Pedagogy of paradox: Discovering the role of drama-facilitator in the secondary school classroom

ABSTRACT

This article describes elements of research that were carried out in four secondary schools in Spain’s Basque Country – particularly concerning the role of facilitator in the study’s framework. This research studied the usefulness of theatre as a tool applied to promoting coexistence amongst secondary school students. As researcher, I designed and implemented a drama-based program in four secondary schools, and I facilitated the sessions. From my experiences I have extracted relevant elements that may be considered by others assuming the role of facilitator: creating structure building organizational consistency, and spaces guaranteeing trust and freedom; context management and facilitator´s self-regulation strategies by drawing boundaries and developing certain doses of tolerance to uncertainty.

Acknowledgments

This study was carried out with the support of my thesis directors Dr. Javier Galarreta Lasa (retired Professor in Department of Didactics and School Organization, University of the Basque Country, Spain) and Dr. Luis Lizasoain Hernández (Retired Professor in Department of Methods of Research and Diagnosis in Education, University of the Basque Country, Spain). It must be also be mentioned the support of the University of the Basque Country´s doctoral grant. Finally, I would like to specially acknowledge the supervision of Dr. Monica Prendergast (Professor of Drama/Theatre Education, Department of Curriculum& Instruction, University of Victoria) in this research experience.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ Pseudonym.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea Grant (duration: from 2014 to 2018].