Dorothy Heathcote MBE
This is the only official website endorsed by Dorothy’s daughter, Marianne Heathcote Woodbridge, that is dedicated to the life and work of Dorothy Heathcote MBE. Marianne would like to encourage drama teachers and friends at home and abroad to use this website as the international meeting place where all memories of Dorothy and her work can be shared, and her practice carried forward. Please add your name to the list of those who have been affected by Dorothy.
Dorothy died aged 85 on 8th October 2011. She was a world-renowned teacher who revolutionised the use of Drama in Education during a career that spanned 60 years. Click here for her obituary.
Dorothy instinctively recognised the natural human predisposition to use drama as a means of exploring and understanding the world and of developing the fundamental life skills needed for it. With that recognition, Dorothy set herself the task of translating her vision into a classroom practice for all ages that continues to be inspirational to millions.
Her gift was in being able to touch people and give everything she knew away to those who were interested. Her legacy is that so many were interested and, standing on her shoulders, they continue the work of a genius who is for many, the greatest drama teacher of all.
Dorothy Heathcote’s Life Celebration will be held at 1pm on Sunday 11 December 2011 at The Parish Church of St. Werburgh, Church Street, Spondon, DERBY DE21 7LL. This will be followed immediately afterwards by a buffet at Spondon Methodist Church Hall, Lodge Lane North, Spondon, DERBY DE21 7GF, which is just 300 metres down the hill. Dorothy’s family actively wants everyone who attends the Life Celebration to join them at the party afterwards – but please RSVP to mariannekevin@yahoo.co.uk so numbers attending can be catered for.
In lieu of flowers, you might like to consider a donation to the Dorothy Heathcote Drama Award at www.justgiving.com/dorothyheathcote
In advance of the Life Celebration, Marianne is very keen for many people around the world who have photographs and memories of Dorothy to mail hard copies to her, ideally with photographs labelled on the back with names/approximate dates. Many thanks.
This site is dedicated to Dorothy’s life and work. If she touched you, please go to the most appropriate page to contribute your stories, photographs and videos of this remarkable human being.
40 Responses to “Home”
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I was lucky to meet at work with Dorothy on several occasions over many years. Always inspiring, challenging and generous.
I am delighted that this dedicated website has been set up for all drama educators and others interested in, touched by and profoundly influenced by Dorothy and her diverse work over so many years. She was an amazing drama teacher. It is important that there is a central place where the world’s educators can come (drama and otherwise) to collectively pool and share their personal and professional knowledge and experiences of working with, reading about, meeting and working with Dorothy, or just to learn more. She was a woman of remarkable professional and personal qualities and bringing them to be shared through this website shows great vision. Thank you.
I can only agree with Patrice.
I never met Dorothy face to face although it has always been my dream, but I have followed her work over the last 37 years and am thrilled that this site is dedicated to her and that we may learn more by sharing in her spirit of creative enquiry.
Thank you.
I was lucky enough to meet Dorothy about five years ago, and have worked under her guidance in several plays that I have been involved with. I was cast in two performances directed by her. It was wonderful to be invited into her home on various occasions where she helped me to develop my roles and see things from a completely different perspective. She helped me to break ‘bad habits’ that I had developed when acting on stage!! She helped me with voice projection and to become more self aware as an actor.
Drama is a fantastic subject and Dorothy’s depth of knowledge, her vision and passion for it was extraodinary. I was so lucky to have known and worked with her and her lifetime achievements are amazing. Will miss her. Thank you x
Your gentle words reached my inner being, how can a whisper be so strong?’That’s the way forward’, you said, your eyes sparkled with love and wisdom, my eyes, ears and heart caught the meaning.
I feel very lucky to have known Dorothy even for a short time, her guidance, wisdom and patience were invaluable, its easy to see why she has touched so many peoples lives and left us all with lasting memories, I for one will never forget Dorothy, she was a very special lady.
I was privileged to have discovered Dorothy’s work and have been actively involved in spreading her philosophy. I regret not trekking to England from Ireland in the summer of 2003, but her presence is evident in all my drama work.
Her work in drama is a true testament to a passionate teacher who has touched and inspired many generations of drama teachers. She will be truly missed but always celebrated.
I had the privilege of working with Dorothy in London back in the Summer of 2007. I was especially thrilled to have had a chance to talk one-on-one with her during a tutorial. I will always remember and use the lessons I took from working with her as well as those from watching videos of her work and reading about her work.
Almost 40 years ago I was a Fulbright scholar doing research in Drama and Theatre in Education. I traveled all over England working with TIE teams and visiting with some of the most distinguished and influential Drama leaders in the country. It was a dynamic and exciting time when so much good work was just beginning. I was privileged to study with Dorothy for several weeks.and to stay in her home and travel with students on her “course”. I will never forget the depth of her generosity, the power of her passion, the keen intelligence and almost piercing insight she brought to everything she undertook. She was remarkable in every way. We are all better and wiser for her presence.
