Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Playbuilding'

This research investigates the drama eduction form of playbuilding, and particularly the phenomenon of kinaesthetic teaching and learning which is aimed at enhancing group imagination and creativity. Playbuilding is a process whereby groups of students devise and act in their own plays using a variety of dramatic elements and theatrical conventions. This research explores the playbuilding learning experiences of two secondary school drama classes and the playbuilding teaching experiences of four drama teachers. The research underpins current drama and theatre education praxis that relates to learning through embodiment, symbolic creativity, and the purpose and function of metaxis in a secondary drama classroom. The study relied on qualitative research grounded theory techniques, focus groups, student workbooks, classrooms practices, closed questionnaires, face to face interviews and videotaped materials. Central to this research are the phenomena of imagining and creating that occur in secondary drama playbuilding groups learning through a group kinaesthetic paradigm. This study concludes that there is a paradigm which identifies secondary drama students as group kinaesthetic learners, and that kinaesthetic teaching and learning practices open up pedagogic spaces in playbuilding that significantly improve the effectiveness of group embodied learning in drama education
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

This research investigates the drama eduction form of playbuilding, and particularly the phenomenon of kinaesthetic teaching and learning which is aimed at enhancing group imagination and creativity. Playbuilding is a process whereby groups of students devise and act in their own plays using a variety of dramatic elements and theatrical conventions. This research explores the playbuilding learning experiences of two secondary school drama classes and the playbuilding teaching experiences of four drama teachers. The research underpins current drama and theatre education praxis that relates to learning through embodiment, symbolic creativity, and the purpose and function of metaxis in a secondary drama classroom. The study relied on qualitative research grounded theory techniques, focus groups, student workbooks, classrooms practices, closed questionnaires, face to face interviews and videotaped materials. Central to this research are the phenomena of imagining and creating that occur in secondary drama playbuilding groups learning through a group kinaesthetic paradigm. This study concludes that there is a paradigm which identifies secondary drama students as group kinaesthetic learners, and that kinaesthetic teaching and learning practices open up pedagogic spaces in playbuilding that significantly improve the effectiveness of group embodied learning in drama education

The purpose of this study is to examine the role improvisatory and collaborative playbuilding processes play in enabling positive self-efficacy in children from low-income homes in Singapore. The study also examines how shifts in identities and agency, and the participants’ relationship with a facilitator outside of the low-income community affected the young people’s perceptions of selves and opened up the space for them to reflect on their possible futures. This thesis discusses the findings from a thirty-two-hour playbuilding programme with a group of sixteen children from a subsidized public rental neighbourhood in Singapore. The participants were between the ages of six and twelve and the project was conducted in collaboration with a voluntary welfare organization located in the same neighbourhood. The playbuilding programme took place between March and May in 2015. This qualitative case study critiques and reports how improvisatory and collaborative processes within playbuilding acted as sources of influence to the young participants’ sense of self-efficacy. Employing reflective practitioner approach, this study investigated the facilitator-researcher’s use of specific drama conventions and techniques in the playbuilding process and at the same time, examined the impacts of the close working relationship the researcher shared with the community worker from the voluntary welfare organization. The facilitator’s reflection journal was the main source of data in the research, and the notes in the journal were examined together with data collected through observation, video recordings, semi-structured and unstructured interviews with the children and community worker, debrief sessions after each workshop and performances. The qualitative data were analysed initially using categories that had been pre-determined through the literature reviewed and also the researcher’s prior experiences of working with young people in similar settings. New categories were added later when the data did not fit into the existing ones. Collectively, the categories formed the core arguments in this thesis which are reflected in the three chapters that examined topics of ‘playbuilding processes’, ‘shifts in identities’, and ‘voice, perspectives and ownership’. This thesis argues that participation in collaborative and improvisatory playbuilding processes created the space for young people to re-imagine and visualise possible outcomes in their lives and devised ways to achieve plausible counterdistinctive ends in the drama. It is expected that this study will contribute to the existing discussion on the use of theatre-making processes as a tool to support the healthy development of young people from challenging backgrounds. At the same time, it is hoped that narratives presented in this thesis will add to the current conversation in Singapore about the struggles and problems faced by young people in poverty.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of education & professional studies
Arts, Education and Law
Full Text

