@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Education, Faculty of"@en, "Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Secunda, David"@en ; dcterms:issued "2010-10-22T20:43:04Z"@en, "1990"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Arts - MA"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description "This thesis advances the proposition that learning disabled students' participation in kinesthetic or dance and mime performance activities provides an alternative expressive mode to the verbally oriented activities through which creativity has traditionally been examined and evaluated. Between February and May, 1989, I designed and carried out research project in an elementary school in Vancouver, B.C. A group of students, characterized as \"learning disabled,\" participated under my direction in the design, rehearsal, and presentation of a performance of mime and movement to a narrated text developed mainly by the students. Techniques of participant observation and interview (as well as videotape recordings) were used to document both students' activities and the responses of students and their teachers The technique of cognitive mapping was used to analyze observations of the students in kinesthetic activities. Results of this case study have implications for theory and practice. Theoretical implications relate to conceptions o creativity derived from Maslow's description of \"peak experiences\" and from analyzing Weisberg's definition of creativity. An applied outcome of this research allows practical generalizations about the use, design, and implementation of programmed kinesthetic activities as a means of encouraging creativity among learning disabled students."@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/29481?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note "DEVELOPING A PERFORMANCE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY IN CREATIVITY by DAVID SECUNDA B.A., U n i v e r s i t y of F l o r i d a , 1970 B.Ed., U n i v e r s i t y o f Ottawa, 1985 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Department o f V i s u a l and Performing A r t s i n Educat i o n We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the r e q u i r e d standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA November 1990 © David Secunda, 1990 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of \"Visual and. PerformingJkrts in £duca.hcm-The University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Date (Qrtohir 1 . 199Q DE-6 (2/88) ABSTRACT T h i s t h e s i s advances t h e p r o p o s i t i o n t h a t l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n k i n e s t h e t i c o r dance and mime perf o r m a n c e a c t i v i t i e s p r o v i d e s an a l t e r n a t i v e e x p r e s s i v e mode t o t h e v e r b a l l y o r i e n t e d a c t i v i t i e s t h r o u g h w h i c h c r e a t i v i t y has t r a d i t i o n a l l y been examined and e v a l u a t e d . Between F e b r u a r y and May, 198 9, I d e s i g n e d and c a r r i e d out r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t i n an e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l i n Vancouver, B.C. A group o f s t u d e n t s , c h a r a c t e r i z e d as \" l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d , \" p a r t i c i p a t e d under my d i r e c t i o n i n t h e d e s i g n , r e h e a r s a l , and p r e s e n t a t i o n o f a performance o f mime and movement t o a n a r r a t e d t e x t d e v e l o p e d m a i n l y by t h e s t u d e n t s . Techniques o f p a r t i c i p a n t o b s e r v a t i o n and i n t e r v i e w (as w e l l as v i d e o t a p e r e c o r d i n g s ) were used t o document b o t h s t u d e n t s ' a c t i v i t i e s and t h e r e s p o n s e s o f s t u d e n t s and t h e i r t e a c h e r s The t e c h n i q u e o f c o g n i t i v e mapping was used t o a n a l y z e o b s e r v a t i o n s o f t h e s t u d e n t s i n k i n e s t h e t i c a c t i v i t i e s . R e s u l t s o f t h i s case s t u d y have i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e o r y and p r a c t i c e . T h e o r e t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s r e l a t e t o c o n c e p t i o n s o c r e a t i v i t y d e r i v e d from Maslow's d e s c r i p t i o n o f \"peak e x p e r i e n c e s \" and from a n a l y z i n g Weisberg's d e f i n i t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y . An a p p l i e d outcome o f t h i s r e s e a r c h a l l o w s p r a c t i c a l g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s about t h e use, d e s i g n , and i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f programmed k i n e s t h e t i c a c t i v i t i e s as a means o f e n c o u r a g i n g c r e a t i v i t y among l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s . i i i Table of Contents A b s t r a c t i i T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s . . J .' i i i CHAPTER I : INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PROBLEM 1 I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 R e s e a r c h Q u e s t i o n 3 Overview o f t h e Program i n t h i s Case Study 5 T h e o r e t i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e 6 Dua l R o l e s o f t h e R e s e a r c h e r : P a r t i c i p a n t . Observer/Program A n i m a t o r 8 D e s i g n o f t h e Study • 10 D e f i n i t i o n o f D a t a . 10 P a r t i c i p a n t s 11 Time and P l a c e 12 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f Data 13 Summary 15 CHAPTER I I : REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE APPROACH 16 I n t r o d u c t i o n 16 P o s i t i v i s t C o n c e p t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y 17 P r o d u c t D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y 17 P r o c e s s D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y 19 T r a i t D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y 19 i v Summary o f P o s i t i v i s t C o n c e p t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y 27 C r e a t i v i t y o f L e a r n i n g D i s a b l e d S t u d e n t s . .. 1 .28 A R e d e f i n i t i o n o f C r e a t i v i t y 32 Use o f Metaphors i n a R e d e f i n i t i o n o f C r e a t i v i t y 35 C o g n i t i v e Mapping o f K i n e s t h e t i c C r e a t i v i t y 38 Summary 44 CHAPTER I I I : SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND PROGRAM. 47 I n t r o d u c t i o n 47 S e t t i n g 48 P a r t i c i p a n t s 48 Phase I : P r e l i m i n a r y K i n e s t h e t i c A c t i v i t i e s 51 R e l a x a t i o n E x e r c i s e s 52 V i s u a l i z a t i o n E x e r c i s e s 54 I s o l a t i o n s 54 N e u t r a l Mask 55 Choreography 56 Mime 57 Phase I I : P l a n n i n g t h e Performance 57 I n t r o d u c t i o n t o t h e W o r l d o f Legends 57 C o l l e c t i v e C r e a t i o n o f Legends: The S t o r y C i r c l e 58 P o l i s h i n g t h e Legends 58 Mask making 60 I G i v i n g B i r t h t o Masked C h a r a c t e r s 60 R e h e a r s i n g t h e Performance Event 61 Phase I I I : F i n a l P r e s e n t a t i o n ' 62 CHAPTER IV: INTERPRETATION OF DATA 63 I n t r o d u c t i o n 63 K i n e s t h e t i c E x p r e s s i o n s 64 R e l a x a t i o n : A d j u s t i n g t o a New Way o f Working 64 R e l a x a t i o n : I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r Performance E x p r e s s i o n s 66 K i n e s t h e t i c P r o d u c t i o n s and V e r b a l C r e a t i v i t y 71 I n d i v i d u a l Approaches t o C r e a t i v i t y : P a i n t i n g as a K i n e s t h e t i c A c t i v i t y 74 C o g n i t i v e Mapping o f t h e Performance 77 I n t r o d u c t i o n 77 P a r t i c i p a n t s ' C o n c e p t i o n o f Stage 78 C o n v e n t i o n s o f Mask T h e a t r e and Ev e r y d a y S o c i a l S p a t i a l Arrangements 80 S p a t i a l Awareness and K i n e s t h e t i c Memory 83 P a r t i c i p a n t s ' C r e a t i v e C o n t r i b u t i o n s : T r a n s f o r m i n g K i n e s t h e t i c Movements 84 Summary o f C o g n i t i v e Mapping and K i n e s t h e t i c E x p r e s s i o n 87 v i S o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n i n t h e ' R e h e a r s a l S i t u a t i o n 89 I n t r o d u c t i o n : S o c i a l E x p e c t a t i o n s o f t h e R e h e a r s a l S i t u a t i o n J 89 A d u l t C o n c e p t i o n s o f R e h e a r s a l 