Lessons From Our Students: The Two-Way Street of Theatre Pedagogy

When we think about taking a course in college, we imagine seasoned professors, experts in their fields, bestowing information on their students. According to LMU Theatre Arts professors Stacey Cabaj and Andrea Odinov, the knowledge transfer in the classroom goes both ways. The resulting book, entitled Lessons from our Students: Meditations on Performance Pedagogy, is a series of essays intended to challenge and inspire students and teachers to shift how they think about the classroom and its functions by using a more student-centered approach.

Over a period of five years, Cabaj and Odinov reflected on and wrote about their classroom experiences, synthesizing these stories into case studies and meditations, with the hope that other higher education professors and administrators would find these lessons helpful, hopeful, and healing. Both professors teach in the theatre arts program and are keenly aware of the skills and mentality that must go into planning pedagogy, allowing students to develop as artists in a genuine and authentic way.

When teachers dominate the classroom speaking time, Cabaj and Odinov believe this correlates with less skill practice and autonomy for learners, which then leads to less concentration and more boredom in students. "We aim to create circular or exchange-based learning, so it doesn't mean someone stands up in front of the class and they're our subject - it means we put a question in the center of the room and hopefully all engage in it learning alongside each other," said Cabaj.

The book serves as not only a reflection on teaching within theatre spaces but also as an educational tool and resource for those who want to enter theatre pedagogy in a professional capacity. Cabaj and Odinov designed their book to be used over a standard fifteen-week semester, so each individual class would cover the content of two case studies. The book additionally includes exercises, discussion prompts, and questions relating to theatre pedagogy. Cabaj implemented the book as an educational tool in her pedagogy course this semester, therefore serving its pedagogical function as designed.

The genesis of this book preceded the pandemic, but the rapid social and educational shifts of the 2020s inspired many of the lessons. "There were just so many things we felt at sea about at that time. I had questions and I wanted to spend my scholarly time trying to ask them bravely and vulnerably and I needed a thought partner to do that with," said Cabaj.

Odinov, who has been teaching theatre at LMU since 2008, was inspired to work on the project and have the space to share the stories that she had been collecting over the years. "I was enthusiastic about getting on board with this project because I had been swimming with these stories and lessons that I've learned from my students over time," she said. "In my classroom, the students are teaching me, I'm teaching them, we're teaching each other and that feels better to me then I'm the teacher, you're the students, it only moves in this direction and that's that."

Cabaj expands: "We are facilitators of discovery. We create an environment and offer opportunities and with this book we want to inspire others to feel the same. We aren't making widgets, and I don't expect or hope that each of my students will produce or reproduce something in exact form or replica. I want them to find and deepen their own aesthetic preference, to find their instincts, and that's completely individual. It's a more fun and also more difficult approach to pedagogy, but I think to really develop authentic artists that it's the only way to go."

Learn more about Lessons from our Students