This is such a fantastic, touching and wholly appropriate way to share Dorothy’s achievements and the way she has influenced so many. I have had the privilege of working with Dorothy a number of times and never have I been more challenged in looking at my own practice and that of others. Thank you for setting it up, and thank you Dorothy.
I think I can sum up my experience of Dorothy with one short story from using her techniques in schools. I worked in a class for a whole afternoon demonstrating some of the core principals and ideas underpinning Dorothy’s pedagogy. At the end I asked the teacher to feedback on what she saw or thought. Her eyes were gleaming and her face beaming. “Simon” she said “Simon didn’t once say ‘I don’t know what to do’ or ‘I can’t think of anything’. I am amazed at this as usually he can’t think of anything and doesn’t participate”. “Which one is Simon?” I asked. And for me that is it. How the ideas, philosophy, everything… stands in the classroom that allows the children to be inventive, to take control and for kids like Simon to be equalled to every other person in the room and for Simon to have an abundance of ideas and for him to not be ‘lost’ in this space but one of the team. So on behalf of all Simons out there I thank you Dorothy!
What a wonderful way to pay tribute to a remarkable woman and to allow her gifts to grow!
Dorothy gave unconditionally as fast as she could in response to a teaching need.She has guided and mentored me for the whole of my teaching career. I feel gratitude for simply being abe to be with her whenever the need arose.
She will always be close to my heart.
Love to you Dorothy.
Kathy.
I was very lucky to attend a workshop in drama in education with Dorothy in 2009 when I was in London doing my MA degree. The workshop was held at Oxford University and Dorothy was great. It was a dream for me to meet her. I studied drama in education diploma in my country but I have never imagined that I would have met her.
She will always have a place in my heart.
Miss you Dorothy.
Fadel
It was great, meeting Dorothy in June 2011, when I was in the UK through an exchanging teachers’ program by AlQattan foundation. A great opportunity to be in a workshop held by her and have as much knowledge as we could have. we had different ideas about using the mantle of the expert while teaching and what is the right ways to use drama in teaching and that was during a visit by Palestinian teachers to the UK. She will stay in our minds and we will go on with MOE.
RIP Dorothy
Amira
It was Dorothy who shone the light on what ‘pedagogy’ was for me. Don’t think I had much of one before. That I as a drama teacher can boast we have such an effective classroom pedagogy to work with, is down to the inspirational lead Dorothy gave we drama teachers. On CPD sessions I lead, as a matter of course I affirm that we are lucky to have been influenced by one of the greatest educators of the 20th century.
A highlight of my professional career was to share the same breakfast table with Dorothy at a National Drama conference, talking drama, life, one to one, a real privilege.
I’ll no longer be able to say to trainee teachers, Dorothy is still in her 80′s developing and refining the way she works. It is her rich legacy that now sustains us. Thank you Dorothy.
I was lucky enough to work with Dorothy on more than occasion. She was inspirational but could work on a level that pupils found fascinating. She was a special person who was always will to give of her time and her expertise, not to mention the twinkle in her eye when she was challenging you! Sadly missed
I met Dorothy while doing a summer program through NYU in London. I admired her devotion, patience and love toward her students. I think that she is one of the greatest teacher I have come across in my life as a student. She reminded me of the importance of teaching and how rewarding it can be.
Sincerely
Pietro
I will never forget watching Dorothy work with a group of children in Johannesburg many years ago – sometime in the 80s. I was struck by her absolute focus and belief in them and their ability to make the drama happen, to make it grow and at the same time learn so much. I have carried that memory with me and I believe it has made me a better teacher. She helped me to trust the drama to the students, to give them the power and then guide them in the using of that power. Dorothy Heathcote is a treasure and her work will live on in us and in all the people she touched through her life and her work.
I had the pleasure to produce these videos of Dorothy Heathcote facilitating a Drama into the Classroom workshop in Summer of 2006 through NYU’s Steinhardt Educational Theater Program.
She brought such wisdom and inspiration into the teaching profession and craft. She will be missed, but her philosophy, her approach will live on.
She will be missed.
-Brian
I was lucky enough to meet Dorothy on several occasions in recent years. She never failed to say something that made me reconsider my role as a teacher and as a human being. She will be sadly missed.