89 A d u l t V e r s u s C h i l d r e n ' s D e f i n i t i o n s o f R e h e a r s a l and P l a y 90 A d u l t V e r s u s C h i l d r e n ' s D e f i n i t i o n s o f Time 91 \" P l a y \" as N o n - p u r p o s e f u l A c t i v i t y 92 \" P l a y \" and F a c t o r s o f C r e a t i v i t y 95 S o c i a l i z a t i o n o f t h e P a r t i c i p a n t s and t h e A d u l t C o n c e p t i o n o f R e h e a r s a l 99 Summary 101 Te a c h e r s ' E v a l u a t i o n s o f t h e Performance 102 P a r t i c i p a t i o n 103 C o o p e r a t i o n 104 Esteem 106 Hidden T a l e n t s 109 St u d e n t E v a l u a t i o n s o f t h e Performance 110 C r e a t i v i t y i s Fun 110 Commitment I l l Performance A s p i r a t i o n s 112 Summary 114 CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS 117 R e s e a r c h Q u e s t i o n s 117 v i i F i n d i n g s 117 P r a c t i c a l C o n c l u s i o n s 118 R e l a x a t i o n : Ways o f B e i n g 119 Seq u e n c i n g : R e l a x a t i o n E x e r c i s e s as Warm-up f o r V e r b a l A c t i v i t i e s 120 K i n e s t h e t i c A c t i v i t y Encourages V e r b a l P r o d u c t i o n s 121 V i s u a l i z a t i o n o f S p a t i a l R e l a t i o n s h i p s 121 B a l a n c i n g \" P l a y \" w i t h P e r f ormance G o a l s 122 T h e o r e t i c a l S i g n i f i c a n c e 123 D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y 123 I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e F i e l d o f T e a c h i n g 125 I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r S e l f Concept and M a i n s t r e a m i n g 125 REFERENCES 128 Appe n d i x I 132 Appendix I I 138 1 CHAPTER I I : INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF PROBLEM I n t r o d u c t i o n T h i s t h e s i s focuses on c r e a t i v i t y . Much r e s e a r c h i n t o t h i s t o p i c reduces c r e a t i v i t y t o q u a n t i f i e d t r a i t s which o v e r l o o k the emotional involvement and the k i n e s t h e t i c (movement r e l a t e d ) s e n s i t i v i t i e s o f a person absorbed i n an a r t i s t i c e x p r e s s i o n . The o p p r e s s i v e atmosphere o f t e n e x p e r i e n c e d d u r i n g a paper and p e n c i l assessment o f c r e a t i v i t y has l i t t l e i n common w i t h t h a t o f an a r t c l a s s or a r e h e a r s a l s t u d i o . Many f a c e t s o f c r e a t i v i t y seem t o escape q u a n t i f i c a t i o n . P o s i t i v i s t c o n c e p t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y i n f e r r e d from s t a t i s t i c a l l y c o r r e l a t e d v a r i a b l e s may f a i l t o encompass the unique and spontaneous nature of a c r e a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e . When t r a d i t i o n a l t e s t i n g t e c h n i q u e s are a d m i n i s t e r e d , l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students c o n s i s t e n t l y s c o r e lower on c r e a t i v i t y q u o t i e n t s . C r e a t i v i t y t e s t items e l i c i t v e r b a l responses. Because these students may have d i f f i c u l t y v e r b a l i z i n g , even though they may be abl e t o v i s u a l i z e or imagine i n n o v a t i v e responses, such measures of c r e a t i v i t y are not s e n s i t i v e t o the c r e a t i v e p o t e n t i a l o f l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d c h i l d r e n . Because c r e a t i v i t y scores are q u a n t i t a t i v e measures of v e r b a l responses, i t can be argued t h a t l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students are short-changed by these t e s t s . T h i s r e s e a r c h p r o j e c t , c a r r i e d out i n a n a t u r a l 2 s e t t i n g , was u n d e r t a k e n t o i n v e s t i g a t e c r e a t i v i t y and, i n p a r t i c u l a r , k i n e s t h e t i c c r e a t i v i t y among c h i l d r e n w i t h l e a r n i n g p r o b l e m s . To l o o k a t t h e c r e a t i v i t y o f t h e s e s p e c i a l s t u d e n t s , I p a r t i c i p a t e d i n and c o o r d i n a t e d a p e rformance event w i t h s t u d e n t s who have been a s s e s s e d as l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d . Over a t w e l v e week p e r i o d , from F e b r u a r y t h r o u g h May 198 9, p e r f o r m i n g t h e d u a l r o l e s o f r e s e a r c h e r and a r t i s t i c c o l l a b o r a t o r , I l e d a group o f l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s i n a Vancouver, B.C. e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l t h r o u g h t h e development and p r e s e n t a t i o n o f two p e rformance p i e c e s . Phenomenology i s t h e t h e o r e t i c a l a pproach used i n t h i s s t u d y . T h i s approach assumes t h a t t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s b e h a v i o u r i s i n f l u e n c e d by t h e s e t t i n g s i n w h i c h i t o c c u r s , and t h a t i f we a r e t o u n d e r s t a n d a phenomenon, we must u n d e r s t a n d t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f t h a t phenomenon f o r t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s . T h i s t h e o r e t i c a l approach e n a b l e d me t o u n d e r t a k e a q u a l i t a t i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n and a n a l y s i s o f k i n e s t h e t i c c r e a t i v i t y among l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s . Q u a l i t a t i v e a n a l y s i s i s r e s e a r c h based on m e n t a l i s t , r a t h e r t h a n m a t e r i a l i s t d a t a ; t h e outcomes a r e h y p o t h e t i c a l c o n s t r u c t s t h a t r e p r e s e n t t h e e x p e r i e n c e s o f t h e o b s e r v e d , b a s e d on e v i d e n c e . T h i s q u a l i t a t i v e approach a l l o w e d me t o d e v e l o p , o b s e r v e , and a n a l y z e a f l e x i b l e program o f mime and dance a c t i v i t i e s and s t o r y - t e l l i n g games i n o r d e r t o examine t h e t o p i c o f c r e a t i v i t y . I f o c u s e d my r e s e a r c h on t h e 3 p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s as r e v e a l e d i n t h e r e h e a r s a l s and per f o r m a n c e , w h i c h I documented i n f i e l d n o t e s and on v i d e o t a p e . Research Q u e s t i o n My o r i g i n a l r e s e a r c h t o p i c was t o be \"the n a t u r e o f c r e a t i v i t y , e x p r e s s e d t h r o u g h t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s s u r r o u n d i n g and c o m p r i s i n g a performance event among s t u d e n t s who have been a s s e s s e d as l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d . \" D u r i n g t h e c o u r s e o f t h i s r e s e a r c h , I i n d u c t i v e l y came t o f o c u s t h e r e s e a r c h t o p i c on how s p e c i f i c t e c h n i q u e s might be used t o encourage l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s t o e x p r e s s c r e a t i v i t y k i n e s t h e t i c a l l y ( t h r o u g h mime and dance) and how, i n t u r n , t h e s e k i n e s t h e t i c p r o d u c t i o n s might enhance t h e i r v e r b a l c r e a t i v i t y . As t h e p r o j e c t p r o g r e s s e d , I came t o f o c u s on t h e o r e t i c a l and p r a g m a t i c r e s e a r c h i s s u e s . The p r a g m a t i c q u e s t i o n a s k s : What a r e some o f t h e ways t h a t c r e a t i v i t y might be encouraged t h r o u g h dance and movement and how can k i n e s t h e t i c s s u p p o r t t h e v e r b a l p r o d u c t i o n s and c r e a t i v i t y o f l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s ? The t h e o r e t i c a l q u e s t i o n a s k s : In l i g h t o f t h e f i n d i n g s , what a r e t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r t h e d e f i n i t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y I b r i n g t o t h i s case s t u d y ? One o f t h o s e d e f i n i t i o n s i n v o l v e s t h e \"peak e x p e r i e n c e \" (as d e f i n e d by Maslow, 1 9 6 8 ) . The second o f t h o s e d e f i n i t i o n s i s a r e f o r m u l a t i o n o f Weisberg's (1986) d e f i n i t i o n , w h i c h s t i p u l a t e s t h a t c r e a t i v i t y i n v o l v e s an outcome t h a t i s : 1) n o v e l , and 2) s i g n i f i c a n t t o t h e 4 i n d i v i d u a l . Both d e f i n i t i o n s focus on the \" l i f e - w o r l d \" of the i n d i v i d u a l , and c o n s i d e r