International schools are a melting pot of students from a diverse range of cultures. They afford students unique opportunities to experience cultural immersion in their developmental years. In order to nurture intercultural understanding educators must be provided with opportunities and skills to develop or change curriculum. The DiE community has long harnessed the power of story, engaging young people and bringing them to newer understandings of our world. Using a DiE approach to infuse the curriculum with host culture story facilitates a common cultural meeting ground, or third space, from which students can explore their place in the world around them. This research provides an exploration of the efficacy of DiE in facilitating student engagement with host culture story in an international school in Hungary. It attempts to unify and apply research in the fields of DiE, intercultural understanding and international education, moving host culture pedagogy into a new realm.
Chilla Tamas:
A teacher, performer and Master student who currently works at an International School in Budapest. She is a staff member for the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) and currently performs with the Szeki Ruzsmarint dance group. She co-founded a thriving dance camp in Transylvania, encouraging young people to take pride in their culture and uphold traditional arts. Her Masters research from Trinity College, Dublin has allowed her to combine two passions, drama and infusing host culture into her work with young people.
Erika Piazzoli:
A teacher educator, researcher and drama practitioner. She is a lecturer in Arts Education at Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, where she coordinates the Master in Education (M.Ed.) programme and teaches within the Drama in Education and the Language Education strands of the Master’s programme. She is also Research Fellow (Adjunct) at Griffith University, Brisbane (Australia)
