Negotiated Hopes: Reconfiguring Narratives of Self-worth
- Submitting institution
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The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- AONG1
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
- The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
- Brief description of type
- A collection of creative and critical work
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- -
- Year
- 2020
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- Yes
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- Negotiated Hopes: Reconfiguring Narratives of Self-worth is a multi-component practice research output that identifies fears experienced by young people (between 15 and 21 years of age) in Singapore, where narratives of self-worth are too narrowly defined by academic performance. Through the development of two new practice research interventions that took place in two education contexts in Singapore, and theorisation developed in two peer-reviewed articles, this practice research establishes new urban art-inspired applied performance practices that are highly relevant to young people in Singapore. In my practice research, I use Art du Déplacement (ADD) and breakin’ moves to resist the pervasive discourses of failure and disavowal that frame the lives of many Singaporean young people deemed ‘un-academic’ in formal education. Using an adapted narrative inquiry as my methodology, findings emerging from this socially engaged research indicate that students can resist the temptation to seek external validation by developing a narrative of self-worth based on their own experiences of conceptual learning and understanding outside of the formal education system. Creating these counternarratives of self-worth is a vital tool in countering the stigmatisation and social invalidation experienced by many Singaporean students, which have been identified as triggers for self-harm, depression and suicide. The principal contribution of this research lies in using ADD and breakin’ to create a new applied theatre practice that reconfigures Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed techniques for the formation of more hopeful narratives of self-worth amongst young Singaporeans. This practice research has been disseminated through one peer-reviewed article, one book chapter in an edited collection, 14 workshops in universities and community theatre organisations within the UK and five conference presentations.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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