the context and a c t i v i t i e s through which e x p r e s s i o n s e v o l v e . While choosing the above d e f i n i t i o n s , I r e c o g n i z e t h e r e are many a v a i l a b l e d e f i n i t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y o u t s i d e o f psychology t h a t have been developed by a r t i s t s or i n v e n t o r s . For t h i s study, I have foc u s e d on p s y c h o l o g i c a l approaches t o c r e a t i v i t y , because they have c o n t i n u e d t o e x e r t a s t r o n g i n f l u e n c e on ed u c a t o r s . (The reasons f o r f o c u s i n g p a r t i c u l a r l y on the p s y c h o l o g i c a l approaches of Weisberg and Maslow are d i s c u s s e d i n Chapter II.) On a p r a c t i c a l l e v e l , I hope t o c o n t r i b u t e t o knowledge of c r e a t i v i t y and propose some pragmatic s u g g e s t i o n s f o r programs which might encourage c r e a t i v i t y among l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s . T h i s r e s e a r c h i s a l s o n o t a b l e i n t h a t i t examines the s o c i a l a s p e c t s o f c r e a t i v i t y . A performance event i s a group i n t e r a c t i o n . Students may share v i s i o n s , propose g o a l s , o f f e r d i r e c t i o n , or s o l v e problems. I looked at how the p a r t i c i p a n t i n a c r e a t i v e event e x p e r i e n c e s the support or l i m i t s of the group. Thus, my r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s g i v e r i s e t o the f o l l o w i n g r e s e a r c h o b j e c t i v e s : 1) t o apply the techn i q u e s o f q u a l i t a t i v e a n a l y s i s t o r e s e a r c h on c r e a t i v i t y i n an e d u c a t i o n a l s e t t i n g 5 i n v o l v i n g l a r g e l y i n a r t i c u l a t e l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d i students, 2) t o develop and t e s t approaches to ( d e f i n i t i o n s of) c r e a t i v i t y ' u s e f u l i n working w i t h l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d c h i l d r e n , 3) t o t e s t and o u t l i n e a program of k i n e s t h e t i c a c t i v i t i e s which might encourage c r e a t i v i t y i n l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students, 4) t o look both t h e o r e t i c a l l y and p r a g m a t i c a l l y at the s o c i a l c ontext of r e h e a r s a l and performance s i t u a t i o n s ( i . e . , student and t e a c h e r e x p e c t a t i o n s as to behaviour and goals) w i t h an o b j e c t i v e of making sug g e s t i o n s f o r ot h e r programs of t h i s t ype. Overview of the Program i n t h i s Case Study So t h a t the reader may v i s u a l i z e the course of the program on which t h i s r e s e a r c h i s based, I i n c l u d e an o u t l i n e . D e t a i l s and d i s c u s s i o n of the \"Program\" f o l l o w i n Chapter I I I . 1) P r e l i m i n a r y K i n e s t h e t i c A c t i v i t i e s R e l a x a t i o n E x e r c i s e s I s o l a t i o n s N e u t r a l Mask j X V i s u a l i z a t i o n E x e r c i s e s Mime Choreography (\"Cycle of L i f e \" ) 6 2) P l a n n i n g the Performance Event I n t r o d u c t i o n t o World Legends C o l l e c t i v e C r e a t i o n of Legends: the Story C i r c l e P o l i s h i n g the Legend (going from o r a l v e r s i o n t o w r i t t e n performance s c r i p t ) Mask Making G i v i n g B i r t h t o the Mask C h a r a c t e r s 3) Rehearsing the Performance Event Choreography ( r e n d e r i n g the s t o r y images through mime and dance) Timing ( s y n c h r o n i z i n g the a c t i o n t o the n a r r a t i o n ) P o l i s h i n g ( c r i t i q u i n g and d e v e l o p i n g q u a l i t i e s o f movement and v o i c e D i s c u s s i o n (encouraging v e r b a l i z a t i o n of the exp e r i e n c e s as a s h a r i n g group) 4) Performance 5) Follow-up review (viewing and d i s c u s s i n g v i d e o t a p e of the f i n a l performance) T h e o r e t i c a l P e r s p e c t i v e Q u a l i t a t i v e methodologies are founded on the phenomenological assumption t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s see the world through the c o l o r e d windows of t h e i r l i f e e x p e r i e n c e s . Thus, as the r e s e a r c h e r , i t i s of i n t e r e s t t o d i s c u s s my own presumptions and p r e s u p p o s i t i o n s about c r e a t i v i t y t h a t shape my un d e r s t a n d i n g of the r e h e a r s a l and performance a c t i v i t i e s t h a t comprise t h i s study. I approached t h i s r e s e a r c h w i t h a 7 c o n c e p t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y which I d e v i s e d d u r i n g f i f t e e n years work as a p r o f e s s i o n a l a r t i s t and t e a c h e r . T h i s approach to c r e a t i v i t y assumes t h a t the whole person - i n c l u d i n g h i s or her c o g n i t i v e , emo'tional, I k i n e s t h e t i c , and e v a l u a t i v e f a c u l t i e s - i s i n s e p a r a b l e from the c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y . C r e a t i v e work o f t e n produces a peak or e x t r a o r d i n a r y e x p e r i e n c e f o r t h a t i n d i v i d u a l . (Here I draw from Maslow [1968].) During such a peak experi e n c e , p e r c e p t u a l f a c u l t i e s are heightened, and v i s u a l , a u d i t o r y and k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s a t i o n s are r e a d i l y absorbed. The e x p e r i e n c e of the c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y produces a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f the \" l i f e w orld\" of the i n d i v i d u a l , so t h a t subsequent p e r c e p t i o n s , s e n s i t i v i t i e s , e v a l u a t i o n s and a e s t h e t i c e x p e r i e n c e s are e n r i c h e d . Thus, my own approach t o c r e a t i v i t y which, as I say, I developed through my e x p e r i e n c e as a p r o f e s s i o n a l a r t i s t , d e f i n e s the concept of c r e a t i v i t y i n terms of a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of awareness through the c r e a t i v e a c t . In f o c u s i n g on t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s , I have been i n s p i r e d by J e r z y Grotowski's v i s i o n of the a r t i s t as shaman. T h i s p e r s p e c t i v e e v o l v e d through my c r e a t i n g and c o l l a b o r a t i n g on performance a r t p i e c e s which were s t r u c t u r e d around r i t u a l and mask t h e a t r e . I found my own e x p l o r a t i o n s , borrowing from Grotowski's method, enabled me t o develop a u t h e n t i c t h e a t r i c a l works t h a t c a l l upon the a c t o r t o melt h i s or her own s e n s i t i v i t i e s and emotional background i n t o those of the c h a r a c t e r . T h i s a c t i n g 8 approach a l s o emphasizes i n t e n s i v e p h y s i c a l and v o c a l t r a i n i n g , supported by c o n c e n t r a t i o n and r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s . The heightened awareness of p h y s i c a l movements and emotional s t a t e s t h a t r e s u l t s from t h i s approach to performance p a r a l l e l s Maslow's view of the c r e a t i v e a c t as a peak e x p e r i e n c e . T h i s d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y enables the r e s e a r c h e r t o d i s c u s s creativity as experienced because i t emphasizes the s o c i a l context of c r e a t i v i t y and r e c o g n i z e s the i n d i v i d u a l ' s awareness of the a c t i v i t y (and i s thus c o n s i s t e n t w i t h the assumptions of the t h e o r e t i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e of t h i s case s t u d y ) . I w i l l r e t u r n t o t h i s i s s u e at the end of Chapter I I . Dual Roles of the Researcher: P a r t i c i p a n t Observer/Program Animator In t h i s case study, I have had two r o l e s . F i r s t l y , I was the p a r t i c i p a n t o b s e r v e r . I observed and r e c o r d e d student behaviour. Secondly, I was the animator. I d e l i v e r e d a program of a c t i v i t i e s which enabled the students to produce the performance event. In t a k i n g on these dual r o l e s I was aware of the danger of the s u b j e c t i v i t y of p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n v a d i n g the o b j e c t i v i t y of the r e s e a r c h e r r o l e . In r e v i e w i n g and a n a l y z i n g the v i d e o t a