18.10.2024
Doctoral Thesis on theatre in education
M.A. (Educ.) Nina Dahl-Tallgren’s doctoral thesis in education will be put forth for public defence at the Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies at Åbo Akademi University.
The thesis is entitled Towards a performative pedagogy: An educational design study of three Theatre-In-Education programmes.
The public defence of the doctoral thesis takes place on 25 October 2024 at 1PM in Akademisalen, Academill, Rantakatu 2, Vaasa. You can also follow the defence online. Professor Lynn Fels, Simon Fraser University, Canada, will serve as opponent and Professor Ria Heilä-Ylikallio, Åbo Akademi University, as custos.
Summary
Theatre in Education (TIE) is an art form that combines theatre and learning, enhancing participant engagement by fostering questions and curiosity around a specific theme. This study explores how TIE opens up opportunities to broaden the use of art forms in educational contexts.
The background of this study is a development and research project, “TIE at Wasa Theatre”, which took place from 2020 to 2023. During the project, three TIE programmes were produced with themes centred on youth and social media, loneliness, and sustainability. As part of educational design research, three research cycles were conducted around these TIE programmes. The study examined the relationship between theatre and learning: what is produced and what is made possible in these entangled relationships. It offers guidance on how to create a learning space where participants in TIE can transform themselves in relation to the world.
This study is characterized by its attentiveness to identifying opportunities and challenges for different forms of collaboration between artists, educators, society, and researchers, with a focus on achieving change and development in both artistic and educational practice. The study provides insights into the connection between pedagogy and art as learning; teaching is seen as a relational, formative process for producing knowledge. TIE offers participants a platform to explore themselves, their identity, and their environment from different perspectives through characters and stories, promoting communication, empathy, social understanding, and critical thinking. The students engage and become active participants in their learning, combining creative expression with reflection in collaboration with others.
The study also provides insights into dramaturgical thinking—how to structure a performative learning process and how it is facilitated. A performative learning process means that teachers and students explore knowledge together, where learning occurs through active participation and action. The findings from the analyses contributed to the development of a theory of performative pedagogy: the relationship between teaching through art, meaning-making, and learning is intertwined with our world. Combining theatre and pedagogy as performative pedagogy creates a dynamic, emotionally engaging, meaningful, and engaging learning environment for children and young people.
Nina Dahl-Tallgren can be reached by phone +358 505 850 903 or email dahltallgren@gmail.com.
The doctoral thesis can be read online through the Doria publication archive.
Click here for a press photo of the doctoral student.
Instructions for following the doctoral defence remotely:
To follow the defence, you need the Zoom software or the Google Chrome browser. You do not need to create a Zoom account to follow the defence. If you install the application, you participate by clicking on the meeting link, after which you should allow the link to open in the Zoom app.