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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.