p e s and f i e l d notes, I d i s t a n c e d myself from the r e h e a r s a l events. The advantage of the dual r o l e , i n t h i s p a r t i c u l a r case study, i s t h a t I was a b l e t o m a i n t a i n an i n d u c t i v e f l e x i b i l i t y - o f f e r new or a l t e r n a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s t o t e s t 9 hunches, i d e a s p o s s i b i l i t i e s , o r i n t e r p r e t i v e p o s s i b i l i t i e s w h i c h emerged from t h e d a t a . Romanyshyn summarizes t h e r o l e o f r e s e a r c h methods i n a p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l s t u d y : \"Method becomes an i n t e g r a l p a r t o f t h e pr o b l e m s t u d i e d , and i t d e v e l o p s i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h , r a t h e r t h a n i n d e p e n d e n t o f , t h e ways i n w h i c h t h e pr o b l e m i s approached\" (1971, p. 9 7 ) . T h i s r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e method and t h e r e s e a r c h p r o b l e m e n a b l e d me t o m o d i f y t h e r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s and t o i d e n t i f y approaches and a c t i v i t i e s germane t o t h e c r e a t i v i t y o f l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s . S u g g e s t i o n s o r r e q u e s t s f o r e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s o f t e n came from t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s . Keen (1977) argues t h a t t h e t r e a t i n g o f r e s e a r c h p a r t i c i p a n t s as \" c o - r e s e a r c h e r s , 11 r a t h e r t h a n \" s u b j e c t s , \" r e c o g n i z e s t h e i r a b i l i t y t o choose. T h i s d i f f e r e n t i a t e s p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h from p o s i t i v i s t r e s e a r c h . The r e s e a r c h e r s h a r e s h i s o r h e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g s and e x p e c t s t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s w i l l s h a r e t h e i r u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o f t h e e v e n t . There a r e no s e c r e t s . I n one s t u d y o f c r e a t i v i t y , e x t r e m e l y r e l e v a n t t o t h i s c u r r e n t s t u d y , Baum and Kirschenbaum (1984) d e s c r i b e d a case s t u d y o f a l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t who d e m o n s t r a t e d a s p e c i a l t a l e n t i n phot o g r a p h y . The r e s e a r c h e r s asked t h e case s t u d y p a r t i c i p a n t : \"What do you t h i n k c r e a t i v i t y i s ? \" In t h e p r e s e n t s t u d y t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s s h a r e d t h e i r u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o f t h e a c t i v i t i e s and, a t t i m e s , l e n t i n s i g h t t o t h e phenomenon o f c r e a t i v i t y . By t a k i n g on t h e d u a l r o l e s o f 10 r e s e a r c h e r and p a r t i c i p a n t , I was a b l e t o f o l l o w t h e p a t h o r i g i n a t e d i n t h e Baum and Kirschnebaum s t u d y , as I i n c o r p o r a t e d t h e s t u d e n t s ' r e f l e c t i o n s . Design o f the Study T h i s i s an e t h n o g r a p h i c s t u d y of. t h e e x p e r i e n c e s and r e a c t i o n s o f p a r t i c i p a n t s t o a s e r i e s o f mime, dance, and s t o r y t e l l i n g a c t i v i t i e s l e a d i n g up t o and i n c l u d i n g a per f o r m a n c e b e f o r e an a u d i e n c e . The methods used were p a r t i c i p a n t o b s e r v a t i o n , i n t e r v i e w , and c o g n i t i v e mapping. Most o f t h e r e h e a r s a l s and t h e f i n a l p e r f ormance were v i d e o t a p e d and l a t e r a n a l y z e d f o r e v i d e n c e o f c r e a t i v e b e h a v i o u r . D e f i n i t i o n o f Data The d a t a c o n s i s t o f d e s c r i p t i o n s o f t h e a c t i v i t i e s and t h e c o n t e x t s o f t h e s e . a c t i v i t i e s as w e l l as t h e r e f l e c t i o n s o f t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s as t h e y p l a n n e d , r e h e a r s e d , p e r f o r m e d , and e v a l u a t e d t h e performance e v e n t . (The s t u d e n t s , t e a c h e r s , and I were t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s . ) The d a t a were o b t a i n e d from: 1) my h a n d w r i t t e n f i e l d n o t e s r e c o r d i n g e v e n t s and a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e s t u d e n t s ' work and t h e t e a c h e r s ' remarks, 2) i n t e r v i e w t e x t s t r a n s c r i b e d from t a p e r e c o r d i n g s o f s t u d e n t s t a l k i n g about t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s i n t h e r e h e a r s a l s and t h e pe r f o r m a n c e , 3) v i d e o t a p e s o f t h e r e h e a r s a l s and t h e f i n a l p e r f o r m a n c e . 11 P a r t i c i p a n t s i P a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h i s study include a \"performance group\" and t h e i r teacher. The performance group consisted of twelve intermediate l e v e l students from one s p e c i a l education class selected through negotiations with school o f f i c i a l s . These students had been previously designated as learning disabled. Learning disabled refers to a student's r e l a t i v e dysfunction with respect to the a c q u i s i t i o n of cognitive or psycho-motor s k i l l s . For the purposes of t h i s study, the students' placement i n a s p e c i a l education class defined them as \"learning disabled\". The students ranged i n age from nine to twelve years. They represented a wide ethnic mix: two Native Indians, two Chinese Canadians, one Lebanese-born student, one F i l i p i n o - b o r n , and six Canadian-born students of European o r i g i n . In choosing the class for the performance group, I discussed with the s p e c i a l education consultant, the research assessment o f f i c e r , and the drama consultant for the school d i s t r i c t , the students' i n t e r e s t i n p a r t i c i p a t i n g and the students' learning d i s a b i l i t i e s . The articulateness of the students within the group, as determined i n interviews with the students and i n discussions with t h e i r teacher, was also considered. P r i o r to s e l e c t i n g the p a r t i c u l a r group under study, I investigated several learning disabled class groups. With each p r i n c i p a l (representing a p o t e n t i a l p a r t i c i p a t i n g 12 c l a s s ) I d i s c u s s e d t h e m i x t u r e o f s t u d e n t s , t h e i r i n t e r e s t s , I and t h e n a t u r e o f t h e s t u d e n t s ' l e a r n i n g d i s a b i l i t i e s . I v i s i t e d o t h e r c l a s s e s and engaged t h e s t u d e n t s i n t h e a t r e game's. A f t e r n a r r o w i n g my s e l e c t i o n down t o two c l a s s e s from s e p a r a t e s c h o o l s and o b s e r v i n g b o t h c l a s s e s , R i v e r v i e w P u b l i c S c h o o l was chosen o v e r M o u n t a i n v i e w . D u r i n g a p r e l i m i n a r y v i s i t , \"Mrs. S m i t h \" , a t e a c h e r a t M o u n t a i n v i e w , c o n t i n u a l l y cued h e r s t u d e n t s w i t h what she th o u g h t were c o r r e c t r e s p o n s e s t o my open-ended q u e s t i o n s c o n c e r n i n g an i m p r o v i s a t i o n w h i c h t h e s t u d e n t s had co m p l e t e d . However, \"Ms. A i n s l e y \" , a t e a c h e r a t R i v e r v i e w , seemed b e t t e r a b l e t o work w i t h i n t h e open s t r u c t u r e o f t h e c o l l e c t i v e c r e a t i o n we were about t o b e g i n . I s e l e c t e d Ms. A i n s l e y ' s c l a s s a t R i v e r v i e w f o r t h e p r o j e c t . Time and P l a c e The p e r f o r m a n c e event was c r e a t e d a t R i v e r v i e w S c h o o l o v e r a t w e l v e week p e r i o d w i t h an average o f t h r e e 2-hour s e s s i o n s p e r week between March 6, 1989 and May 23, 1989. I n t e r v i e w s were c o n d u c t e d d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d and c o n t i n u e d t h r o u g h June 9, 1989. The program o f a c t i v i t i e s , d e t a i l e d i n C h a p t e r I I I , c o n s i s t e d o f r e l a x a t i o n , dance, mime, and movement e x e r c i s e s , as w e l l as t h e s t o r y t e l l i n g i m p r o v i s a t i o n s u s e d f o r d e v e l o p i n g t h e n a r r a t i v e t e x t and c h o o s i n g