How does Drama Conventions support primary-secondary transition?

Proposed research aim.
How can Drama Conventions support secondary pupils’ educational transition from the ‘Broad General Education’ to the ‘Senior Phase’ within secondary schools in Scotland?

Research Justification.
Educational transition involves moving from one educational context and interpersonal relationships to another (Jindal-Snape, 2010). Educational contexts might involve transfer from one school to another, entering into a new school year, moving between year groups and from school into college/university (Jindal-Snape, 2016). Most people are able to negotiate transitions successfully (Jindal-Snape & Foggie, 2008; Lucey & Reay, 2000), whereas others require additional support (over a longer period of time) to cope with the change(s) as they can find it to be stressful and challenging (Jindal-Snape & Ingram, 2013).

Most educational transitional research focusses on primary-secondary school transition, however, few studies have been undertaken which attempts to understand the educational transitions within a secondary school; there is an expectation that these transitions are often smooth (Jindal-Snape, 2016). Furthermore, as young people experience several transitions in the school day which might involve the movement from class-to-class and teacher-to-teacher, it can result in separation from their peers, friendship groups and advancement in academic challenge. While some young people might excel with this new challenge, others could experience a repetition of ‘problem-patterns’ which they experienced in previous classes (Jindal-Snape, 2016). Transitioning from a ‘Broad General Education’ to a ‘Senior Phase’ in Scotland might require young people to select ‘option-choices’ for internal and external examinations and adapt to the ‘unspoken rules’ of advancing through the school years. Jindal-Snape and Ingram (2013) indicate that educational and life transitions often happen at the same time; young people might experience changes in the curriculum and academic level while managing other aspects of life. Galton (2010) suggests that young people and their family’s initial focus at transition might centre on relationships and life matters rather than academic issues; however, once these issues are resolved they often concentrate on academic advancement.

Drama convention approach to understanding transition.
Transition can be a period of anxiety and challenge for many children (Jindal-Snape et al., 2011). Empirical research into primary-secondary transition has often focussed on traditional research methods such as structured and semi-structured interviews, focus groups, observations and questionnaires to gather young people’s experiences. However, few studies have focussed on using play to develop our understanding of transition. Hammond (2016: 1) suggests that, ‘…this is remarkable given that play can be thought of as the human being’s innate mode of communication.’ Research has shown that creative approaches to transition can lead to increased pupil motivation (Bancroft, Fawcett & Hay, 2008), academic achievement (Schacter, Thum & Zifkin, 2006), self-esteem, resilience, emotional intelligence and agency (Jindal-Snape, 2010). Jindal-Snape et al. (2011) suggest that using a creative drama approach to facilitate primary-secondary transition might develop pupils’ engagement in learning while providing opportunities for them to reflect, develop their confidence and self-esteem (within a shared, safe and supportive learning environment) and engage with reality through a fictional context. Hammond’s (2015) study adopted a ‘Forum Theatre’ approach to investigate primary-secondary transition and indicated that it enabled young people to explore their transition concerns while empowering them to find potential solutions. To date, few studies have adopted a Drama Convention (Neelands and Goode, 2015) approach to develop our understanding of the educational transition between a ‘Broad General Education’ and the ‘Senior Phase’ of secondary schooling within the secondary context. As such, this study seeks to elicit the views of young people and their teachers around the perceived challenges and opportunities during the educational transition from a ‘Broad General Education’ into the ‘Senior phase’ within secondary schooling through the use of a Drama convention approach.

Proposed Research Methodology and methods.
This study will likely adopt a qualitative methodological design through the adoption of an explanatory case study approach. It seeks to collect data which will provide rich descriptive accounts of the young people’s transitional experience (Yin, 2009). To facilitate a multi-perspective analysis data collection is to include (but not exclusively): focus groups, questionnaires and filmed workshops.