Theater as a tool for transformation: Identifying the aspects of a high school collaborative theater process that encourage self-development

The current educational environment is driven by a culture of competition, leaving little time for deep learning, self-reflection, or the arts. Since 1999, I have directed high school seniors through the Mother Lode play process, in which students write and later perform a collaborative theater piece generated from their own personal experience; students often describe the growth and transformation they experience during the Mother Lode process.;This dissertation is rooted in a constructivist paradigm (T. Schwandt, 1994), using a basic interpretive qualitative method (S. B. Merriam, 2002) and the concept of the reflective practitioner (D. A. Schbn, 1987, 1991, 1995). Individual interviews of 5 participants, a focus group interview with 13 participants, my journals, videotapes of past plays, and data from a 2007 pilot project were used to answer the question: What are the specific elements of this collaborative, performance-based arts process that encourage self-development and potential transformation for high school students?;Based on data from this relatively small, ethnically homogenous sample, 8 aspects of Mother Lode pedagogy were identified as significant: crafting the working environment, warming up, forming groups, choosing the timing, journaling, creating scenes from students' experiences, giving and receiving feedback, and mentoring. Seven themes on self-development emerged: collaboration; challenge, struggle, and conflict; communication; awareness and attention; trust; risk; and reflection. These aspects and themes provide a structured container that guides students through J. Mezirow's (1991) 10 stages of personal transformation in a relatively safe environment. The Mother Lode process was found to support and encourage self-development and transformation.;I recommend this research be tested with teachers from a wide range of subjects, as the pedagogical elements identified are likely transferable to a non-theater context. This preliminary study highlights the importance of teaching strategies such as mentoring, fostering authentic expression, providing a safe environment for risk-taking, listening, and creating student-directed lessons. It is my hope that these preliminary results will help parents, teachers, administrators, and policymakers understand that theater provides learning beneficial to a young adult's growth and prepares them directly for the demands of an adult life (R. Kegan, 1994), as much as any other core curriculum subject.