Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1971. / Vita. Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Zugl.: Fribourg, Univ., Diss., 2007

The author's Habilitationsschrift--Freiburg, 1977. / Includes text in French and Swedish. Includes bibliographical references (p. 363-381) and index.

This thesis examines the use of actor-based Applied Theatre methods within the workplace. Typically such methods are employed for behavioural skills training with the intention of enabling staff to effectively perform their work roles in a context of rapid and fundamental change to work practices and structures. This research uses case studies and mixed methods and finds that whilst work-based Applied Theatre may be commissioned for reasons of efficiency, in practice there is also the potential for individual efficacy. Whilst competitive forces drive the imperative for increased efficiency, the practice opens a space where the human consequences of this pressure can be explored. Studies of Applied Theatre have ignored or excluded the workplace as a site of research and consequently applications of these methods are under researched and little understood. This thesis questions the exclusive assumptions of the academic field, presenting a more complex picture of the practice than currently appears in the literature. Whilst the workplace presents many tensions that must be negotiated, this research finds that the participative, embodied and dialogic qualities of the practice can enable a space for catharsis, negotiation, expression and learning not possible through other methods. These dialogic and participatory qualities are found to promote a social model of leadership and interaction that is progressive, facilitating a shift away from pervasive mechanistic command and control approaches to management and leadership. A central quality of this efficacy and impact was found to be the role of the workplace actor which has evolved beyond the delivery of performance and into innovative approaches that aim to increase the actor’s contribution to learning. This emerging hybrid role is defined here as the ‘pedagogical actor’, drawing on skills of calibration, feedback and facilitation in addition to delivering a credible performance. Case Studies include an examination of the use actor-based role-play within financial services company Friends Provident and Forum Theatre used by the multi-national 3M, in addition to numerous case examples.

Spanning over 2 000 years, teaching languages through drama is nothing new. Despite promising international research on the topic of teaching English as a second language (ESL) through drama, few to no studies have been conducted to assess its pedagogical value in the Swedish elementary school context. The national curriculum in Sweden promotes playful learning, with drama being included as a viable teaching activity for English in grades 4-6. Through five semi-structured interviews, this study explores how teachers in Sweden employ drama and role-play-based methods, but also how they perceive these method’s impact on students’ language skills. A thematic analysis of the teacher interviews suggests that drama and role-play can have positive effects, both in terms of academic skills development and in terms of affective factors related to the English subject. However, the teachers express concern that drama can give rise to unwanted behavior and bullying, which underlines the importance of a safe and supportive classroom environment before implementing drama-based tasks. Overall, the results seem to be in line with previous research on the topic and may thus be of relevance to the Swedish educational context. This study’s main limitation is its sole reliance on teachers who have a positive attitude towards drama and role-play. Therefore, further research could involve teachers who have used drama-based methods but found dissatisfying outcomes.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka pedagogers uppfattningar av och kunskaper kring att arbeta med genus och drama samt att belysa vilka eventuella utmaningar de möter i arbetet. Studien präglas av kvalitativ metod och utgår ur ett socialkonstruktionistisk perspektiv. Vår ambition var att samla in pedagogernas erfarenheter och uppfattningar i relation till hur normkritisk pedagogik och genusfrågor synliggörs i barns dramalek därför har vi använt intervjuer som datainsamlingsmetod. Resultatet visade att samtliga intervjuade pedagoger uppfattar och använder drama som en pedagogisk kontext för att undersöka jämställdhet tillsammans med barn på ett lekfullt sätt. Detta, i sin tur, belyser dramas kraft som ett normbrytande pedagogiskt verktyg. Resultatet visade även hur pedagogernas förhållningssätt i relation till normer och stereotyper påverkar och utformar sättet barn upplever normer och stereotyper samt hur dramapedagogik bidrar till barns normkritiskt tänkande. Till sist, tydliggjordes hur viktigt pedagogernas medvetandegörande och närvaro är för att styra lärandet utifrån barns behov, medan olika utmaningar som uppstår bör lösas genom en god kollegial och föräldrasamverkan. / The purpose of the study was to investigate educators' perceptions of and knowledge about working with gender and drama and to shed light on the possible challenges they face in their work. The study is characterized by a qualitative method and is based on a social constructionist perspective. Our ambition was to collect the educators' experiences and perceptions in relation to how norm-critical pedagogy and gender issues are made visible in children's drama play, which is why we have used interviews as a data collection method. The results showed that all interviewed educators perceive and use drama as a pedagogical context to investigate gender equality with children in a playful way. This, in turn, highlights the power of drama as a norm-breaking pedagogical tool. The results also showed how the educators' attitudes in relation to norms and stereotypes affect and shape the way children experience norms and stereotypes and how drama pedagogy contributes to children's norm-critical thinking. Finally, it was clarified how important the educators' awareness and presence is to guide learning based on children's needs, while various challenges that arise should be solved through good collegial and parent collaboration.