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CHAPTER SIX: CONTEXT AND FURTHER USE OF THE FINDINGS OF MY ACTION RESEARCH —o My action research set out to create Bondian Drama Events (DEs) in Living Through Drama (LTD). In this final chapter of my thesis I place the findings of my action research in the contemporary drama in education setting. First, I present a summary of the findings of my investigation in relation to my research question, then I look at the approach I developed in relation to other contemporary forms of LTD, and how it relates to some of the criticism that has been aimed at this approach. I then place my work in relation to some other forms of classroom drama. Finally, Isummarise the possible directions of development of the approach I have explored and the possible uses of the findings for the field of drama in education in general. SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT CONDUCTED I set out to develop my own practice, which was originally based on the conventions approach to drama, with the aim of fostering a more sociopolitically engaged practice that connects strongly with theatre on various levels. I decided to explore the possibilities in connecting LTD and Edward Bond’s theory and practice in classroom dramas, because these two approaches contained the features that I aimed to enrich my own praxis with. To be able to explore my central research question empirically I examined some examples of lessons from important representatives of LTD. A critique of this approach was also presented and it was placed in the contemporary drama in education context. The second chapter discussed the complex theory of Bond with a focus on the analysis of DEs. Besides the study of Bond’s theory, the playwright’s dramas were also investigated leading to the identification of a set of structures in the plays through which his theoretical aims are achieved practically. The third chapter investigated the bringing together of the two territories starting out from the analysis of the David Davis’s lesson, offered by the author as a possible example of a DE created in a drama lesson, followed by the comparison of different concepts and structures used in Bond’s work and in LTD.
