Revisiting Dorothy Heathcote's ‘Twilight Role’

Abstract

A two-year research study in an Australian primary school investigated the relationship between teacher interventions and student autonomy in two drama contexts. The findings revealed that a community of learning was more likely to create the conditions for self-directed learning than a weekly specialist drama lesson. Furthermore, teacher use of Heathcote's notion of twilight role, also called shadow role, increased in the extended time of the community setting. As a liminal teaching stance between instruction and full Teacher in Role, twilight role enables a transitional sign-reading space. Fearful that the sparse literature about twilight role signalled disaffection with the notion that I first encountered over 30 years ago, I found an opportunity to ask Heathcote directly. To my great delight and enlightenment, Heathcote described six functions of twilight role that I have interpreted through my research transcripts. I have found that the twilight introduced by Heathcote over 30 years ago has relevance for the over-prescribed teacher education of today. I hope to reopen the conversation about shadows and twilight realms.

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