Second thoughts are best: Edward Gordon Craig and an education through theatre design

Craig’s vision of theatre making was one of ongoing reinvention; to turn over what had been and to look for new ‘truths'. It required a mastery of the multiple domains of theatre practice: the visual, the performative and the technical as well as an acute engagement with the intangible, the poetic and perhaps the spiritual. This paper will focus on the UK; to provide a sense of the emergence and development of theatre design as a site of study and to place Craig’s vision of the ‘theatre athlete’ in the context of contemporary theatre design education. Perhaps a hundred years on from ‘On The Art of the Theatre’, this is a good time for ‘second thoughts’; to review and evaluate Craig’s legacy and influence and to consider what advice he might have for us in contemplating the next hundred

Political comedy engagement : Genre work, political identity and cultural citizenship

Political comedy is a hybrid genre that mixes political news and analysis with comedy and entertainment. As it becomes more and more popular in most media forms and national contexts, researchers struggle to understand its role in relation to other types of political media, and of citizenship; in this sense, it challenges scholarly conceptualisation of political media and citizenship. Thus, this thesis examines and develops the understanding of how audience engagement in political comedy encourages political and cultural citizenship. The focus on engagement allows the study to emphasise diverse subject positions and their dynamic character. Additionally, it stresses that reasoning is both emotional and rational, rather than either or, which is especially important in the study of political comedy. By mapping contemporary examples of political comedy as well as carrying out in-depth interviews and focus groups with 31 young adult Swedes (18-35 years old) who regularly engage with political comedy (Swedish radio programme Tankesmedjan and/or American television programme The Daily Show), the study’s analytical attention is on modes of address as well as audience engagement. Focussing on constructions of genre, so-called ‘genre work,’ political identity and cultural citizenship, the thesis reiterates contemporary scholarly critique of the modern era ideal type of a dutiful, rational and well-informed citizen, from a normative and empirical standpoint. The study’s findings include a challenge to the understanding of ‘entertainment’ as separate from, and less valuable than, ‘information’; and contributes a deeper understanding of how audiences engage with these kinds of political media spaces. It shows how such spaces allow for so-called political play and emotional authenticity, which is important for the developing citizen. Further, it illustrates how audiences enjoy the double mode of engagement that is required by political comedy’s mix of serious and silly, whereby they analyse which is what. The thesis contributes knowledge about political comedy audiences being skilled, ‘media-savvy’ and ‘self-informed,’ yet lacking in political efficacy. They are highly interested in political news and political issues, but worry about various social aspects of increasing their political participation, which the present study labels as ‘uneasy’ citizenship. In this context, audiences enjoy the so-called symbolic levelling that results from political comedy’s critique of conventional journalism’s claim of epistemic authority. Through this, political comedy aids young adults in feeling like citizens, in a political and cultural sense, as it represents critical thinking and promotes an understanding of the perspectives of others. The thesis argues that the growing engagement in political comedy is a symptom of contemporary young adult citizenship, where the use of irony and humour is a way of coping with uneasiness. Hence, the study shows that political comedy engagement is an expression of the need for a wide variety of political media spaces, where different aspects of young adult citizenship can be recognised, including the emotional

