Oldal 156 [156]
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR THE RESEARCH STRUCTURE
Many of the seventeen points of criticism aim at the arrogance of
emancipatory research regarding the scope and nature of change it aims
to achieve, while others criticise the emphasis on group processes and
consensus in this type of research.°’’ My research aims to test possibilities of
questioning socio-political constructs, rather than aiming to create solutions
for the problem in the case of participants, while it offers new opportunities
to use for colleagues without arguing against the diversity of approaches and
methods used in the drama education field.
The cyclical nature of action research is an important factor in choosing
this approach. The possibility of focusing the investigation on different
territories of LTD and Bondian drama in different cycles is an aspect that
is very useful in an exploration that ties together two vast fields of study.
I now discuss the research question that is at the heart of my research, before
discussing the application of the research and the data collection methods.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS
FOR THE RESEARCH STRUCTURE
My growing unhappiness as a drama teacher with the limitations of
the conventions based approach to drama I had been trained to use and
the fresh possibilities I saw in Edward Bond’s work and in LTD led me to
undertake this research. The lack of drama education practices that aim
to question dominant socio-cultural narratives®* and create space for
participants to develop their personal understanding and stance in relation to
social situations led me to explore how Edward Bond’s drama theory, which
deals with this problem, could be brought together with LTD.
As both territories of LTD and Bondian drama are vast I decided to narrow
down my research question to: can Bondian Drama Events be created in
Living Through Drama? The structure of this thesis shows the process leading
to the empirical research that investigated this research question.
I have undertaken an extensive literature research in the first chapter to
understand both the theory and the practice behind LTD. This helped in
identifying that I want to explore the direction marked by Bolton and Davis?”
in creating drama lessons that enhance the ‘being’ mode of experiencing and
forming living through improvisation for participants. This part of the study
also helped identifying those common elements that I can rely on and
specific components used in structuring drama that I could also implement
in creating DEs in LTD.
557 Ibid.
588 Davis: Imagining the Real, 36.
559 Bolton: Acting in Classroom Drama; Davis: Imagining the Real.