Should I intervene or not? Reflexive learning in Forum Theatre: a peer dialogue on a facilitator’s dilemma

ABSTRACT

Forum theatre is a dialogic method with the potential to bridge the gap between practice-based and academic learning in higher education by enabling postgraduate students to act out and critically reflect on everyday dilemmas. In previous research, little attention is placed on the crucial role of the facilitator and the implications of her decisions to intervene or not in the Forum Theatre for participants’ reflexive learning. Applying an autoethnographic lens in a co-constructed narrative followed by a peer dialogue, we expose emerging emotional in- and exclusion processes with regard to this dilemma. In our peer dialogue and critical reflection on the narrative we unravel ethical dimensions of the decision to intervene or not. We discuss the delicate balance between othering certain participants and questioning their taken-for-granted knowledge in order to facilitate reflexive learning. As such we provide insights into the complexity and ethical dimensions of facilitating Forum Theatre.

KEYWORDS:

• Facilitator
• forum theatre
• critical reflexivity
• emotions in decision-making
• autoethnography

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).