A Message to the Adults

Building on the notions of pupil voice and democratic education, I use my lived experiences as an educator-artist-researcher to explore how power is negotiated when devising theatre with young people. I argue that the collaborative nature of devising theatre is a model for understanding learning as a shared process which reshapes the traditional power dynamic in the classroom. Through applied theatre research with primary school students, I employed Pierce’s “abductive thinking” to conclude that devised theatre creates not only space for young people to exercise agency but also a space that is inherently more inclusive and participatory than conventional educational settings. Form following content, I further challenge adult-centric epistemologies, advocating instead for a shift that respects young people as valuable knowledge contributors in their own right.