Metanoia And Our Legacy: The Fostering Of Student Agency Through Devised Theatre Education

Abstract

Education is in many ways a by-product of life. As global discourse continues to push towards reform that would allow populations around the world increased agency over their lives, one of the most critical conversations in education today concerns how to allow students greater agency over their own learning. Scholars like Paulo Freire argue that the capacity of students to be able to assert power over their own learning processes is critical for those of underserved backgrounds so that they might become masters of their own thinking and, by extension, potentially their lives. While research into this area continues to expand, little of it focuses on theatre education, and almost none explores the agentive potential of devised theatre. This collaborative performance methodology emphasizes multiple perspectives and encourages non-verbal artistic forms. In this dissertation, I present the results of an exploratory, multiple-case study designed to examine how two groups of public high school students on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu asserted agency during the spring and autumn of 2021 within two devised theatre classrooms: one online and one in-person. Working with established devised methodologies, creative writing, improvisation, various theatre games, and a new dramaturgical methodology, the participants created two digital performances exploring contemporary issues, largely in relation to the impact COVID-19 had on their community. Based on quantitative and qualitative analyses of survey results, group interviews, and field observations, I argue that a devised theatre educational methodology aimed at allowing students as much agency as possible has the potential to celebrate student cultural differences as assets, to validate student efforts outside of the classroom, and to foster collaborative learning over remote learning environments. Further, I believe that the collaborative nature of devised theatre allows for the cultivation of different forms of agency, including those that arise both individually and collectively. Finally, I make the case that the flexibility and adaptability of devising make it a formidable learning methodology in an increasingly shifting and unpredictable world; and as a result, it has the potential to play an essential role in the ongoing discourse on student agency and broad educational reform in the twenty-first century classroom.