Soho Theatre, London.