Art-based methods: Theatre Teaches and Business Theatre

Abstract

[EN] The paper aims to investigate the use of arts in teaching, specifically the art of theater, to provide the new skills searched from the job market. Our work compares the two experiences of the Theatre Teaches performed at University of Brescia and of Business Theatre at University of Catania. The idea of the paper is based on the scientific collaboration among the two co-authors involved, during the last 10 years, on the development of innovative method of teaching focused on non- technical skills. After depicting the incumbent needs of non-technical skills searched from the job market, the comparison on the use of theatre in the two Universities highlighted how both methods support the development of relational, cognitive and managerial soft skills, even if in a different way: when using Theatre Teaches the major skills concern the cognitive ones, while when using Business Theatre the major skills concern the relational ones. Furthermore, it emerges that Theatre Teaches is more effective with cognitive engagement while Business Theatre with emotional engagement. Both are effective in the behavioral engagement (i.e. physical participation in an activity), which emerges as the distinctive characteristic of theatre art-based method.