ABSTRACT
Objective: This study aims to integrate the significance of environmental theater and college art education, and to conduct a research on the teaching of theater performance in Inner Mongolia ethnic minority areas, and to study the integration of environmental theater and college art education from the perspective of students. Methods: This study adopts mixed research methods, combining qualitative and quantitative research design, selecting students from Inner Mongolia University and Inner Mongolia Normal University to conduct questionnaire surveys, as well as interviews with teachers, with 220 valid questionnaires and 5 interviewed teachers. The data analysis of the questionnaire and interview results was conducted to determine the significance of the integration of environmental theatre and college art education from both the student and teacher perspectives, and the qualitative data obtained from the interviews and questionnaires were analyzed using the thematic analysis method in order to extract common themes, perspectives, and narratives related to the teaching of theatre performances. Results: The questionnaire was administered to 220 junior and senior students of Inner Mongolia University and Inner Mongolia Normal University, of which 60% were male and 40% were female. The study revealed that about 50-60% of the students had knowledge of environmental theater but not in-depth; 50-60% of the students had not yet participated in a course related to environmental theater; and 60-70% of the students had a positive attitude toward participating in an environmental theater teaching experience. Through interviews with five teachers, it was found that environmental drama performance activities can mobilize students to actively participate in classroom learning, change the traditional teaching atmosphere. Conclusion: The teaching of environmental drama performance emphasizes the organic combination of environment and performance, which is more capable of stimulating students’ creativity and performance potential.
