For more than 50 years teachers have been watching Dorothy Heathcote at work trying to emulate her way with drama in the classroom. This important film documents her life and work featuring film from the Newcastle University archive and interviews with teachers influenced by her legacy.

Dorothy Heathcote teaches a series of six two hour lessons to a group of 11 & 12 year old pupils from Camps Bay Primary School. She demonstrates how to use the pupil’s ideas and then structure a meaningful learning experience for them.

These films, made by BBC North East, during the 1980′s are a very early example of mantle of the expert. They show Dorothy Heathcote working with a class of children from Burgess Junior School running a shoe factory.

The famous BBC Omnibus documentary, Three Looms Waiting about the work of Dorothy Heathcote, made by Ron Smedley in 1971.