mask d e s i g n s . The a c t i v i t i e s t o o k p l a c e i n t h e c l a s s r o o m . F o r t h i s p r o j e c t t h e space i n t h e c e n t r e o f t h e c l a s s r o o m was 13 e n l a r g e d by moving t h e d e s k s . That space p r o v e d adequate f o r t h e e l e v e n s t u d e n t s p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h e above a c t i v i t i e s . The r e h e a r s a l s e s s i o n s were c a r r i e d out b o t h i n t h e c l a s s r o o m and on t h e s t a g e i n t h e s c h o o l gymnasium. The s t a g e , w h i c h f a c e s a gymnasium, was t h e space f o r t h e f i n a l p e r f o r m a n c e , w i t n e s s e d by an a u d i e n c e o f 214 s t u d e n t s and seven t e a c h e r s , p l u s t h r e e p a r e n t s . I n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f Data A n a l y s i s i n c l u d e d comparing and c o n t r a s t i n g r e p o r t s , o b s e r v a t i o n s , and v i d e o r e c o r d s o f t h e p l a n n i n g , r e h e a r s i n g , p e r f o r m i n g , d i s c u s s i n g , and e v a l u a t i n g o f t h e per f o r m a n c e e v e n t . The v i d e o t a p e s were r e v i e w e d and n o t e s were t a k e n o f t h e s t u d e n t s ' k i n e s t h e t i c and v e r b a l e x p r e s s i o n s . I n v i e w i n g t h e v i d e o t a p e s , I r e c o r d e d t h e sequence o f a c t i v i t i e s , s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n s , d i a l o g u e , q u a l i t i e s and rhythms o r movements, f a c i a l e x p r e s s i o n s , and t o n e s o f v o i c e . A f t e r t h e f i n a l p e r f o r m a n c e , I r e v i e w e d t h e v i d e o t a p e s , and o r d e r e d and c o l l a t e d f i e l d n o t e s and e a r l i e r n o t e s t a k e n from v i d e o t a p e s among f i v e a r e a s o f i n t e r e s t : 1) k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s , 2) p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o g n i t i v e maps o f t h e p e r f o r m a n c e , 3) s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n , 4) t e a c h e r e v a l u a t i o n s o f t h e pe r f o r m a n c e , 5) - p a r t i c i p a n t e v a l u a t i o n s o f t h e performance and r e h e a r s a l s . The t e c h n i q u e o f c o g n i t i v e mapping was u s e d t o a n a l y z e t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s ' k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s . T h i s t e c h n i q u e e n a b l e d me t o d e p i c t t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o n c e p t i o n o f t h e 14 s t a g e , t h e i r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e sequence o f movements t h a t c o m p r i s e t h e choreography, and t h e knowledge and k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s w elded t o t h e movement sequences. The Downs & S t e a (1979) f o r m u l a t i o n o f c o g n i t i v e mapping p r o v i d e s a method o f d e s c r i b i n g a p e r s o n ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g and c o g n i t i v e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h r e e - d i m e n s i o n a l space. C o l a i z z i ' s (1973) method f o r d e s c r i b i n g t h e s t r u c t u r e o f a p s y c h o l o g i c a l phenomenon r e l a t e s i n d i v i d u a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s and e x p e r i e n c e t o s i t u a t i o n a l and s o c i a l c o n t e x t s . . By i n v e s t i g a t i n g t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s ' s h a r e d and competing meanings and i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f t h e e v e n t s and a c t i v i t i e s c o m p r i s i n g t h i s p e r f o r m a n c e p r o j e c t , I hoped some g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s about t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f c r e a t i v i t y might become a p p a r e n t . I examined t h e meanings t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s gave t o a s p e c t s o f t h e p r o j e c t such as 1) t h e meaning o f \" p l a y \" i n t h e i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , 2) s o c i a l and b e h a v i o r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s o f t h e r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n , and 3) a c t i v i t i e s s uch as c o n c e n t r a t i o n and r e l a x a t i o n . I n i n t e r p r e t i n g t h e f i n d i n g s , I remained c o g n i z a n t o f t h e major p r e m i s e o f t h i s s t u d y : An i n d i v i d u a l ' s b e h a v i o u r i s i n f l u e n c e d by t h e s e t t i n g . Thus, t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s ' ( c r e a t i v e ) e x p r e s s i o n s a r e d i s c u s s e d w i t h i n t h e i r s o c i a l c o n t e x t ( r e h e a r s a l s , e t c . ) and v i e w e d as s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n s . The s t a t e m e n t s o f t e a c h e r s and s t u d e n t s i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e s t u d e n t s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e performance event was 1 5 f e l t to be a s i g n i f i c a n t creative accomplishment. The students themselves developed much of the material for the performance. On the day of the performance, they organized themselves on the stage. Through the analysis of data, I examined the events and a c t i v i t i e s leading up to these two accomplishments. I compared and contrasted the teachers' and the students' (and my own) observations and evaluations of the performance and the a c t i v i t i e s and events leading up to i t . Themes and hypotheses from the l i t e r a t u r e review (Chapter II) are compared with those that emerge from the data. Summary In t h i s chapter, I have reviewed the personal and t h e o r e t i c a l motivation for t h i s study and the design of the research. My topic i s c r e a t i v i t y and my approach i s to look at i t phenomenologically. Based on my own experience as an a r t i s t , i n theatre and i n the v i s u a l arts, I approached c r e a t i v i t y with a goal to s e t t i n g up an experimental creative experience for students defined as \"learning disabled.\" 1 6 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE APPROACH Introduction In t h i s chapter I f i r s t review some of the prominent p o s i t i v i s t conceptions of c r e a t i v i t y . My c r i t i q u e of p o s i t i v i s t conceptions of c r e a t i v i t y does not deny that they might be applicable to p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l s or to facets of c r e a t i v i t y . I do argue, however, that d i f f e r e n t conceptions of c r e a t i v i t y might be applicable to the expressions of learning disabled students. Secondly, I review studies of the c r e a t i v i t y of learning disabled students. I argue that approaches to c r e a t i v i t y derived from quantitative measures have l i m i t e d a p p l i c a b i l i t y to learning disabled students. Thirdly, I review studies from the l i t e r a t u r e of phenomenological methodology pertinent to c r e a t i v i t y research. It i s also useful to consider studies of children's understandings of metaphors, because I drew upon metaphoric descriptions to i n s p i r e the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' search for dance and movement q u a l i t i e s . F i n a l l y , as t h i s study l a r g e l y focuses on the kin e s t h e t i c expressive forms of dance and mime, I review studies of cognitive mapping. I w i l l discuss how a conception of cognitive mapping enables us to codify the i n d i v i d u a l ' s v i s u a l i z a t i o n of themselves i n three dimensional space and enables us to categorize and discuss k i n e s t h e t i c expressions. 