Reflexive model of research-based theatre – processing innovation at the crossroads of theatre, reflection and practice-based innovation activities

Contemporary organisations have to embrace the notion of doing ‘more with less’. This challenges knowledge production within companies and public organisations, forcing them to reorganise their structures and rethink what knowledge production actually means in the context of innovation and how knowledge is actually produced among various professional groups within the organisation in their everyday actions. Innovations are vital for organisational survival, and ‘ordinary’ employees and customers are central but too-often ignored producers of knowledge for contemporary organisations. Broader levels of participation and reflexive practices are needed. This dissertation discusses the missing links between innovation research conducted in the context of industrial management, arts, and culture; applied drama and theatre practices (specifically post-Boalian approaches); and learning – especially organising reflection – in organisational settings. This dissertation (1) explores and extends the role of research-based theatre to organising reflection and reflexive practices in the context of practice-based innovation, (2) develops a reflexive model of RBT for investigating and developing practice-based organisational process innovations in order to contribute to the development of a tool for innovation management and analysis, and (3) operationalises this model within private- and publicsector organisations. The proposed novel reflexive model of research-based theatre for investigating and developing practice-based organisational process innovations extends existing methods and offers a different way of organising reflection and reflexive practices in the context of general innovation management. The model was developed through five participatory action research processes conducted in four different organisations. The results provide learning steps – a reflection path – for understanding complex organisational life, people, and relations amid renewal and change actions. The proposed model provides a new approach to organising and cultivating reflexivity in practice-based innovation activities via research-based theatre. The results can be utilised as a guideline when processing practice-based innovation within private or public organisations. The model helps innovation managers to construct, together with their employees, temporary communities where they can learn together through reflecting on their own and each others’ experiences and to break down assumptions related to their own perspectives. The results include recommendations for practical development steps applicable in various organisations with regard to (i) application of research-based theatre and (ii) related general innovation management. The dissertation thus contributes to the development of novel learning approaches in knowledge production. Keywords: practice-based innovation, research-based theatre, learning, reflection, mode 2b knowledge production

Ruokalistoja : Restaurant du Grand Theatre d'Helsingfors

Diner 17.11.1877

Intercultural bridges in teenagers' theatrical events : performing self and constructing cultural identity through a creative drama process

The overriding aim of this drama educational case study is to deepen the understanding of meaning making in a creative intercultural youth theatre process and to examine it in the context of the 10th European Children's TheatreEncounter. The research task is to give a theoretical description of some key features of a creative drama process as the basis for theory about meaning makingin physical theatre. The first task is to illuminate the culture-historical connections of the multilayered practice of the EDERED-association. The second taskis to analyse and interpret theatrical meaning making. The ethnographical research site is regarded as a theatrical event. The analysis of the theatrical eventis divided into four segments: cultural contexts, contextual theatricality, theatrical playing and playing culture. These segments are connected with four research questions: What are the cultural contexts of a creative drama process? How can the organisation of the Encounter, genres, aesthetic codes and perception ofcodes be seen to influence the lived experiences of the participants? What are some of the key phases and characteristics in a creative practice? What kind of cultural learning can be interpreted from the performance texts? The interpretative question concerns identity and community (re)construction. How are the categories, `community´ and `child´ constructed in the Encounter culture? In this drama educational case study the research material (transcribed interviews, coded questionnaire answers, participant drawings, videotaped process text and performance texts) are examined in a multi-method analysis in the meta-theoretical framework of Dewey's naturalistic pragmatism. A three-dimensional research interest through a combination of lived experiences, social contexts and cultural-aesthetical practices compared with drama-educational practices required the methodological project of cultural studies. Furthermore, the critical interpretation of cultural texts is divided into three levels of analyses which are called description, structural analysis and theoretical interpretation. Dialogic validity (truthfulness, self-reflexivity and polyvocality) is combined with contextual validity (sensitivity to social context and awareness of historicity) and with deconstructive validity (awareness of the social discourses). My research suggests that itis possible, by means of physical theatre, to construct symbolic worlds where questions about intercultural identity and multilingual community are examined and where provisional answers are constructed in social interaction.

