Lights, camera, education! The potentials of forum theatre in a learning disability nursing program
Introduction
Foucault asserts that
‘any system of education is a political way of maintaining or modifying the appropriation of discourses, along with the knowledge and powers which they carry’ (1981: p. 64).
Hence, anyone who stands before a group of students to deliver a lecture or tutorial is engaged in a political act as surely as if they had registered their vote. Likewise anyone who cares for another human being is also involved in politics because such actions invoke power relations. When we bring together the two domains of nursing and education the political is personal. With the addition of the contested concept of learning disability the personal becomes political.
In this article, we will draw on our experience derived from a small pilot study aimed at realising the potential of using forum theatre in teaching sessions. The students were in their first year of a pre-registration learning disability nursing program. We found that drama appears to bring together many elements considered to be essential for a successful teaching and learning experience. The work, and student feedback confirms this, suggests that learning is enhanced when a more proactive approach to topics is taken. Students are more engaged, more inclined to participate and more likely to remember. In short, students learn better.
This article then begins with some discussion of related theoretical aspects from three interlinked arenas; education, research and theatre. When aligned with the use of drama in education these perspectives combine to form a persuasive argument for an approach that addresses the need to engage students more actively in their own education.
Section snippets
It says here…
The literature on education, research approaches and the political uses of theatre is divergent in its scope but convergent in its desire to produce change/action. This goes beyond a simple stimulus/response model and aims for the kind of permanence associated with lifelong learning (Yeaxlee, 1929, Knowles, 1998). Williams further endorses this with her comment that
‘the rapid changes in health care, diminished lifespan of useful information, and increasing complexity of practice make it
Peru, potatoes and participatory research
In a discussion on participatory action research Sample (1996) outlines how a project ‘Transition into Community Life’, designed to assist young adults with developmental disabilities to access leisure and recreation facilities, borrowed methodologically from earlier work by Rhoades and Booth (1982).
Rhoades and Booth were interested in the agricultural application of shared knowledge production. In Peru seed technologists were working alongside local farmers to increase storage capacity. An
Boal and forum theatre: question challenge and change
Boal shared Freire’s concern for oppressed minorities and all of his theatre work is aimed at redressing what he saw as the imbalance of power between the audience and the stage, and by analogy, between the indigenous populations of South America and their governments. In dramatic terms he essentially wanted to relieve the theatre audience from the passivity of their role by removing the monologue that characterises much stage drama. The parallels here between what goes on in a typical
Learning lessons?
When we consider the lessons from educational theory, from participatory action research (PAR) and from forum theatre there are clear areas of commonality in their goals and those that we aspire to in nurse education. Principal among these is the necessity to promote some change in behaviour by manufacturing circumstances that enable students to take a more proactive role in their own education.
This is alluded to by Elden and Chisholm who note that action research typically contains these
Tales of the unexpected
Pfund et al. highlight how the very unpredictability of practice can place sudden and severe strain on student nurses (2004: p. 112). The curriculum cannot cover every eventuality and some students will inevitably be faced with emotionally challenging situations that they are not necessarily prepared for. The idea that shared reflection can help to work through these feelings is suspect if it is done in a vacuum.
In seeking to address this we have found that by using forum theatre students can
Reflections
From our experience we identify three main areas that arose from our work.
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Power relations suffuse learning disability as a concept, the practice of learning disability nursing and at a structural level inform a societal response to individuals so labelled.
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Theatre/drama has a universal appeal.
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Reflection is now an established part of nurse education. From Dewey through Schon and Benner to Rolfe the advantages are clear: engaged students just learn better.
We will comment on each briefly by turn.
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Conclusion
The need for change/action to consolidate reflection has been the focal point of many influential educationalists and thinkers. Researchers who are motivated by political imperatives share similar concerns. Thus researchers who adopt qualitative methodologies and participatory paradigms are further coerced by beliefs about ownership and authority. The need to effect change/action is still primary.
With reference to a small pilot project we have highlighted how our own efforts have amalgamated
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgement is due to the students in the department and to the members of Words & Actions for their contribution to the paper. We would also like to thanks the two anonymous reviewers whose comments enabled us to produce this article.
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