17 P o s i t i v i s t Conceptions o f C r e a t i v i t y P o s i t i v i s t c o n c e p t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y have f o l l o w e d one o f t h r e e v e i n s : 1) c r e a t i v e ^ p r o c e s s e s ' , 2) p s y c h o l o g i c a l o r p e r s o n a l i t y t r a i t s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h c r e a t i v e i n d i v i d u a l s , and 3) c r e a t i v e p r o d u c t s . P r o d u c t D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y W e i s b e r g (1986), i n d i s c u s s i n g t h e \" p r o d u c t s \" v e i n , p o i n t s out two common f a c t o r s u sed by s e v e r a l a u t h o r s i n t h e i r d e f i n i t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y : 1) \"the s o l u t i o n must be n o v e l f o r t h e p e r s o n . . . \" and 2) \"the s o l u t i o n must i n d e e d s o l v e t h e p r o b l e m . . . \" (p. 4 ) . Weisberg's f i r s t s t i p u l a t i o n , t h a t t h e s o l u t i o n i s n o v e l t o t h e p a r t i c u l a r p e r s o n , d i r e c t s t h e a n a l y s t t o c o n s i d e r t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f t h e s t u d e n t i n t h e c r e a t i v e s i t u a t i o n . However, t o d e f i n e c r e a t i v i t y i n terms o f problems and s o l u t i o n s can be l i m i t i n g . To o f f e r a s o l u t i o n p r e s u p p o s e s a problem. A l t h o u g h t h i s may o f t e n be t h e c a s e , i n some i n s t a n c e s (such as when a p e r s o n e l a b o r a t e s a p r e v i o u s i d e a o r image), when no p r o b l e m i s p e r c e i v e d , a c r e a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n may s i m p l y be a n o t h e r a e s t h e t i c c h o i c e . I n a d d i t i o n , t h i s c o n c e p t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y sees i t s o l e l y as a c o g n i t i v e phenomenon and, t h u s , would omit such e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s as dance i m p r o v i s a t i o n and a c t i o n p a i n t i n g . ( F o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f my r e s e a r c h , W eisberg's d e f i n i t i o n w o uld become u s e f u l i f i t were s l i g h t l y r e f o c u s e d . By s t i p u l a t i n g outcomes r a t h e r t h a n s o l u t i o n s , a concept o f 18 c r e a t i v i t y emerges w h i c h i s a p p l i c a b l e t o a c t i v i t i e s t h a t do not i n v o l v e p r o b l e m s . Weisberg's two s t i p u l a t i o n s f o r a conc e p t o f c r e a t i v i t y can, t h u s , be u s e f u l l y r e s t a t e d : 1) t h e outcome must be novel, 2) t h e outcome must have s i g n i f i c a n c e t o t h e p e r s o n i n v o l v e d i n t h e e x p r e s s i o n . Other work on c r e a t i v i t y has not p r o v e n t o be u s e f u l t o a s s e s s i n g o r i n s p i r i n g c r e a t i v i t y among l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s . B a i l i n (1988) s t i p u l a t e s t h a t c r e a t i v i t y be i n t h e e x c e l l e n c e o f t h e c r e a t o r ' s p r o d u c t s , as judged by s t a n d a r d s o f t h e genre. \" C r e a t i v i t y i s n o t , t h e n , h i g h l y m y s t e r i o u s , i r r a t i o n a l , o r u n i q u e , but i n v o l v e s , r a t h e r , t h e e x c e l l e n t use o f our o r d i n a r y p r o c e s s e s o f t h i n k i n g i n so f a r as t h e y i s s u e i n o u t s t a n d i n g p r o d u c t s . C r e a t i v i t y i s a c h i e v i n g e x t r a o r d i n a r y ends\" (p. 8 5 ) . B a i l i n ' s c o n c e p t o f c r e a t i v i t y i s s i g n i f i c a n t because o f h e r argument t h a t c r e a t i v i t y i n v o l v e s o r d i n a r y t h i n k i n g p r o c e s s e s . T h i s f o r m u l a t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y d e n i e s t h a t p e o p l e move t h r o u g h a p a r t i c u l a r p r o c e s s u n i q u e t o c r e a t i v i t y . However, i t begs t h e q u e s t i o n as t o who w i l l s p e c i f y t h e s t a n d a r d s o f t h e gen r e . Some p r o d u c t s might go beyond p r e d e f i n e d s t a n d a r d s . A r t i s t i c s t a n d a r d s may be u s e f u l , f o r example, i n a e s t h e t i c c r i t i c i s m , b ut i t does not r e p l a c e t h e v a l u e o f o t h e r c o n c e p t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y f o r e d u c a t i o n . I t r e j e c t s a c o n c e p t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y w h i c h would a l l o w f o r un i q u e s t a n d a r d s o f s p e c i a l s t u d e n t s . Such a c o n c e p t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y t h a t i n c l u d e s p r e d e f i n e d s t a n d a r d s o f \" c r e a t i v e 19 p r o d u c t s \" does not r e c o g n i z e t h a t s t u d e n t s might be a b l e t o s p e c i f y c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e i r own c r e a t i v i t y . B a i l i n ' s d e f i n i t i o n has l i t t l e use f o r many l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s , g i v e n t h a t t h e y might n ot have t h e o p p o r t u n i t y o r i n t e r e s t t o l e a r n what t h e s t a n d a r d s a r e w i t h i n a p a r t i c u l a r g e n r e . To f o c u s t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f c r e a t i v i t y on t h e genre i s t o s h i f t e d u c a t o r s ' a t t e n t i o n from t h e ways p a r t i c u l a r s t u d e n t s may be w o r k i n g and c r e a t i n g onto t h e p r o d u c t s t h a t e d u c a t o r s program them t o make. P r o c e s s D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y I n t h e 1930's, W a l l a s f i r s t p r o p o s e d t h e i l l u m i n a t i o n metaphor as a s t e p i n t h e c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s . W a l l a s (1976) d e l i n e a t e d f o u r s t a g e s i n t h e process o f c r e a t i v i t y : 1) I n t h e p r e p a r a t i o n s t a g e t h e pr o b l e m i s d e f i n e d . 2) I n c u b a t i o n r e f e r s t o t h e s t a g e o f u n c o n s c i o u s p o n d e r i n g . 3) I l l u m i n a t i o n i s t h e sudden f l a s h i n whi c h t h e s o l u t i o n becomes c l a r i f i e d . 4) I n t h e f i n a l s t a g e , v e r i f i c a t i o n , t h e v a l i d i t y o f t h e s o l u t i o n i s t e s t e d . Many c r e a t i v e p e o p l e can be o b s e r v e d t o have f o l l o w e d t h e s e d e s i g n a t e d f o u r s t e p s . No e v i d e n c e e x i s t s t o argue t h a t a l l c r e a t i v i t y f o l l o w s t h e s e s t e p s . T r a i t D e f i n i t i o n s o f C r e a t i v i t y Many p o s i t i v i s t i n v e s t i g a t o r s such as G u i l f o r d (1979) and T o r r a n c e (1962) a c c e p t e d t h e f o u r s t e p s mentioned i n t h e p r e v i o u s p a r a g r a p h , a p r i o r i , and t h e n embarked on a s e a r c h 20 f o r i d e a l , c r e a t i v e p e o p l e who m a n i f e s t e d t h e t r a i t s t h a t w o uld e n a b l e them t o complete t h e s t a g e s . \" I n e x a m i n i n g a l a r g e number o f d e f i n i t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y and c r e a t i v e t h i n k i n g , i t was o b s e r v e d t h a t a l m o s t a l l o f them i n v o l v e d t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f something new or o r i g i n a l as a r e s u l t o f a p r o c e s s o f s e n s i n g some k i n d o f d e f i c i e n c y , f o r m u l a t i n g i d e a s o r h y p o t h e s e s , and communicating t h e r e s u l t s . I n o r d e r t o a s s e s s t h e a b i l i t i e s i n v o l v e d i n c r e a t i v e t h i n k i n g , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o d e v e l o p and a p p l y t e s t s w h i c h a r e d i f f e r e n t from t h o s e now commonly used i n a s s e s s i n g m e n t a l f u n c t i o n s . \" ( T o r r a n c e , 1962, p. 42) These q u a n t i t a t i v e s t u d i e s have shed l i g h t on t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between c o g n i t i v e f u n c t i o n i n g , p e r s o n a l i t y t r a i t s , and m o t i v a t i o n o f so c a l l e d c r e a t i v e and n o n - c r e a t i v e i n d i v i d u a l s ( D e l i a s & G a i e r , 1970). P o s i t i v i s t r e s e a r c h e r s use m u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s t o i s o l a t e t h e s e t r a i t s o r f a c t o r s assumed t o encompass c r e a t i v i t y . M u l t i v a r i a t e a n a l y s i s e s t a b l i s h e s s t a t i s t i c a l c o r r e l a t i o n s between v a r i a b l e s h y p o t h e s i z e d t o r e l a t e t o c r e a t i v i t y . G u i l f o r d (1970) i d e n t i f i e d o v e r 100 i n t e l l e c t u a l t r a i t s and a b i l i t i e s . U s i n g f a c t o r a n a l y s i s he found some o f t h e s e t r a i t s t o be r e l a t e d t o c r e a t i v e i a b i l i t y . G u i l f o r d and h i s a s s o c i a t e s f o r m u l a t e d t e s t i t e m s t o measure t h e s e t r a i t s and a b i l i t i e s . C o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s were c a l c u l a t e d between t h e f a c t o r s . 