I worked with Dorothy in Victoria, Vancouver and in Newcastle, U.K. Of course, she changed my teaching life and I will forever be indebted to her wisdom as are so many others around the globe. One wonderful memory I have of her is of her mischevious sense of humour. I was working with Gavin Bolton in Durham and each week a small group of us would jump on the train to Newcastle to join Dorothy’s class. Because of the time table, we always arrived a little late. One day we arrived to a totally quiet room where everyone was writing furiously. In a whisper, I asked one of the students what was going on. He told me that Dorothy had arived in role as a rep. from the Thatcher Government with the news that the government was cancelling Christmas as it was a “waste of money”. (It was an austere time, 1980) She then asked the students to write letters from anyone, to anyone, who would be affected by this. There were wonderful letters from Santa to his elves, from Bishops to Archbishops fretting about the implication for Easter and after we had read these Dorothy looked up with that mischevious twinkle and said, “Has anyone written a letter from Jesus to his Dad?” She brought the house down. Her point that day was there were many starting points for drama and we had about 40 right there with the letters we had written. A brilliant educator, a fantastic actor and one of the most influential educators, ever. She influences my teaching daily.
Dorothy taught me over the two years I studied at Newcastle University. She was an inspiration in so many ways, mostly because of her staggering abiity to make me believe I could be anything, but also I loved her because she showed me that being a poor working class girl from Yorkshire would be no barrier to making it all the way to the top. As a drama and English teacher I used her teaching constantly, and later, as a TV Producer, it still stood me in good stead. Dorothy did not teach technique so much as teaching you how to be. It’s 30 years since I was in her classroom but the memory is so vivid I can touch it. Even in an enormous lecture theatre she was tangible, so authentic, so real and magnetic. In a small classsroom she was so powerful and yet always accessible – and a tiny bit of that power rubbed off on those of us lucky enough to work with her. She had the lightest of touch, a snatch of song, a half thought, a suggestion and you entered another world. The power of her light touch story could lead me anywhere. What a woman. What an amazing teacher. I was so lucky. Thank you.
I have only just found out about Dorothy’s death. She was the most important influence on my development as a teacher. I worked with Dorothy as one of her students 1976-1977 and then in New Zealand on her first visit here.
It wasn’t just in Drama that I found her inspirational but in helping me to become confident in all my pastoral interactions with students. Her humanity, sense of humour and no-nonsense practical approach are what stays most vividly in my mind and heart.
A giant of the education world on whose shoulders many others could stand and grow. The best way in which we, whose lives were enriched by Dorothy, can honour her gifts and contributions is to carry on making sure that we continue to develop and use the skills and understanding that we absorbed through our interactions with her.
God Bless, Dorothy, and maybe now you will have the time to work on those two looms.
Appreciate it for sharing Dorothy Heathcote with us keep update bro love your article about Dorothy Heathcote .
I was a student on Dorthy’s course in 1966-67 and her assistant tutor from 1967-68. The 1966-67 students were an awkward and fractious group but one thing that unfailingly united us was our respect and love for Dorothy and the fact that she always treated us with respect, even when we least deserved it. No one who worked with her could fail to be inspired by her work as a teacher. When Itold her that my ambition was not to teach Drama but to write fiction she gave me great help and encouragment. The last time I saw her she gave a lesson at Bretton Hall where I was then working.Children were brought in from local schools and for reasons far beyond Dorothy’s control the lesson went wrong. When the children had gone she faced the assembled Drama teachers and said, ‘I think it would be useful to discuss why that lesson didn’t work.’
She must have inspired thousands of people over the years and there are many who like me will greatly miss her.
Howard Baker.
I met Dorothy through a teacher at Goldsmith University. I have started my Master in Applied Drama and wanted to know about an approach which connected drama and education. After subscriping for a workshop in Spondon, I had the amazing chance to meet DH and her amazing team. Her work inspired me to write my dissertation and now I’ll certainly bring Mantle of the Expert to Brazil. Meeting her was a privilege and knlwing a bit about her work is very inspiring. I really only have to thank her and her team for being so receptive and generous.
Shine, shine little star…
Dorothy was the greatest teacher I have ever seen. She truly understood the power of education and she empowered thousands of children. Her ability to understand and challenge is unforgettable. Even to the last she was thinking of the future which we as educators hold in our hands.
Her wonderful wisdom continues to inspire and give succour.
She is my hero!!
In 1970/71, I decided to become a teacher–a drama teacher. I telephoned Dorothy, who suggested that I come and work with her on her projects. Unfortunately, I needed to earn a teaching degree which could not be provided by the course with Dorothy, at that time. I have often regretted that circumstances did not permit me to work with Dorothy. It turns out that I traded Dorothy’s inspiration for that of John Hodgson. I consider my days of drama in schools a wonderful, fulfilling experience, where I learned tons. I would love to have been in a position to have pursued the contact with Dorothy at a later Date. I became an Orthodox Priest instead, and love that too.
I had the very good fortune of being Dorothy’s tutee on an MEd course at Newcastle University in 1981-82. We never lost touch although sometimes communication was restricted to only once a year. Dorothy’s annual pearls of wisdom were stuck up on the notice board for the entire year – until the next one came along. My year with her had a lasting effect and influenced my teaching and attitude to teaching for the next thirty years. She was an astonishing teacher but also a remarkable human being whose generosity with time and any other resource she had to hand was astonishing. She inspired! I shall never forget her. A teacher and a friend.
