Why Theatre Training Could Be the Future of K-12 Education

Written by Dr. Chenchen Shi from the Central Academy of Drama

The concept of the BANI World was proposed by Jamais Cascio in 2018 and further refined in 2020 to describe four major characteristics of future society: Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible. Compared to the previous VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) World, the BANI World more accurately depicts the increasingly complex and volatile global situation and trends.

“Brittle” refers to social systems being more susceptible to shocks and damage, often accompanied by the risk of sudden collapse. “Anxious” reflects the emotional unease people feel when facing unpredictable consequences. “Nonlinear” means complex social events no longer follow traditional cause-and-effect patterns. “Incomprehensible” describes the dilemma people face in finding clear answers when dealing with complex problems. In recent years, global phenomena such as the COVID-19 pandemic, economic inflation, the digital revolution, and the demographic winter have all confirmed these characteristics.

What Challenges Does K-12 Education Face in the BANI World?

With the arrival of the BANI World, K-12 education faces significant challenges. Current educational methods struggle to adapt to the changes in societal development, mainly evident in the following aspects:

First, the education system is brittle. While current education has made some progress in adapting to change, it has exposed its brittle side when facing large-scale emergencies, such as pandemics or natural disasters. The global COVID-19 pandemic served as a stark stress test. The brittleness was not merely in the need for an adaptation period, which all large systems require, but in the systemic failures that occurred during the shift. For instance, it exposed fatal flaws: Remote learning deepened inequity by leaving many students behind, and the collapse of hands-on learning and in-person exams caused systemic chaos. Future education needs to enhance resilience, improving the ability of systems, organizations, and individuals to respond and adapt to change, as well as to recover quickly from sudden difficulties.

Second, the anxious educational environment. A widely observed phenomenon in the post-pandemic era is that uncertainties in educational pathways, outcomes, and prospects have markedly intensified, leading to unprecedented levels of pressure and anxiety among schools, teachers, students, and parents. Therefore, future education needs to cultivate empathy, which involves developing emotional intelligence and stress management skills, enabling the alleviation of anxiety through understanding and sharing the feelings and needs of others, thereby promoting cooperation and harmonious development.

Third, the nonlinear learning process. Admittedly, cultivating interdisciplinary competencies and creative thinking has become a consensus and goal in modern education, moving beyond the routinized, standardized, and rote memorization of traditional pedagogy. However, the nonlinear nature of the BANI world means problems often arise from fragmented, abrupt cause-and-effect chains that exceed the current educational framework, which is designed for complex but solvable problems. Therefore, future education must go beyond general encouragement of innovation and focus on fostering a deeper, systemic flexibility—the mindset and capacity for individuals and organizations to engage in immediate restructuring and adaptive creation within highly unpredictable, pathless environments.

Fourth, the incomprehensible knowledge system. In the face of the information explosion and rapid knowledge obsolescence, modern education has made progress in reforming outdated curricula and transmitting more complex knowledge and skills. However, when confronted with increasingly incomprehensible socio-technical problems, which are systemic, ambiguous, and lack clear solutions, this progress proves insufficient.

This gap is acknowledged in frameworks such as the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Learning Compass 2030, which emphasizes the need to move beyond knowledge transmission to developing agency and navigational skills in complex contexts. Future education needs to develop intuition by fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills grounded in accumulated experience, in order to make wise decisions in hard-to-understand situations.

How Can Theatre Education Address the Challenges of the BANI World?

Theatre education, as an educational form that integrates multiple disciplines, is an effective tool for addressing the aforementioned challenges.

First, it enhances psychological resilience. Theatre activities, through scenario simulation and role-playing, help students identify and respond to emergencies, boosting their adaptability and self-confidence. An experimental study in 2024 showed that a theatre-based earthquake knowledge course significantly improved the psychological resilience of middle school students who had experienced an earthquake. Students in the study reported that the drama-based pedagogy helped them develop resilience and well-being, and reduced the anxiety they felt after experiencing the earthquake.

Second, it fosters empathy. Theatre education provides students with opportunities to experience different roles and emotions, which can enhance their emotional understanding and management skills. Through theatre activities, students can better cope with anxiety and stress and build more harmonious interpersonal relationships. Multiple experimental studies have confirmed this.

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Third, it promotes flexible thinking. Theatre education emphasizes improvisation and situational creation, helping students train their flexible thinking in changing environments. A study in Sri Lanka indicated that theatre education could significantly enhance students’ creativity, including fluency, flexibility, and originality.

Fourth, it helps students develop intuition and critical thinking. Theatre education does this through two core practices: character embodiment, which builds deep, intuitive understanding through physical and emotional engagement, and improvisation, which trains rapid, multi-perspective thinking in response to unexpected challenges. Together, they foster the ability to identify problems and make sound decisions in complex situations. A study in Greece demonstrated that theatre education could significantly strengthen students’ critical thinking skills.

Where Should Theatre Education Go in the BANI World?

Theatre education has a history of over a hundred years and has gained significant institutional support globally. For instance, many countries, such as the UK and China, have incorporated it into their K-12 education systems, and the latest data shows there are currently nearly 26,000 school-based theatre education programs in the U.S. alone, demonstrating its widespread adoption and perceived value.

In the BANI World, theatre education should develop in a more forward-looking direction. I believe efforts should focus on the following areas to meet the needs of future education:

• First, it should emphasize sustainable development. Theatre education should introduce contemporary issues, such as environmental protection and civic responsibility, encouraging students to explore these topics through dramatic works to promote environmental and social sustainability.
• Second, it should focus on social-emotional learning and mental health education. Theatre education should be integrated with students’ social-emotional learning and mental health education to effectively prevent school bullying, help students cope with stress and anxiety, and promote psychological well-being.
• Third, it should promote interdisciplinary integration and multicultural fusion. Theatre education should place greater emphasis on integration with other subjects, using interdisciplinary theatre activities to enhance students' interest and comprehensive abilities. Simultaneously, international cooperation and exchange should be incorporated into theatre education practices to cultivate students’ global perspective and cross-cultural communication skills.
• Fourth, it should utilize digital technology effectively. The rapid development of virtual reality and augmented reality technologies offers new possibilities for theatre education. Future education can leverage these technologies to enhance students’ dramatic experiences and learning outcomes. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can be used to analyze students’ performances, providing personalized feedback to help improve their acting skills.

Chenchen Shi, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Pedagogy at The Central Academy of Drama (in Beijing), and a collaborator of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at the Johns Hopkins University.