Caution, idealism and cynicism - young adult news satire engagement

In research and media, young Swedes are hailed as engaged and disengaged; politically idealistic and pessimistic (cf. Amnå & Ekman 2015). One of the main resources for young citizens are various forms of political media. Different types and genres are considered more or less relevant, valuable, or in some cases, harmful, to developing a well-rounded, healthy citizenship (cf. Bennett 2008; Dahlgren 2009). News satire – a hybrid of news and satire – is sometimes blamed for what is perceived as problematic political cynicism among young adults (cf. Hart and Hartelius 2007; Coletta 2009). This paper puts forth an opposing argument, as that kind of research often ignores contextual factors, and the active engagement of audiences (cf. Jones 2010; 2013a; 2013b), exposing a top-down perspective on meaning making still prevalent in many fields of research. In doing so, there is a risk of missing valuable aspects of news satire engagement, understood as educational, emotional and playful (Doona 2016).Applying theories related to the affective modes of address of satire (cf. Corner et al. 2013; Jones 2013) emotions (Burkitt 2014) and their relationship to citizenship (cf. Papacharissi 2015; Coleman 2013; Eliasoph 1998) – which all stress the importance of subjective processes of rational and emotional reasoning in relation to media and citizenship – the paper asks: How do news satire audiences construct and negotiate contradictory notions of citizenship?The paper draws on qualitative research on audiences (interviews and focus groups with 31 young adults) who engage with news satire regularly. It argues that engagement with and through news satire is highly affective (cf. Day 2011; Corner et al. 2013) and connects to emotions such as fear, scepticism and self-doubt. As previous work has shown that these young adults are characterised by a ‘cautious reflexivity’ (Doona 2016), this paper aims to further understand the contradictory nature of such reflexivity. It does so by problematizing scholarly accounts of young citizens, that often tends to conflate criticism, or low political efficacy (Campbell et al. 1954), with ‘cynicism’. Young adult news satire audiences, whose citizenship is developing, are ‘caught’ in a state of cautious reflexivity, wherein they keep negotiating between a strong belief in liberal democracy, and a pessimistic sense of lacking political efficacy

Preliminary clinical evaluation (PCE): Perceptions and barriers to implementation

The College of Radiographers (CoR) 2013 policy and practice guidance identifies the ability to write Preliminary Clinical Evaluations (PCE) should be a core competency for radiographers. This research used a mixed methods approach to investigate the perceptions and potential barriers to the implementation of abnormality signalling systems (ASS) and in particular PCE in clinical practice. A purposive sample of qualified radiographers from two NHS Trusts was identified (n = 62). Response rate was 90% (n=56). 20% (n=11) had been qualified 5years. Only 30% (n=17) felt that their university training prepared them well for PCE upon graduation however responses differed by group. 72% of those qualified 5 years qualified group are more likely to engage with CPD than the other groups. Only 23% (n=13) felt that PCE would improve service delivery stating lack of skill, guidance, 'too busy imaging', too much responsibility, and 'no pay increase', as common reasons. 70% (n=39) felt that PCE should not be implemented in practice. The evidence suggests that the CoR 2013 policy is having an impact on undergraduate training in that the <2years qualified group are more responsive to delivering PCE but less likely to participate in CPD. Further work is required to measure graduate image interpretation competence and subsequent development

Lifelong learning, policy development and practice: a case study of the Republic of Ireland

The aim of this thesis is to study lifelong learning policy development in the Republic of Ireland and its translation into practice in Third Level Institutions. The specific purpose of the study is to map the development of policy and investigate the influences on this development including the changing socio economic and political context within Ireland and its membership of the European Union. The focus of the research is also Learning for Life, the Irish government's major White Paper on adult education and lifelong learning, published in 2000. The research also begins to investigate how Third Level Institutions in Ireland have interpreted Learning for Life and other policy documents in their own policies and practice. I was also interested in investigating the barriers that were perceived to exist by people, in both government and educational institutions, to the successful implementation of lifelong learning policy in Ireland. The thesis also explores the approach that has been taken to lifelong learning in Ireland analysing whether this approach has taken a predominantly human or social capital approach or a mixture of both. Although a number of studies have investigated the impact of lifelong learning policies on national and institutional practice in other countries, very little research has been carried out on Ireland. This thesis makes a valuable contribution by providing a case study based analysis of policy development within a changing economic and social context. It also provides an insight into the approach taken by one individual country and the influences on that approach. Although the study is clearly and deliberately a case study I have included reference to two other European nations who have high adult participation rates in education, Denmark and Sweden, as comparators with the experiences of Ireland