"It Could Have Been so Much Better": The Aesthetic and Social Work of Theatre

Autor/inn/en	Gallagher, Kathleen; Freeman, Barry; Wessells, Anne
Titel	"It Could Have Been so Much Better": The Aesthetic and Social Work of Theatre
Quelle	In: Research in Drama Education, 15 (2010) 1, S.5-27 (23 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1356-9783
Schlagwörter	Urban Schools; Ethnography; Educational Change; Social Development; Social Work; Aesthetics; Art; Learner Engagement; Drama; Artists; Canada (Toronto) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Urban area; Urban areas; School; Schools; Stadtregion; Stadt; Schule; Ethnografie; Bildungsreform; Soziale Entwicklung; Soziale Arbeit; Ästhetik; Arts; Kunst; Schauspiel; Artiste; Artist; Künstler; Künstlerin
Abstract	In this paper, the authors consider early results from their ethnographic research in urban drama classrooms by parsing the aesthetic and social imperatives at play in the classroom. Moved by the observation that teachers and students alike seem to be pursuing elusive aesthetic and social ideals, the authors draw on Judith Butler's notion of "melancholia" to explain the feeling of disappointment that sometimes follows difficult drama work--the sense, as a teacher in one of the research sites put it, that "it could have been so much better". Reflecting on a larger international research project, "Urban School Performances: The interplay, through live and digital drama, of local-global knowledge about student engagement" (USP) project, the authors illustrate and theorise this concept of disappointment using qualitative data from two urban Toronto drama classrooms. On the surface, one of these sites was focused on aesthetics and the other on social development, but the authors dig deeper to consider the subtler values and outcomes that are made available by ethnographic research. This partly leads to a consideration of how students, teachers and researchers alike are each burdened with a responsibility to "perform" and "advocate". (Contains 4 notes.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10