During the Fall 2007 semester, I facilitated the devising of a new play with students from a school located in St. Louis, Missouri. As an employee of a mid-America prominent regional theatre company, the organization partnering with the school on this project, I was hired as the teaching artist who oversaw the students' playwriting. Both the school and the regional theatre company hoped my being there would assist the girls in writing a play that connected to their Top 20 Teens curriculum as well as demonstrate the high standards that are expected of them by their school's administration. This is the second year that the school and the regional theatre company partnered on this project, and they discovered last year that the play's use of language and character development suffered due to hands off directing. Neither organization wanted this to happen again and decided that a facilitator needed to work with the girls throughout the entire playwriting process rather than allow the students free reign in hopes that they were challenged to make different decisions from last year's play. The school's student population stems from communities deemed economically disadvantaged, and my role in this project proved challenging due to the fact that I am not from the same population as the students. As a white, middle class female working in an inner city environment, I seem to be endowed with a modicum of perceived power, whether or not I agree with it or want it. In my experience, I have noticed a dynamic permeated by uneasiness due to past, and current, tensions between whites and other races. As a Caucasian entering an inner city environment, I felt like the obvious minority. Resulting from these situations, I assume the role of "other" when entering populations that differ from my own. In the case of the school, I felt my role as "other" increased due to working in an all-female environment with participants drawn from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. My role as "other" sparked the following questions for me: How do I facilitate this project as an "other," and how does this crucial, racial and socio-economic role affect the construction of my sessions with the participants? I was interested in documenting how I perceived this role relative to my participants and the partnering organization during my facilitation and in my conclusions after the project was completed. During my facilitation, I kept a journal that served as a self-action study during all of my sessions with the girls. The "in the moment" writings allowed me to capture those times when my role as "other" directly affected my approach to the facilitating of the playbuilding and the choices I made during the project. Afterward, I developed a conclusion section that was written a few months after the project had ended. I wanted to determine how my perception of "other" shifted, if at all, while I facilitated the project and after I had the time to reflect on the project. I discovered that my perception of "other" did change as I went through this project. During the study, I found myself aware of this shift, but noticed my awareness of power and privilege increased when I had time to reflect on the project months after it had ended. I discovered that I can be "other" in some instances while this role may not be apparent to my participants. My thesis documents how being "other" guided my choices as a facilitator, as well as when it did not seem to be the basis of my decision-making. From this study, I concluded that my being different racially and socio-economically led me to place an unnecessary filter over my work with the playbuilding project which caused me to have many challenges as a white teaching artist working in an inner city setting.
M.F.A.
Department of Theatre
Arts and Humanities
Theatre MFA

The research articles in this portfolio describe and analyse how process drama teachers use the special combination of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge gained in 'lifeworld' experiences (described in this portfolio as their 'professional craft knowledge') in order to promote learning. These publications also provide a detailed description of methods used in pre-service teacher education at the University of Sydney to enhance the development of professional craft knowledge in beginning teachers. The studies in this portfolio are framed within an interpretative research paradigm; the subject matter of the research is the way that teachers and learners in process drama collaborate to construct meaning. The methodology is primarily reflective practitioner research, recently described as one of drama's 'own innovative recommended research designs'. Qualitative methods have been used to collect and analyse relevant data. Separate sources of data are used to check the trustworthiness of the findings, through the process of crystallization : the alignment of sources such as reflective journals, outside observations, video records and oral reflections. Professional craft knowledge is developed by individual teachers as they reflect in action on the choices they see as available to them, as they work with their own classes. Often teachers are not conscious of the expertise they are developing; it quickly becomes tacit, embodied knowledge. However, reflecting upon their actions, teachers can usually explain why they acted as they did. The research articles in this Portfolio make use of reflection in and upon action in order to deconstruct the work of process drama teaching. As a collection these articles also examine how the use of reflective practices in pre-service education can facilitate and enhance the development of craft knowledge before teachers enter the professio
Doctor of Education

After years of education, many people enter the workforce without the team-working skills fundamental in today's innovation economy. As one of the primary goals of education is to prepare students for the workforce, a shift from individual learning to collaborative learning is recommended. One way to incorporate collaborative learning in formal education is through students' engagement in the collaborative development of plays. When understanding of collaboration is achieved, according the theories of Teaching for Understanding, the learner can apply knowledge outside of the domain in which it was learned. Team-based management in business and collaborative playbuilding in theatre share congruent structural principles, therefore, the application of knowledge from one domain to the other is natural. This study investigated how university students came to understand collaboration through involvement in a Collaborative Play Development course. Findings support the recognition of collaborative theatre as an opportunity to develop marketable skills for the learners.

This project is an account of one teacher's journey with her students, across cultural boundaries in search of creating authentic Asian/Australian Drama experiences. The project explores the notion of establishing a shared cultural context. The early chapters focus on the background influences that determine where and how the project is set. Subsequent chapters provide an account of the innovative use of dramatic forms used in preparation for the fieldwork, then account of the fieldwork and post classwork. The study ends with a series of recommendations for any teacher intending to undertake a similar project.

