How might drama in education support pupil internal school transitions?

Young people will experience many transitions throughout their schooling and daily life. For many young people transitions can be an opportunity for a fresh start, whereas others might find them stressful and traumatic causing long-term implications for their social and academic development. Socially, some young people have difficulties forming new friendships and relationships with their peers and teachers. Academically there appears to be a post transition dip in pupil attainment and achievement when entering secondary education. During primary education, many young people will experience a single teacher teaching the full range of the curriculum to one class and have limited input from other staff. Whereas in secondary school, young people will likely be taught between 12 and 15 teachers, in a mixture of classes, throughout the school day. Educational transitions might also coincide during biological and cognitive changes that could overwhelm some young people causing them difficulty in accessing the curriculum and reaching their full potential. As such, young people experiencing negative transitions could have additional support needs due to their ability to access the curriculum.

Schools have become adept at the functionality of primary-secondary transitions by providing maps, differing intervals/lunchtimes, induction days and so forth. However, under this model, transition might be viewed as a ‘one-off’, with activities organised immediately before or after the event, instead of a dynamic process that is implemented across pupils’ entire schooling. In secondary school, in particular, young people experience several transitions during the school day, which might involve movement from class-to-class and teacher-to-teacher. These daily educational transitions can result in separation from peers, friendship groups and have a negative impact on academic progress and attainment. This is potentially problematic for young people who might require transitional support in accessing the curriculum across their schooling.

Empirical transitional research often focuses on traditional research methods such as structured and semi-structured interviews, focus groups, observations and questionnaires to gather and understand young people’s experiences. However, few studies have focussed on using a creative approach at transition. Those that have report a positive impact for young people with increases in pupil motivation, academic achievement and agency. Unfortunately, even less transitional studies have adopted a drama approach to support transition. Therefore, there is a gap in the literature surrounding internal school transitions using a drama education theoretical framework.

The successful candidate might adopt a suitable drama methodological approach that is consistent with the demands of his/her chosen research design and theoretical framework. For example, a drama conventions approach might be selected, within a qualitative research design using an interpretivist theoretical framework. It may be that the research will be interactive, and consist of a series of practical drama workshops, with the successful candidate becoming a co-artist alongside the young people (and teachers).

Candidates should apply for a PhD place in the normal way, stating:
o ‘Elphinstone PhD Scholarship’ in the Intended Source of Funding section
o The name of the lead supervisor in the Name of Proposed Supervisor section
o The title of the specific research project (subject to any agreed modifications in discussion with the lead supervisor) in the Outline Summary section