Beyond the obvious : three acts in educational drama

Researching research is not a common theme in educational drama. Nor is the educational drama process from a participant perspective a typical focus of research, at least not if the participants are disabled. Yet this is the theme of this thesis, a drama in three acts. The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyse, and discuss both the ways in which research within educational drama can be carried out and represented, and the experiences of the participants of the educational drama process. The theoretical framework that steers the research process is built up of two pairs of frames, each of them, like Russian nesting dolls, containing further frames. The first frame, relating to the outcomes of conducting research in educational drama, comprises philosophical, representational, and personal theories. As the second question asks what educational drama is, the subject related frame is built up of pedagogical, drama educational, and aesthetic theories. The study in its entirety follows the structure of the researcher’s hermeneutical learning process and takes the form of a journey starting from what is familiar, stretching towards what is new and different, and finally returning back to the beginning with a new view on what was there at the start. The thesis consists of two separate but related studies. The first, a familiar study conducted earlier, Alpha in Act I, was carried out among upper secondary school pupils. In the second, the new and therefore unfamiliar study, Omega in Act III, the participants are adult individuals who are physically and communicatively disabled. In between these two Acts an element of “Verfremdung” where the Alpha study is systematically scrutinized as the purpose is to teach and to manage the reader to think. Meta-discussions on the philosophical issues of the study are conducted throughout the text, parallel to the empirical parts. The outcomes of the first research question show that philosophical, methodical, and representational consistency is crucial for research. While this may sound like stating the obvious, this has nevertheless not always been considered fact, especially not within qualitative research. The outcomes further stress that representational issues are also to be recognized when presenting non-rational aspects of educational drama. By wording the world, through the use of visualising language, the surplus of meanings of educational drama can be, as they are within this study, made visible, sensible, and almost tangible, not only cognitively understandable. The outcomes of the second question point to the different foci of the studies, with Alpha focusing on the rationally retold experiences and Omega focusing on nonrational experiences. The outcomes expose educational drama as a learning process comprising doing, reflecting, and being. The doing aspect communicates the concrete efforts in creating a piece of theatre, while the being aspect relates experiences of being as situated, embodied and sensuous, reciprocal, empowering, aesthetic and artistic, and existential. Reflection is the twine that runs throughout the process and connects both doing and being. In summary, the outcomes could be formulated as “learning from learning how to make theatre”.

School-based Drama Program to Enhance Social and Emotional Wellbeing at Elementary School

Julkaisumaa: Hong Kong

The Soviet plans for the North Western theatre of operations in 1939-1944

Finnish Defence Studies is published under the auspices of the National Defence College, and the contributions reflect the fields of research and teaching of the College. Finnish Defence Studies will occasionally feature documentation on Finnish Security Policy. Views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily imply endorsement by the National Defence College.

Silta yksilöstä yhteisöön : ryhmätyö teatterin tekemisen välineenä

This final thesis focused on experimental knowledge of working in the group. The topic was approached from the perspective of the theatre group director. The thesis itself contains two practical theatre group examples. One is a youngsters' theatre group called La Drama, directed by the author during 2004/2005. The other one is the author's own final artistic production, named Protasio - Kohtaamisia Afrikassa (Protasio - Meeting in Africa), which opened in January 2006. The group leader's role is presented as an important personal tool in theatre, and one that it is important to develop in a professional way. The director's role is to be the promoter of the process, the inspirer and a strong group leader. A person who is in this role will lead the group through the creative process using the community. The thesis identifies and advocates good practice, and ideas of how to create theatre with a group-based method. These analyses can offer useful ideas and knowledge to the beginner in the field of theatre direction.

Teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan ammattitaito : mitä se on?

Teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaaja (AMK) on suhteellisen uusi ja tuntematon ammattinimike. Harvat tietävät, mitä teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaaja tekee ja mitä hänen erityisosaamisensa on. Avaan teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan työtä soveltavan draaman ohjaajana. Lähestyn aihetta sekä osallistujan että ohjaajan näkökulmista. Soveltava teatteri pitää sisällään erilaisia muotoja ja työtapoja. Osallistava teatteri, jossa yleisöä nimensä mukaisesti osallistetaan, on yksi soveltavan teatterin muodoista. Soveltavasta teatterista puhuttaessa usein käytetään lyhyesti sanaa draama. Draaman tarkoituksena on kysyä, etsiä ja tutkia. Pyrkimyksenä on oppia kollektiivisesti ja pyrkiä dialogiseen teeman pohtimiseen. Draamallisessa työskentelyssä toimitaan kokonaisvaltaisesti emotionaalisella sekä rationaalisella tasolla. Fiktiiviset tapahtumat ja henkilöt rohkaisevat mm. projisointiin, eli osallistujan omien tunteiden ja ajatusten sijoittamista draamaan. Nähdyn ja koetun sanallinen purkaminen saattaa auttaa osallistujia tulemaan tietoiseksi alitajuisista ja esitietoisista prosesseistaan. Näin draama voi kertoa osallistujalle jotakin oleellista hänen arvoistaan ja ajatuksistaan. Parhaimmillaan draama voimaannuttaa, opettaa uutta ja edistää luovuutta. Draaman aihe ja tavoitteet ovat aina yleisiä, eikä tarkoitus ole keskittyä kenenkään henkilökohtaiseen prosessiin. Draamallinen työskentely ei ole terapiaa, vaikka sen vaikutus saattaakin olla terapeuttinen. Draaman ohjaaminen on monipuolista osaamista vaativaa työtä. Ohjaaja tarvitsee ymmärrystä usealta kentältä, soveltavan draaman periaatteiden hallinnan lisäksi. Hänen on esimerkiksi hyvä ymmärtää ryhmädynaamisia ilmiöitä, omata pedagogisia valmiuksia sekä taiteellista lahjakkuutta. Teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan ammattitaitoa on liikkua siellä, missä yhden alan rajat loppuvat ja toisen alkavat. Hänet voidaan nähdä ikään kuin siltana eri alojen välillä. Yhteiskuntaamme luonnehditaan materialisoituvaksi ja tuottavuutta kunnioittavaksi. Draama kuitenkin vastaa ihmisen ikuiseen tarpeeseen tulla nähdyksi ja kuulluksi. Fiktiivisen maailman lumous ei ole vielä kadonnut, eikä tuskin koskaan katoakaan. Teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaaja vie ihmisen iäti tärkeiden asioiden äärelle. Siksi uskon, etteivät työt tule häneltä loppumaan.

Draaman ja teatterin sovelluksia nuorten työpajaympäristössä : kuvaus Dynamo-hankkeen draamapajan toiminnan muotoutumisesta

Opinnäytetyö on kuvaus Lahden kaupungin nuorisopalveluiden Dynamo-hankkeen draamapajan toiminnasta. Kirjoittaja on työskennellyt draamapajan työvalmentajana Dynamon ensimmäisellä projektikaudella vuosina 2006-2008. Nuorten seudullinen työllisyyshanke Dynamo on Lahden nuorisopalveluiden hallinnoima ESR-rahoitteinen projekti. Dynamo tarjoaa tuettua työharjoittelua Lahden kaupunkiseudun 17-24-vuotiaille työttömille nuorille. Työharjoittelu kestää viisi kuukautta draama-, media-, sisustus- tai remonttipajassa. Opinnäytetyö on hankkeistettu Lahden kaupungin nuorisopalveluille. Draamapajassa nuoret tutustuvat taiteen ja kulttuurin tekemiseen. Opinnäytetyössä avataan ja tutkitaan draamapajan tavoitteita ja toiminnan muotoja. Draamapajan toimintaa lähestytään kolmesta teoreettisesta näkökulmasta, jotka ovat sosiokulttuurinen innostaminen, draamakasvatus ja soveltava teatteri. Draamapajan työskentely on luonteeltaan prosessinomaista. Opinnäytetyössä esitellään tapausesimerkkinä yksi draamapajan loppuprojekteista; devising-esitys Delirium tremensis eli kuinka jokerit sinä meiltä pimität. Esityksen syntyprosessin kuvauksessa havainnoillistetaan työtapoja käytännössä. Opinnäytetyön luvussa seitsemän tarkastellaan, millaisia välineitä teatteri-ilmaisun ohjaajan koulutus tarjoaa työvalmentajana toimimiseen. Kirjoituksessa pohditaan työvalmennuksen pedagogisia haasteita esittävän taiteen koulutuksen näkökulmasta. Loppupäätelmissä draamapaja nähdään soveltavan teatterin, draamakasvatuksen ja sosiokulttuurisen innostamisen sulatusuunina, jossa draaman eri lajityyppien väliset rajat ovat häilyviä. Toiminnassa sovelletaan erilaisia draamallisia ja toiminnallisia menetelmiä. Työskentelyn tavoitteena on mahdollistaa taiteeseen ja kulttuuriin tutustuminen sekä työharjoittelijan omien tavoitteiden saavuttaminen. Työvalmentajan tehtävä työskentelyssä on luoda tilaa osallistujien omalle merkityksenannolle. Parhaimmillaan merkityksenanto draamatyöskentelyssä voi saada aikaan uudelleenrakentumista nuoren ajattelussa ja toiminnassa.