The critical understanding of Theatre in Education (TIE) presented in this thesis focuses on ‘TIE into Schools’ and its effect. The author takes the view that students’ subjectivity was influenced by the dominant mores of elements of society, such as family and school, and less often, by individual, autonomous decision. Case studies of practices that are identified with the tenets of TIE were carried out using approaches based on the principles and methods of a critical pedagogy approach. How could the TIE approach be seen as a critical pedagogy? This question is examined predominantly through the lens of Paulo Freire and Henry A. Giroux’s thoughts on education and teachers. In addition to an understanding of the tenets of TIE and the tenets of critical pedagogy, this thesis presents a criticism of its discursive approach and also a criticism from the researcher as a participant observer. This narrative approach helps explore the human side of the experience thus keeping real life issues to the fore. Fieldwork episodes of TIE practice in three different levels of schools, the Taipei He-te Primary School, 10 different senior high schools and the National Taiwan University are presented in the context of the students’ differing ages in an attempt to understand more about the methods and tenets of TIE. ‘Partnership’ is a key concept and driving force, creating mutual cooperation between the community of the school, the parents and the theatre groups. The expected outcomes of this thesis include the clarification notions of TIE, and the adoption of a subjective approach by the students in relation to the process of interactivity, leading from affection to cognition, then action. This thesis concludes that TIE is a critical pedagogy and praxis, which develops skills and attitudes in which action can be taken by the individual in fitting in the world. It improves the individual’s ability to rethink his/her beliefs and attitudes, to empathise with groups of people and individuals with whom she/he previously may not have come into social contact with and allows previously taboo subjects to be discussed openly.

A presente pesquisa teve como campo de estudo o bairro de Vargem Grande, localizado na subprefeitura de Parelheiros, extremo sul da capital paulista, visando investigar práticas teatrais permeáveis ao contexto no qual elas estão inseridas, de modo a identificar os sentidos que essa experiência de criação artística tem para as pessoas envolvidas e se/como isso reverbera no cotidiano delas. O local, que mescla características rurais e urbanas, não possui nenhum equipamento cultural e apresenta uma complexidade social, ambiental e econômica significativa. A fim de instaurar um processo de apropriação da linguagem teatral, foram realizados diferentes experimentos cênicos com crianças e adolescentes de 7 a 13 anos, frequentadoras do \"Projeto Vargem Grande: Comunidade Saudável\", coordenado pelo Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD), uma organização não-governamental com sede em Belo Horizonte (MG) e que desenvolve trabalhos educativos em diferentes localidades do território nacional. Com base nas reflexões advindas do processo, buscou-se examinar o emaranhado conceitual que envolve a área denominada Teatro em Comunidades, em expansão no Brasil, e realizou-se uma revisão bibliográfica da literatura produzida e divulgada sobre esse tema no país. Deste modo, tornou-se crucial problematizar o conceito de comunidade, em especial por meio das considerações de Zygmunt Bauman, e refletir em que medida esse termo auxilia na compreensão da especificidade do trabalho teatral realizado. / The present research was focused on the Vargem Grande neighborhood, located in Parelheiros sub-prefecture, on the southernmost outskirts of São Paulo, in order to investigate theatrical practices permeable to the context in which they are inserted and, thus, to identify the meanings that this experience of artistic creation has to people involved with it and if/ how it reverberates in their daily lives. The site, which mixes rural and urban characteristics, has no cultural equipment and presents significant social, environmental and economic complexity. In order to establish a process of appropriation of the theatrical language, different scenic experiments were carried out with children and adolescents from 7 to 13 years-old who participated in the \"Vargem Grande Project: Healthy Community\", coordinated by the Popular Centre for Culture and Development (CPCD), a non-governmental organization based in Belo Horizonte (MG) that develops educational activities in different locations around the national territory. Based on the reflections arising from the process, this work sought to examine the conceptual tangle that surrounds the studies on Theatre in Communities, whose area of research is expanding in Brazil, and it offers a literature review on this theme covering the most important texts produced and disseminated in the country. In this way, it became crucial to problematize the concept of community, especially through the considerations of Zygmut Bauman, and to ponder on to what extent this term supports the understanding of the specificity of the theatrical work developed under that concept.

A presente pesquisa teve como campo de estudo o bairro de Vargem Grande, localizado na subprefeitura de Parelheiros, extremo sul da capital paulista, visando investigar práticas teatrais permeáveis ao contexto no qual elas estão inseridas, de modo a identificar os sentidos que essa experiência de criação artística tem para as pessoas envolvidas e se/como isso reverbera no cotidiano delas. O local, que mescla características rurais e urbanas, não possui nenhum equipamento cultural e apresenta uma complexidade social, ambiental e econômica significativa. A fim de instaurar um processo de apropriação da linguagem teatral, foram realizados diferentes experimentos cênicos com crianças e adolescentes de 7 a 13 anos, frequentadoras do \"Projeto Vargem Grande: Comunidade Saudável\", coordenado pelo Centro Popular de Cultura e Desenvolvimento (CPCD), uma organização não-governamental com sede em Belo Horizonte (MG) e que desenvolve trabalhos educativos em diferentes localidades do território nacional. Com base nas reflexões advindas do processo, buscou-se examinar o emaranhado conceitual que envolve a área denominada Teatro em Comunidades, em expansão no Brasil, e realizou-se uma revisão bibliográfica da literatura produzida e divulgada sobre esse tema no país. Deste modo, tornou-se crucial problematizar o conceito de comunidade, em especial por meio das considerações de Zygmunt Bauman, e refletir em que medida esse termo auxilia na compreensão da especificidade do trabalho teatral realizado. / The present research was focused on the Vargem Grande neighborhood, located in Parelheiros sub-prefecture, on the southernmost outskirts of São Paulo, in order to investigate theatrical practices permeable to the context in which they are inserted and, thus, to identify the meanings that this experience of artistic creation has to people involved with it and if/ how it reverberates in their daily lives. The site, which mixes rural and urban characteristics, has no cultural equipment and presents significant social, environmental and economic complexity. In order to establish a process of appropriation of the theatrical language, different scenic experiments were carried out with children and adolescents from 7 to 13 years-old who participated in the \"Vargem Grande Project: Healthy Community\", coordinated by the Popular Centre for Culture and Development (CPCD), a non-governmental organization based in Belo Horizonte (MG) that develops educational activities in different locations around the national territory. Based on the reflections arising from the process, this work sought to examine the conceptual tangle that surrounds the studies on Theatre in Communities, whose area of research is expanding in Brazil, and it offers a literature review on this theme covering the most important texts produced and disseminated in the country. In this way, it became crucial to problematize the concept of community, especially through the considerations of Zygmut Bauman, and to ponder on to what extent this term supports the understanding of the specificity of the theatrical work developed under that concept.