The DICE Consortium (2010), The DICE has been cast

Abstract

“Alea iacta est” is attributed to Julius Caesar and his decision to lead his army across the river Rubicon and by so doing engage in a long civil war against Pompey. “The dice is cast” the old-fashioned English version of the famous Latin saying means that a point of no return has been passed and something inevitable might happen soon. This is the figurative allusion the DICE Consortium has chosen for the presentation of their research results on educational drama and theatre and the question is whether or not the metaphor is really holding water. Is that the empirical breakthrough we have been waiting for to justify the work with creative drama and theatre in (foreign language) teaching in times of high-speed education in the wake of PISA and Co.? Before having a look at what and who is behind the acronym DICE, let`s open the floor to the big news first! Students who regularly participate in educational theatre and drama activities (as opposed to peers who had not been participating in any educational theatre and drama programmes) “This is too good to be true” was the comment of one of the European officials in the opening keynote in Brussels ...