My name is Joseph Ellison and I studied at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga in 2013 pursing a bachelor of arts in theatre with a concentration in education. I went through the UTC school of education and underwent EdTPA accreditation for certification in k-12 theatre education which I completed in May 2017.
During my time at UTC I worked in several areas of theatre including costumes, publicity, directing, light choreography, house management, stage management, costume designer, props arranger, and other odds and ends. While at UTC I was a student employee for the Southeast Center for Education in the Arts, my title being theatre education assistant, where I worked with the center directors to create arts and interdisciplinary curriculum for k-12 schools. When it came to content specific activities, I was co-founder and president for Students for Arts and Interdisciplinary Learning (a group that provided programming of interdisciplinary students to the faculty and students of UTC) and I was an honorary member of the Alpha Psi Omega National Theatre Honor Society. I was also recognized by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for the stage management of Arms and the Man in 2016.
In addition to working within the concentration of theatre I also branched out to explore other opportunities to achieve a sort of well-rounded education that I believe all students should have the opportunity to explore. While at UTC, I was a member of the UTC Marching Mocs Band where I play clarinet. I also was an active member of the geology club and had the chance to explore the science of the environment. I also participated in several student government events such as guest speakers and giving campus tours. As the president of SAIL, I arranged several events that united all majors on campus such as several guests speaking events discussing how arts and sciences work along with each and others in author talk backs and arranging workshops that combined interdisciplinary learning between humanities, sciences, and arts.
So, who am I as a teacher? When it comes to theatre education, the most important factor is ultimately the student. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all” technique or a magical shortcut to approaching the way a teacher does his or her job. In theatre, every actor, director, playwright, stage manager, designer, etc. has his or her own personal touch to the profession based on what they were taught or what they learned through observation. Ideally, theatre students go through a process of creating, performing, responding, and connecting skills and styles to form a unique intellectual and meaningful structure they can all their own.