The research articles in this portfolio describe and analyse how process drama teachers use the special combination of content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge gained in 'lifeworld' experiences (described in this portfolio as their 'professional craft knowledge') in order to promote learning. These publications also provide a detailed description of methods used in pre-service teacher education at the University of Sydney to enhance the development of professional craft knowledge in beginning teachers. The studies in this portfolio are framed within an interpretative research paradigm; the subject matter of the research is the way that teachers and learners in process drama collaborate to construct meaning. The methodology is primarily reflective practitioner research, recently described as one of drama's 'own innovative recommended research designs'. Qualitative methods have been used to collect and analyse relevant data. Separate sources of data are used to check the trustworthiness of the findings, through the process of crystallization : the alignment of sources such as reflective journals, outside observations, video records and oral reflections. Professional craft knowledge is developed by individual teachers as they reflect in action on the choices they see as available to them, as they work with their own classes. Often teachers are not conscious of the expertise they are developing; it quickly becomes tacit, embodied knowledge. However, reflecting upon their actions, teachers can usually explain why they acted as they did. The research articles in this Portfolio make use of reflection in and upon action in order to deconstruct the work of process drama teaching. As a collection these articles also examine how the use of reflective practices in pre-service education can facilitate and enhance the development of craft knowledge before teachers enter the professio

As the number of non-native English speakers in US schools continues to rise, there is growing need to find a way to teach English while still engaging with students’ fluid identities around citizenship and national identity. This MFA thesis document explores the impact of an autobiographical playbuilding project with refugee and immigrant youth. The mixed-methods study uses a quantitative performance assessment scale and grounded theory analysis of playscript and performance to examine how students’ definition and understanding of citizenship is activated through the pedagogy and practice of theatre. Throughout, this document argues that arts-based research practices can support both qualitative and quantitative research goals. However the findings suggest that qualitative research offers a more complex understanding of potential program impacts. The document concludes with a discussion of the tensions between research and practice when applied theatre is facilitated in an educational context.
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During the fall 2013 semester, a group of seven preservice theatre teachers engaged in a devised playbuilding project with the aim of exploring and interrogating their own identities. This thesis uses identity theory and the methodology of playbuilding as qualitative phenomenological research to interrogate the multiple identities of the preservice theatre teacher. Through qualitative analysis of that playbuilding process, this thesis reports on the perceptions, experiences, and stories of seven participants currently enrolled in the BFA Theatre Studies program at The University of Texas at Austin as they explored identity. Their experiences and perceptions reflect the multiple, and sometimes simultaneous, identities of the participants such as Student, Student-teacher, Teacher, Artist, and Person.
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This thesis document presents a case study of a professional development playbuilding process at a public elementary school located in Austin, Texas. The study argues that playbuilding is a form of participatory action arts-based research particularly when positioned within the professional development setting. This qualitative study uses a narrative thematic analysis of the playbuilding process and workshop performance to examine how reflective and reflexive practice is situated within playbuilding as professional development. The document concludes with a discussion of the limitations and transformative potential of playbuilding and argues for the creation of critical pedagogical professional learning communities for teachers in school settings.
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This research was simultaneously collective and individual. In this dissertation, my team and I inquired into what it means to undertake playbuilding as qualitative research and be a practitioner, specifically focusing on the roles of artist, researcher, and educator from an applied theatre graduate student perspective. I drew upon the methodological and theoretical frameworks of playbuilding as qualitative research and a/r/tography. Playbuilding as qualitative research offers creative methods for un/re/covering collective and affective ways of knowing. A/r/tography offers the opportunity to explore self and roles through art-making and reflexivity. For me, both are manifestations of the same creative impulse to make meaning and generate new understandings expressed through different perspectives and processes. This research consisted of a cohort of applied theatre graduate students who collectively explored and devised a play on what it means to be an artist/researcher/educator. The play, To Spin a Red Yarn: Enacting Artist/Researcher/Teacher stands as an artefact to the collectives’ generation, interpretation, and performance of research. In addition, I wrote an exegesis that spins my individual story within our collective. The exegesis, Behind the Curtain, extends the world of the play into the text by taking the reader on a dramatic journey through soliloquizing as dialogue. As a result of this study, I theorized a translated a/r/tographical framework into theatre- based language for the use by practitioners that is rooted in theatre practitioner praxis (theory and practice). This praxis-based study was intended to provide knowledge for artist-researchers, educators, and theatre-makers. This research offers artists/researchers/educators access to more stories, insights, and ideas about what it means to be a theatre-based artist/researcher/educator undertaking playbuilding as qualitative research. This research opens up rich possibilities that are commonplace to theatre-makers and performing artists on how different theatrical conventions could be used in playbuilding as qualitative research. For theatre-makers who are interested in combining theatre with academic research, it offers another paradigm to consider, expand, and interconnect the work that they do. Likewise, for a/r/tographers who are theatre-based, this research offers a way to conceive the work they do rooted in theatre-based language.
Graduate
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In this dissertation, I advance the question of what it means for applied theatre artists to give voice to the community members with whom they work. The study engages with some of the ethical and aesthetic tensions that emerge when one group of people (artists) is entrusted with giving dramatic form to the lived experience of another group (community members). The central premise of the dissertation is that when community participants increase their independent capacity to devise dynamic and compelling theatre, they achieve greater agency. Using a grounded theory analysis, I theorize qualities and characteristics that contribute to the staging of aesthetically arresting theatre, organized into a conceptual lexicon. This praxis-based study is intended to enable applied theatre practitioners to more directly give voice to their community partners. The dissertation presents a vocabulary that offers community participants and professional artists a mutually understood language with which to engage the power of the theatrical event.
Graduate