El fundamento de los sistemas y modelos de certificación de competencias

In critique of Boal’s approach, Vine adds perspective on the usefulness of engaging in problem interrogation by means of Boal’s approach. When working with school children, Vine (1993: 113) experienced that Boal’s interactive strategies, were very effective as they revealed:

…the discrepancies that arise between what people say they will do (in theory) and what they actually do when confronted with the immediacy of a situation. The learners became emotionally involved and felt very keenly the dilemmas that arose.

The discrepancies which arose in this way often were surprising to the participants and led Vine to realise that from an educational perspective this approach to working with children came with a methodological challenge in having to find “a method to help them examine, objectively, after the experience, the forces which had been at work on them and which had pre-conditioned many of their responses.” Furthermore, Vine states that the interactive way of exploring a problem was most taxing for the Joker role. To enable the actor-teacher to carry the load better, their acting ensemble chose to have two people work in the role of the Joker. Their experience showed that it is important that the “joker must make the aims and procedures of the Forum clear, and then set the process in motion”. When mediating between the audience and the spect-actors the Joker must make choices as “not all interventions are equally productive and not all suggestions can be pursued”. Further, the Joker needs to “[s]upport the spect-actors and actors, challenge the spect-actors, know when to listen, when to speak and when to insist on action”. An effective joker will “transmit energy, excitement and enthusiasm for tackling the problems” and the Joker “must carry the overall responsibility for structuring and deepening the learning experience as it is unfolding” (Vine, 1993: 117-118).

Vine (1993: 118) found the Joker skill was akin to “the responsibility and skills required of the drama teacher who, working alone, strives from moment to moment to structure and deepen the learning of the group and each individual pupil within it”. He also finds that “Forum Theatre techniques could be applied to develop decision making, self-assertion and advocacy skills” (1993: 122) in young people. However, Vine also pointed out some weaknesses, which they encountered in the approach developed by Boal. In order not to become a “theatre of alternatives” the guiding role of the joker and the choices which the Joker makes has the consequence that “not all points of view are equally valid” and therefore Vine (1993: 125) came to the realisation that

It is a great fallacy of democracy that choice itself is beneficial: unless people are equipped to understand the true nature of the choices given, and can create their agendas, the existence of alternatives is meaningless.

Vine finds that Boal’s work seems to have ignored this fundamental problem and concludes that Boal’s interventionist theatre either becomes “a theatre of alternatives at a cognitive level and a theatre of therapy at the affective level” (1993: 125). Lacking the foundation of drama therapy or a degree in psychology, the research is not focused on the therapeutic treatment of children within a school context. For my study, a theatre of alternatives is just what is needed as the learners participating in learning life skills through a Forum Theatre intervention, with the guidance of the teacher need to become aware of the opportunities for positive change that exist in the learners perceived problem situations.

3.5 CONCLUSION

Driven by a love of the dramatic arts and a desire to help others, Augusto Boal used drama, which for him was the richest of all languages, to explore how best to assist people to discover, understand and liberate themselves so that they could achieve their desires and gain their freedom. Boal developed the Arsenal of the Theatre of the Oppressed through a series of insights he gained while working with the theatrical language and performance modes of expression. Challenged by the adverse political conditions of living in Brazil while governed by military rule and dictatorship, and subsequently having to live in exile but still using his expertise as a theatre director, Boal wrote a series of books documenting his insights. By engaging the audience members as Spect-actors, and co-ordinating the inquiry process through a mediating Joker, who guides discussions between actors and spectators, Boal used applied drama to explore the dynamics of human oppression and power play. His Forum

Theatre model is exceptionally well positioned as an approach through which to gain better understanding of human dynamics. Spect-actors taking part in a Forum Theatre experience, an experiment in a safe space and explore how to break oppressive behaviour patterns and thus learn to bring about change in their reality. Young people in this way can learn essential life skills and gain insight into oppressive behaviour that can harm them.

Forum Theatre has much potential as a pedagogical method to stimulate inquiry into power- based problem scenarios. It can be harnessed to develop understanding through discussion and enables experiential and vicarious learning to gain insight into human power play behaviour. The process requires a teacher or facilitator who is trained and skilled at fulfilling the ‘Joker’ role and can ask Socratic questions to bring out the more difficult complexities of the issue under the loop of investigation. Such leaders of a Forum Theatre performance might need to adjust the terminology that Boal used (‘oppression’ can be replaced by ‘power over’) so that it is more applicable to the circumstance and understanding of the learners.

Enough time needs to be put aside to be able to apply all the required steps and do the full sequence of activities. A big enough space is needed to accommodate the physical movement needs of playing the theatrical games and for the image-making and improvisation section. Attention must be given to lifting the general truth out of the individual stories to protect the individuals who shared their stories. Finding this truth also helps to make the content more relevant to the audience. Through the creative exploration and inquiry around the central conflict situation, much is learned and discovered by the participants about their own abilities and the group behaviour that can occur in that context.

There is a danger in that some forms of oppression can become more entrenched, thus leading to a rehearsal of defeat. To avoid this, teachers need to be aware and flexible so that they can move back to an earlier time in the process under scrutiny to discover other change of behaviour opportunities. Teachers as leaders (directors and Jokers) of a Forum Theatre performance should ensure that the experience breaks rather than entrenches exploitation. Topics which arise out of the participating group’s interests are more likely to engage the group and can lead to more participation.

Younger children can handle the process of Forum Theatre but would require more scaffolding as they often still lack adequate context and vocabulary. Teachers need to encourage as many learners as possible to take on the Spect-actor role as this is where experiential learning takes place. Ideas are tested, ingenuity and creativity are fostered, and honing of important life skills such as better communication skills, assertiveness, and confidence, is made possible. The

experience also leads to insight into power play activities between humans in their relational and social interactions.

The following chapter deals with the research design for the qualitative performative inquiry into a Forum Theatre intervention as performative pedagogy in teaching and learning Life Skills (CA) in Grade 6 in a selected primary school in South Africa.

CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH DESIGN

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the research design and methodology, which was employed to guide the research data gathering and analysis activities for this thesis. I did a qualitative performative case study in a public primary school in a suburban area in Pretoria (South Africa) to investigate Forum Theatre as performative pedagogy to teach and learn life skills to Grade 6 children in CA lessons. This chapter discusses explicitly the approach, the design type and the research methodology, including sampling techniques, data collection and analysis strategies and aspects of rigour and trustworthiness. I also address matters of researcher reflexivity.

4.2 RESEARCH APPROACH: A QUALITATIVE PERFORMATIVE