21 Within his classification of intellectual factors, G u i l f o r d (1962) i d e n t i f i e d two kinds of thinking operations that produce ideas or images from \"known or remembered information.\" In convergent thinking the a v a i l a b l e information would lead one to think of conventional responses. For example, i f asked: \"How do you carry water.\" People generally respond: \" i n a bucket.\" This i s convergent thinking. I f asked to give a number of d e f i n i t i o n s of \"low\", responses such as \"depressed\", \"degraded\", or \"cheap\" are correct and they exemplify divergent thinking (Guilford, 1970, p.180). G u i l f o r d and M e r i f i e l d (1960) hypothesized that c r e a t i v i t y involves three thinking a b i l i t i e s , each of which i s measured by several factors: 1) divergent productions and transformations, 2) convergent productions, 3) evaluation. \"Factors are d i s t i n c t a b i l i t i e s but they are often p a r a l l e l i n terms of content.\" For example, there are three p a r a l l e l factors r e l a t e d to cognition: Discovery, comprehension, and recognition factors can each r e l a t e to three classes: f i g u r a l (perceived objects), symbolic (classes of pure symbols), and semantic (classes of meaning) (1973, p.238). These thinking categories are assessed by t h i r t e e n factors, each operationalized i n terms of several i i test items. For example, a symbolic transformation would be necessary to transform the phrase \"there do l i v e \" to \"the red o l i v e \" (1973, p. 239). 22 Guilford's s t a t i s t i c a l approach spawned i n t e r e s t i n c r e a t i v i t y among numerous researchers including Torrance, Getzels and Jackson, and Wallace and Kogan. They assume that an i n d i v i d u a l ' s c r e a t i v i t y can be expressed by scores on a series of measures of t r a i t s . Romanyshyn's (1971) c r i t i q u e of contemporary t r a d i t i o n a l psychology can also be applied to Guilford's f a c t o r i a l analysis of c r e a t i v i t y . Romanyshyn notes that the objective approach suited the idea of a physical r e a l i t y i n which the researcher was a passive observer of events: The r e a l i t y which he observed \"answered\" him only i n response to questions which he put i t . . . When psychology adopted t h i s same approach, i t introduced a set of conditions which assumed that the r e l a t i o n between the observer psychologist and the r e a l i t y of the observed, man, was s i m i l a r to, i f not the same as the r e l a t i o n between the observer, p h y s i c i s t , for example, and the r e a l i t y which he observed, matter (p. 96) . Gu i l f o r d (1970) took the p o s i t i o n of the objective observer of physical r e a l i t y i n his in v e s t i g a t i o n of human c r e a t i v i t y . He defined a t r a i t as \"any distinguishable, r e l a t i v e l y enduring way i n which one i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r s from another... T r a i t s are properties of i n d i v i d u a l s \" (p.169). For G u i l f o r d and the other p o s i t i v i s t researchers previously discussed, c r e a t i v i t y i s a set of t r a i t s or factors which 23 i n d i v i d u a l s p o s s e s s i-n d i f f e r e n t d e g r e e s . G u i l f o r d s t i p u l a t e s f a c t o r s \" p r i o r t o p r o o f \" (Houts, 1977, p.36) and o f f e r s e x p l a n a t i o n s o f r e s u l t s w h i c h a r e c o m p l e t e l y removed from t h e i n d i v i d u a l o r t h e c o n t e x t i n w h i c h p e o p l e would be c r e a t i v e . T h i s i s t y p i f i e d i n t h e s t e p s G u i l f o r d t o o k t o v a l i d a t e t h e \" f l u e n c y \" , \" f l e x i b i l i t y \" , and \" o r i g i n a l i t y \" f a c t o r s . P o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s among t h e s e t h r e e a r e used t o i m p l y t h a t t h e f a c t o r s a r e a l l r e l a t e d t o c r e a t i v i t y . G u i l f o r d went on t o f i n d low p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s between o r i g i n a l o r c r e a t i v e p e r s o n s ' ( a r t i s t s ' o r s c i e n t i s t s ' ) s e p a r a t e s c o r e s on t h e \" f l u e n c y \" , \" f l e x i b i l i t y \" , and \" o r i g i n a l i t y \" d i m e n s i o n s . (1970, p.177) G u i l f o r d used t h e f a c t o f t h e low c o r r e l a t i o n t o i m p l y t h a t t h e s e f a c t o r s a r e s e p a r a t e . By a i m i n g h i s m u l t i v a r i a t e shotgun a t c r e a t i v i t y , G u i l f o r d o b t a i n e d c o r r e l a t i o n s w h i c h s a t i s f y s t a t i s t i c a l a s s u m p t i o n s , but \"has r u l e d out t h e p e r s o n from t h e s c i e n t i f i c p r o c e s s \" (Romanyshyn, 1971, p. 93). The manner i n w h i c h G u i l f o r d s e p a r a t e s e m o t i o n a l , a e s t h e t i c , and c o g n i t i v e a s p e c t s o f e x p e r i e n c e from t h e p e r s o n i n a c r e a t i v e a c t i s t y p i f i e d i n h i s development o f t h e \" f l u e n c y \" and \" f l e x i b i l i t y \" f a c t o r s . He d e f i n e d \" f l e x i b i l i t y \" as \"the a b i l i t y t o change d i r e c t i o n s i n pro b l e m s o l v i n g as new c o n d i t i o n s a r e c o n f r o n t e d . \" \" F l e x i b i l i t y \" i s d i s t i n c t from \" f l u e n c y \" , d e f i n e d as t h e a b i l i t y t o come up w i t h many words or ideas. \" V e r b a l 24 fluency\" was measured by asking subjects to think of as many d i f f e r e n t uses for a bric k as possible. \"Ideational fluency\" i s measured by counting the items research subjects l i s t (within predefined categories such as \"things that are round\"). \" O r i g i n a l i t y \" was measured by subjects l i s t i n g \"clever story p l o t s . \" This method of op e r a t i o n a l i z i n g c r e a t i v i t y t r a i t s ignores two important facets of a person's involvement i n expressive a c t i v i t i e s . F i r s t , when people conceive or v i s u a l i z e ideas or images, they are simultaneously evaluating and eliminating some choices. The measurement of \"fluency\" does not count the a e s t h e t i c a l l y valuable or f u n c t i o n a l l y appropriate use of the bric k any higher than a banal response. There i s no c r e d i t given for q u a l i t a t i v e l y superior responses. When researchers ask subjects to make l i s t s and then use the number of unorthodox responses as a measure of a c r e a t i v i t y factor, they are ignoring the phenomenon that people normally evaluate as they think, paint, dance, etc. In the context of a studio or other creative context, the person might be more concerned with appropriate, i n s t i n c t i v e l y f i t t i n g images, ideas or solutions than the number of responses. Secondly, aesthetic c r i t e r i a may be transformed through the persons's involvement i n the expressive a c t i v i t y . In p o s i t i v i s t d e f i n i t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y metaphorical description i s subordinated to s t a t i s t i c a l \"symbols\", and something valuable i s l o s t i n the process. 