Dear Dorothy, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your translator of your and Prof. Gavin Bolton’s book, “Drama for Learning”. This makes us have a chance to encounter with your idea in Taiwan. I’ll never forget that you explain your ideas to me patiently and your insights in every details of teaching. You inspire me that an expert is an ideal person with responsibility to build his/her personal knowledge. Thank you for your inspiration and set up such a wonderful example for me as a teacher. It is not only helpful to me but also helpful to my students. In my eyes, you are the best troubleshooter for teachers and learners. I miss you. I wish you have a good adventure.
I had the privilege of working closely with Dorothy on Gardeners of Grantley in 1985. Although, of course, I remember her drive, energy, humour and wonderful enthusiasm, it was perhaps her unfailing ability to enrich the lives of all she met that made the greatest impression on me. For twenty years my career has been outside Education but I always kept in touch with Dorothy. I look back with fond memories to the last Masters Course at Newcastle.
It’s obvious that Dorothy’s work influenced so many people in so many ways. I feel lucky to have been introduced to her pedagogical approach as a trainee teacher and I’ve spent much of my professional life fumbling around, trying to improve my understanding of it. At Kingstone we ended up designing vast areas of our school curriculum around practice that Dorothy pioneered and, as a consequence, children flourished. Her humanity, wisdom and appetite for learning were an inspiration to thousands of teachers. It’s more vital than ever that the practice she forged is understood and developed further for future generations.
During a time of crisis, I saw Dorothy’s face on the cover of a book. What emanated from her, then, (twenty-six years ago), restored my hope. Now I find that her field of work quickens mine. She illuminates, and welcomes, the practical Mystery, the endless “open secret” under-buckling us. I trust her ways, her wisdom weaves, I skip through her pages, eating every word, glad at heart that she lived, and that I, living after her, may hold a cup to catch the precious drops that scatter from her hem. Love in action. Moral beauty and delight. Surprise, radical helpfulness. Brave tenderness, turned to the grounded good, without sentimentality. Presence, sensitive power. Making bold with facts, thereby transforming them. Fun. Twinkle. Twinkling still.
Dorothy did great work in performing arts industry across the world,as newstar drama group in kenya,we will always associate with her work and continue playing key role with others to continue her work.Let us share a lot and be encourage with her investment in performing arts
I am really sorry. She was a drama doctrinarie and leader, who deeply influenced the field with her studies.
Children are happier thanks to her. This is loss of whole drama community…
Naci Aslan
Olusum Drama Enstitüsü Turkey
Dorothy was my external examiner on the MA in Drama at UCE. She was also a guest tutor on the PGCE I did there previously when it was Birmingham Poly. I was fortunate and inspired to spend 2 days with her in Newcastle as part of that course and to have individual time with her for my Masters dissertation.
I have been a drama teacher for 27 years and have always endeavoured to teach in ‘her way’ . . . I am now in the second year of training to be a dramatherapist and have found many ways her unique and inspirational practice in the field of education relates and feeds into my therapy practice.
A true genius and a genuine and BIG person . . . she will be missed but her legacy will live on and on and on . . .
I would like to submit a picture and correct the name, which should say Susan Anderson.on the comment from “Susan”, number 37.However, I don’t know how to submit the picture.
December 29, 2011
I have abiding gratitude for all that Dorothy gave me. I was allowed to audit her Masters course at Newcastle in 1983, for 5 months. I was accepted into the class as if I were working on the degree. It was challenging, inspiring, and life changing. I had a Masters Degree with a focus in Children’s Theatre. Working with Dorothy brought my love for theatre, children and education all together. Since that time, what I gained from three weeks with her in Idaho, the 5 months in England, the conference in Lancaster, numerous letters and phone calls have guided my work in classrooms ever since. I have been an evangelist for her approach to education – her great respect for the intelligence of students of all ages, her commitment to engaging students as thinkers, collaborators, “imaginators”. It took me quite a while to find my own stride, as no one could be Dorothy, but the seeds she planted have grown in multitudinous classrooms around the world, as well as in those I have taught. Thank you, thank you. And how sorry I am I did not keep better in touch. I only just learned of her passing tonight. Thank you, Marianne, for providing this forum for sharing.
I am elated that Dorthy Heathcote have paved the pathway for Drama in Education. I am currently pursuing my BA Degree at the Hydel University College in Jamaica where I have the privilege of doing some research on Dorothy and her concept of the importance of Drama in Education. Truly, she is a great inspiration to classroom teachers. in my opinion, drama should be included in the Curriculum as a subject so that children will use drama to enhance creativity and feel comfortable applying it in all subject areas.
I was lucky to meet at work with Dorothy on several occasions over many years