11 - Theatrical research-based performance: an analytic method using theatre in an educational context

Summary

Introduction

Conventionally, research was conducted on children as objects to be observed or interviewed. My research, on child bereavement, did not use such methods. It would seem very unnatural and concerning to sit a child down, question them, and evoke an emotional response about someone who has died, where my only means of comfort would be to hand them a tissue. This unpleasant feeling acted as a catalyst for my interest in arts- based methods. My quest began to find methods for generating data that were appropriate for working with children on a sensitive issue. There was no checklist, outline, or flowchart that existed to tell me what would work best. I was guided by my supervisors and reflected on my own experience as a primary school teacher. With pupil- led learning high on the agenda in Scottish education, I wanted to maximise participation and have children involved at every step of the research process. My decision to use arts- based methods involving art, drama, and music came very early on in the process as a child- centred approach designed to encourage expression and generate multiple, creative voices other than oral. I wanted to facilitate opportunities for children to explore the topic of death and dying in creative ways to generate data. This was, essentially, my original plan. Soon, I started to question why I, as the lead researcher, should analyse the data without the children. It seemed I was stopping the creative process after data production and falling back into academic norms. It was at this point I deviated from my plan and designed an analytic method using theatre to involve participants in analysing and disseminating the data.

This chapter outlines how I facilitated the use of theatre to analyse data with a group of children. I reflect on my experience of generating plenty of creative qualitative data and subsequently using this in rehearsals to write a script and create a performance. Ownership of this performance belonged to everyone in the room: it was for the participants to write. Working with the data in this way added an extra layer of analysis and, in this chapter, I detail the process involved, including gaining ethical approval, key considerations related to performing data, and how to maximise children's participation in analysing data.