Thesis
An Exploration of How Speculative Drama can be Engaged to Understand Children and Young People's Future Worldviews on Climate Change
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25918/thesis.258
Appears in Recent Faculty of Education Publications
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Abstract
Humankind is at a time when the world faces the consequences of a changing climate. In this time of urgency, young activists are standing up for climate action with action never before seen. Such action demonstrates how individual and collective young activists can powerfully communicate the need for attention to be paid to climate change. Understanding the future worldviews held by young people on climate change is therefore essential during this time of the Anthropocene.
This study is positioned in an ontoepistemological realm. A posthuman theoretical framework, situated in speculative philosophy and speculative realism underpins this study. Working with young co-researchers from Australia and Sri Lanka in activating educational practices that operate outside of anthropocentric and scientistic frameworks, this study aimed to enable young people to understand the dynamics of research while empowering them through the privileging of their dramatic voices.
The methodology of this study was innovatively co-created through the foundations of Arts-Based Educational Research (ABER) and posthuman theories. Engaging Speculative Drama, this study provided a space for young people to creatively express through drama feelings about the future, specifically with a focus on climate change. The research focused on the agency and worldviews of young people and explored the importance of young people engaging as critical participants in futures not of their making.
The data showed that young people have grave concerns about the future. The arts-based research methodology, employed in this study, i.e. Speculative Drama, enabled the young co-researchers to look at climate change with a sense of hopefulness, feeling their voices to be heard, and through these Speculative Drama workshops, young people wanted to explore more and learn more about the issue of climate change. The arts-based research methodology proved to be effective in exploring the issue of climate change with young people.
A significant finding of the study was that the Speculative Drama methodology generated a posthuman, flat ontological response from the co-researchers due to the co-constructed process of carrying out the workshops. This was important in establishing the theoretical phenomena of a speculative posthuman space that was afforded through the entanglements of speculative philosophy and posthuman theory. Such a Speculative Drama methodology enables future research potential to collaborate with young people on issues such as climate change that require urgent action and constant dialogue generation.
Details
- Title
- An Exploration of How Speculative Drama can be Engaged to Understand Children and Young People's Future Worldviews on Climate Change
- Creators
- Thilinika Wijesinghe
- Contributors
- Alexandra Lasczik (Supervisor) - Southern Cross UniversityAmy Cutter-Mackenzie-Knowles (Supervisor) - Southern Cross University
- Awarding Institution
- Southern Cross University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Theses
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
- Publisher
- Southern Cross University
- Number of pages
- 330
- Identifiers
- 991013103513502368
- Copyright
- © T Wijesinghe 2022
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Education
- Resource Type
- Thesis