The Third Performance in Education: Research & Practice Conference

Featuring Student Showcase, Film Festival, and Special Performances

📌 Event Overview

Welcome to the online schedule and presentation highlights for the 3rd Performance in Education (PIE) Conference. Outstanding researchers and educators explore theoretical frameworks and practical performance methodologies that drive successful language learning.

🎭 Featured Research Presentations

Scene 1 • 11:35 – 12:00

Kim Rockell

Linking Japan to the World Through the Performing Arts? Progress Report and Impact Assessment During a Pandemic

Delays and significant adjustments to research styles and ways of working for teachers and academics have become increasingly common during the recent global pandemic. How can one still move ahead with big projects, especially ones grounded in face-to-face human interaction, live performance practice, and onsite field work with multiple participants? This paper takes the form of a general progress report and initial impact assessment of the 3-year project "Linking Japan to the world through the Performing Arts: Collaborative ethnography and intercultural exchange" supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science [JP20K01193] that, like NASA’s space shuttle STS-51-F in 1985, appeared to be aborted as initially planned just at the moment of lift off.

Scene 1 • 13:00 – 13:25

Don Hinkelman

Qualitative Research Frameworks for Performance in Education

Inquiry into performance in education requires qualitative research approaches from an ecological perspective. Teachers act as "bricoleurs" configuring methods, materials, and technologies into a learning ecology. Scientific, positivist approaches relying solely on statistical analysis of isolated variables struggle to capture these complexities within a learning community. This presentation summarizes three key qualitative methodologies—ethnography, grounded theory, and action research—that teacher-researchers can use to evaluate performance. Don also shares a case study of classroom EFL oral communication performances, detailing how a teaching team built online recording modules and designed custom textbooks for verbal and non-verbal communication.

Act II • 15:10 – 16:00

Dawn Kobayashi

Understanding Learning in PIE with Flow

This session explores how student engagement and language acquisition in PIE lessons can be examined through the psychological concept of Flow, developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow represents a mental state characterized by intense focus, temporary loss of self-consciousness, and heighted awareness of task mastery—a state in which language input is retained far more effectively. By combining Flow theory with PIE research, Dawn demonstrates how Flow acts as a primary driving force in performance-based learning and outlines future research pathways for the PIE theoretical framework.

🎬 Full Program & Registration

Additional research presentations, practical workshops, and the student film festival run all day from 09:00 to 18:00 JST. Access the main site or register for free: