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Midland Actors Theatre & Manchester Metropolitan University present
DOROTHY HEATHCOTE NOW
INTERNATIONAL DRAMA CONFERENCE 2025
​6-9 November @ Manchester Metropolitan University
​“The best conference on drama in education in the world!”
Four days of workshops and presentations, with an international line-up of presenters including Cecily O’Neill, Brian Edmiston, Stig A. Eriksson, Tim Taylor, Iona Towler Evans, Richard Kieran, David Allen, Rebecca Patterson, Theo Bryer, John Rainer, Bob Selderslaghs, Lisa Hinton, Roberta Luchini and more.
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We are delighted that this year’s conference will be held at MMU – home of the Dorothy Heathcote Archive. There will be opportunities to view materials from the Archive
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HOW IT WILL WORK
ON 6 NOVEMBER, THERE WILL BE AN ONLINE DAY
with an international line-up of speakers and panellists
ON 7 NOVEMBER, THERE WILL BE A "CREATIVE PRACTICES" DAY
Delegates will work for a day with leading practitioners, and
will also take part in a drama session in a local school
ON 8-9 NOVEMBER, THERE WILL BE A TWO-DAY CONFERENCE WEEKEND
with practical drama workshops, presentations and panel discussions.
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You can book for all four days; or you can book separately for the
Online day, the ‘Creative Practices’ day, or the Conference Weekend
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For more details and to book, go to: https://heathcotenow2025.eventbrite.co.uk
​Here are the videos from the online day for Dorothy Heathcote Now International Drama Conference 2024
Dorothy Heathcote was ahead of her time. Her work continues to provide models, inspiration, and challenges. Her vision of a revolution in the way we think about education seems even more urgent now than ever.
DOROTHY HEATHCOTE "LIVING HISTORY" PROJECT
Dorothy Heathcote undertook a number of history projects in schools, and also projects with heritage sites such as Clarke Hall, Wakefield, and Higher Mill Textile Museum.
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Now, the Mantle Network has been awarded a grant by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, to research her work in this field. Our aim is to explore the strategies she used, and to create new local history projects inspired by her work.
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We will be collaborating with a number of schools, and also working closely with the Black Country Living Museum. Our first project is looking at the story of Sister Dora, a pioneering nurse in Walsall in the nineteenth century. The image (above) shows drama students from Birmingham Newman University, in role as Sister Dora and people from her time, at the Black Country Living Museum. For more details, go to: www.livingmuseums.co.uk
MANTLE NETWORK SEMINAR GROUP
We have formed a new monthly online Mantle Network Seminar Group, to offer guidance and training in Mantle of the Expert, and other aspects of Dorothy Heathcote’s work; and provide a support network to teachers and practitioners. The group is now fully booked; but we will be offering more opportunities for training, mentoring and support in future - watch this space!
This is a recording of a Network event, in which we discussed the benefits and challenges of working through Mantle. Contributors include Brian Edmiston, Iona Towler Evans, Cecily O’Neill, Vaishali Chakravarty, Richard Kieran, Lisa Hinton, David Allen, and more.
PREVIOUS ONLINE EVENTS
Here are some videos of online sessions from the 2023 "Dorothy Heathcote Now" conference.
The first featured David Montgomery, who shared his memories of working with Dorothy at New York University (see video).
The second session featured Brian Edmiston and Iona Towler-Evans, talking about "Humanizing Teaching with Dramatic Inquiry," and sharing examples from their recent practice.
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In the third session, Viv Aitken and Tim Taylor discussed the realities of Mantle of the Expert around the world.
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More videos from the series to follow shortly!
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ABOUT THIS WEBSITE
This website is dedicated to the work of Dorothy Heathcote
Dorothy outlined four “contexts” or “models” for active learning, using drama-based methods – with the aim of forging links between schooling and society. They are: drama used to explore people, circumstances and events; Mantle of the Expert; Rolling Role; and the Commission Model.
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This website explores all four models, and provides teachers and practitioners with tools to use them in their own practice.
This website is the home of the Mantle Network, which exists to support teachers and practitioners. It offers special events, projects in schools, and coaching and mentoring. Click here to find out more about the Network, and the projects we have done in schools. To contact us, click here
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You can also find information on Dorothy Heathcote and Mantle of the Expert, on the website www.mantleoftheexpert.com
