Wendy Mages

Associate Professor, Childhood Education

School of Education

Wendy K. Mages has expertise in early childhood education, child development, language acquisition, and theory of mind development. Her research focuses on the effect of educational strategies and contexts on learning and development. In particular, she specializes in researching how drama and theatre promote language, cognitive, and social development.

Education

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Ed.D. Human Development and Psychology

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Ed.M. Human Development and Psychology

Northwestern University

M.A. Theatre

Brandeis University

B.A. Theatre Arts

Bio

Wendy K. Mages earned her master’s and doctoral degrees in Human Development and Psychology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, her master’s degree in Theatre from Northwestern University, and successfully completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Austria. Prior to joining the faculty at Mercy College, she taught graduate and undergraduate students at Boston University and graduate students at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has also conducted teacher professional development workshops for organizations such as the Westchester Association for the Education of Young Children, Westchester Arc, Longy School of Music in Massachusetts, and Wiseman Education in Hong Kong. In addition to her work with adults, she designed and taught a preschool performing arts program, worked as a museum educator, and wrote and performed for children’s television. Her research, which focuses on the effects of educational strategies and contexts on language, cognitive, and social development, has been published in a variety of peer reviewed journals, including the Review of Educational Research, NHSA Dialog, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education, Research in Drama Education, Youth Theatre Journal, and Library and Information Science Research Journal.

Articles

Mages, W. K. 2019 Lima beans: An epiphany The Journal of Stories in Science. Retrieved from https://storiesinscience.org/2019/06/04/lima-beans-an-epiphany/

Mages, W. K. 2018 Does theatre-in-education promote early childhood development?: The effect of drama on language, perspective-taking, and imagination Early Childhood Research Quarterly 45, 224-237. doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2017.12.006

Mages, W. K., Nitecki, E., & Ohseki, A. 2018 A college-community collaboration: Fostering developmentally appropriate practices in the age of accountability Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning 18(3), 174-188. doi.org/10.14434/josotl.v18i3.21761

Mages, W. K. 2017 Practice makes perfectible: The impact of training and rehearsal on intervention fidelity Youth Theatre Journal 30(1), 7-22. doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2017.1298542

Mages, W. K. 2016 Educational drama and theatre: Paradigms for understanding and engagement R & E Source: Open Online Journal for Research and Education. Retrieved from http://journal.ph-noe.ac.at/index.php/resource/article/view/328/348

Mages, W. K. 2016 Taking inspiration from Reggio Emilia: An analysis of a professional development workshop on fostering authentic art in the early childhood classroom Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education 37(2), 175-185. doi.org/10.1080/10901027.2016.1165763

Mages, W. K. 2015 Drama in early childhood: Promoting language development and supporting academic transitions R & E Source: Open Online Journal for Research and Education. Retrieved from http://journal.ph-noe.ac.at/index.php/resource/issue/view/9

Mages, W. K. 2013 Building a strong ensemble of teaching artists: Characteristics, contexts, and strategies for success and sustainability International Journal of Education & the Arts 14(8). Retrieved from http://www.ijea.org/v14n8/

Mages, W. K. 2012 Preschool characteristics influence the success of professional development: Is your preschool ready, willing and ablle? NHSA Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field 15(2), 195-200. doi.org/10.1080/15240754.2012.665513

Mages, W. K. 2012 Professional development in the context of a Head Start theatre-in-education program NHSA Dialog: A Research-to-Practice Journal for the Early Childhood Field 15(2), 159-186. doi.org/10.1080/15240754.2012.665508

Mages, W. K. 2010 Creating a culture of collaboration: The conception, design, and evolution of a Head Start theatre-in-education program Youth Theatre Journal 24(1), 45-61. doi.org/10.1080/08929091003732989

Mages, W. K., & Garson, D. S. 2010 Get the cite right: Design and evaluation of a high-quality online citation tutorial. Library & Information Science Research Journal 32(2), 138-146. doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2009.10.004

Mages, W. K. 2008 Does creative drama promote language development in early childhood? A review of the methods and measures employed in the empirical literature. Review of Educational Research 78(1), 124-152. doi.org/10.3102/0034654307313401

Mages, W. K. 2007 Motivation, classroom management, and pedagogical vision: An investigation of the psychosocial development of two actor-educators. Youth Theatre Journal 21, 94-112. doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2007.10012599

Mages, W. K. 2006 Drama and imagination: A cognitive theory of drama’s effect on narrative comprehension and narrative production. Research in Drama Education 11(3), 329–340. doi.org/10.1080/13569780600900750

Mages, W. K. 2006 How many words is a picture worth? The importance of comprehensive reporting in drama research. Youth Theatre Journal 20, 1–11. doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2006.10012583

Mages, W. K. 2004 Urban Improv: A portrait of an educational drama organization. Youth Theatre Journal 18, 30–44. doi.org/10.1080/08929092.2004.10012562

Books

Mages, W. K. 2017 Drama-based interventions and narrative. In N. Kucirkova, C. Snow, V. Grover, & C. McBride (Eds). The Routledge international handbook of early literacy education: A contemporary guide to literacy teaching and interventions in a global context. (pp. 296-307) New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group.

Professional Accomplishments

Awards

Arts & Learning SIG Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association Arts & Learning Special Interest Group 2011
Distinguished Dissertation Award, American Alliance for Theatre and Education 2009

Performances

Wendy K. Mages performs at storytelling events in the US and abroad. For more information about her storytelling and to see videos of her performances at The Moth please visit her storytelling Web site by clicking on the "Wendy Mages: Storyteller" link under "Social Links" on the upper right side of this page.

Grants

Fulbright Specialist Grant (2016) received a Fulbright Fellowship to collaborate with educators in Austria on a project that integrates educational drama and theater into teacher-training curricula as a pedagogical approach to enhance foreign-language instruction within a teacher-preparation program.
$50,000 Head Start Research Scholars Dissertation Grant wrote a grant to fund my dissertation: “Language and Theory of Mind Development within the Context of a Head Start Theatre-In-Education Program."
$15,000 Commission on Independent Colleges and University (cIcu) Network Grant wrote the application and budget for a grant awarded to the Mercy College School of Education to support faculty development and student success.
$3,000 Mercy College Faculty Development Grant wrote a grant to fund her participation at the University of Pennsylvania Neuroscience Boot Camp.
$3,000 Mercy College Faculty Development Grant wrote a grant to fund a research project entitled, "Drama in Teacher Education: An International Perspective."
$2,000 worth of McGraw-Hill Education Children's Books designed an initiative to distribute picture books to the Head Start children who receive health screenings at the Mercy College Mobile Health Vehicle.