25 Guilford's reliance on samples of verbal behavior diminishes the s i g n i f i c a n c e of other expressive modes such as transformations of v i s u a l i z a t i o n s , imagined sounds, or imagined ki n e s t h e t i c r e l a t i o n s h i p s . G u i l f o r d recognized that \"athletes and expressive dancers deal with kinesthetic f i g u r a l content\" (1973, p. 238). Yet, his t e s t i n g procedures, which r e l y on verbal responses, ignore the consciousness of the dancer. In t h e i r d a i l y work, dancers use terms such as \"muscle memory\" to r e f e r to the a b i l i t y to produce the dance sequence with the subtle array of q u a l i t i e s and s e n s i t i v i t i e s that are part of the dance. Dancers claim that \"thinking\" about a movement while dancing impedes the a r t i s t r y of dance. Creative expression i n dance can be seen as the dancer amalgamates s e n s i t i v i t i e s and feelings into the sequence of movements. Dance involves awareness of the muscles and the p o s i t i o n of the limbs. Imagination enables the dancer to communicate fine nuances, i n t e r n a l tensions, or unique q u a l i t i e s . Torrance and Guilford's conceptions assume that c r e a t i v i t y i s a cognitive event. The dancer's working knowledge of the body and i t s use as a t o o l of creation are missed by Guilford's \"discovery f a c t o r \" \"oriented\" to \" f i g u r a l k i n e s t h e t i c content\". Getzels and Jackson (1970) confirmed Guilford's findings and conclude that divergent thinking i s the most s i g n i f i c a n t factor i n creative thinking (p.201). As C l i f f o r d (1973) 26 notes, Getzels and Jackson associate c r e a t i v i t y with divergent thinking, \"production of novelty,\" o r i g i n a l ideas, \"exploring the undetermined, going o f f i n diverse d i r e c t i o n s , and \" r e v i s i n g the unknown,\" while i n t e l l i g e n c e i s associated with r e c a l l and convergent thinking. C l i f f o r d argues that the Getzels and Jackson c r e a t i v i t y / i n t e l l i g e n c e dichotomy i s \"culture-bound\" and a r e c a p i t u l a t i o n of the stereotype of the i c o n o c l a s t i c a r t i s t versus the i n t e l l e c t u a l , pedantic, conservative scholar (1973, p. 330). This can be seen i n Getzels' and Jackson's analysis of subjects' drawings. Individuals who scored high on c r e a t i v i t y t e s t s (and who were not considered accomplished a r t i s t s ) were asked to do drawings. Getzels and Jackson r e f e r to the \"non-representational\" q u a l i t y of the drawings as i f i t r e f l e c t s on the c r e a t i v i t y of t h e i r research subjects. The choice of a non-representational drawing s t y l e i n i t s e l f i s not evidence of c r e a t i v i t y . According to C l i f f o r d , the remarks only r e f l e c t a stereotype of a r t i s t i c v i s i o n (1973, p. 330-331). Another example of the culture bound character of c r e a t i v i t y research i s the \"problem solving/product\" o r i e n t a t i o n which i s taken by G u i l f o r d (1960, 1970, 1973, 1983), Torrance (1962), Getzels and Jackson (1970) Wallach and Kogan (1970), and De bono (1973). Wallach and Kogan (1970) question the i n t e r n a l v a l i d i t y of the studies by Torrance, and by Getzels and Jackson, who developed measures stemming from Guilford's methodology. 27 Wallach and Kogan note these s t a t i s t i c a l l y - o r i e n t e d researchers administered t e s t s to large groups of students i n a classroom under a time r e s t r a i n t . They r a i s e the question that t e s t i n g respondents i n an atmosphere where f a i l u r e looms may not be appropriate for studying c r e a t i v i t y . In a \" p l a y f u l , entertaining environment\" (p. 239) the researchers (in the Wallach & Kogan study) examined c r e a t i v i t y through tasks that involved both v i s u a l and verbal modes of apprehension. Before administering the measures, the experimenters (who were introduced as interested i n children's games), spent two weeks i n the classroom getting to know the children and \"gaining rapport\" (p.240), a l l of which may have encouraged the students to give a wider array of responses to the researchers' tasks. Summary of P o s i t i v i s t Conceptions of C r e a t i v i t y P o s i t i v i s t research i n c r e a t i v i t y has f a i l e d to look at the i n d i v i d u a l performing i n a natural s e t t i n g or engaging i n expressive a c t i v i t i e s . Product d e f i n i t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y are t i e d to c u l t u r a l l y defined evaluations of material creations; process d e f i n i t i o n s focus s o l e l y on problem solving; and t r a i t d e f i n i t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y encompass only cognitive phenomena. Weisberg's (1986) formulation, i n recognizing that the \"solution\" (or as restated for the present study, outcome) must be unique to the i n d i v i d u a l , proved useful i n t h i s study. The work of Wallach and Kogan (1970) points out the importance of developing rapport 28 between experimenters and pa r t i c i p a n t s i n a c r e a t i v i t y study. Romanyshyn's (1971) d i f f e r e n t i a t i n g studies of physical r e a l i t y from human experience underlys the assumption of the present research that an inductive study c a r r i e d out i n a natural s e t t i n g would be useful to uncover aspects of c r e a t i v i t y omitted by previous studies. C r e a t i v i t y of Learning Disabled Students Interest i n the c r e a t i v i t y of learning disabled students grew through the 1980's; however, most of t h i s research has been quantitative studies. Although several of the studies found co r r e l a t i o n s between learning d i s a b i l i t y and p a r t i c u l a r aptitudes, because of the broad spectrum of ind i v i d u a l s who may be c l a s s i f i e d as learning disabled, such c o r r e l a t i o n s may not be relevant to i n d i v i d u a l cases. However, the following studies suggest avenues for inductive i n v e s t i g a t i o n . Witelson's (1977) study shows learning disabled students to be superior i n v i s u a l / s p a t i a l a b i l i t i e s i n comparison with students of average a b i l i t y . This p a r t i c u l a r f i n d i n g i s important to the present study because one aspect of kin e s t h e t i c memory and expression involves the v i s u a l i z a t i o n of one's s e l f i n three dimensional space (central to the learning of the mime and dance sequences i n the program, see Chapter III) . In the present study the technique of cognitive mapping was used to describe the pa r t i c i p a n t s ' v i s u a l i z a t i o n of themselves i n the performance. 29 In a study of the c r e a t i v i t y of learning disabled students using Torrance's constructs of c r e a t i v i t y , Tarver, Ellsworth, and Rounds (1980) summarize studies that l i n k c r e a t i v i t y and learning d i s a b i l i t y ; they found c o r r e l a t i o n s which indicate that a broad, unfocused attention i s r e l a t e d to c e r t a i n aspects of c r e a t i v i t y \"referred to as originality or uniqueness\" (p.11-12). The authors review studies which show that \"learning disabled students r e c a l l information i n c i d e n t a l to tasks, but are d e f i c i e n t i n r e c a l l of information central to task\" (p.11-12). The generalization that \"a broad unfocused attention\" i s r e l a t e d to c r e a t i v i t y t y p i f i e s how the quantitative approach i s o l a t e s features of c r e a t i v i t y from human experience, abstracts them to the l e v e l of s t a t i s t i c a l c o r r e l a t i o n s , and then abstracts the abstractions further as claims are made about learning disabled students. The unfocused attention that Tarver et. a l . (1980) observe i n learning disabled students could be a response of boredom with the t e s t i n g instrument. Argulewicz, Mealor, and Richmond (197 9) found that learning disabled children f e l l within the same range as non-learning disabled children on the dimensions of \"fluency, o r i g i n a l i t y , abstract t i t l e s , and resistance to closure\" (p.32). Only on the dimension of \"elaboration\" d i d the learning disabled students f a l l below the average range. \"Elaboration\" measures the i n d i v i d u a l ' s tendency to go beyond the absolute minimum required to complete the task. 30 These researchers note that the learning disabled students demonstrated less task persistence. According to the authors, t h i s finding raises questions about learning disabled students' a b i l i t i e s to p e r s i s t or maintain high energy l e v e l s . The \"lack of persistence\" i s a theme that should be seen i n l i g h t of the s i g n i f i c a n c e of the task to the learner. Researchers might consider asking learning disabled students about i t . Jaben (1983) assessed the effectiveness of the Purdue Creative Thinking Program i n teaching learning disabled students \"how to think\" (p.2 64). This program t r a i n s students i n the divergent thinking dimensions of fluency, f l e x i b i l i t y , and o r i g i n a l i t y . The program has three parts: 1) teaching a \" p r i n c i p l e for improving creative thinking\", 2) a 10-12 minute audio-taped story, and 3) verbal exercises r e l a t e d to content. The subjects were pre-tested and post-tested with forms \"A\" and \"B\" of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. The author concluded that the c r e a t i v i t y program was successful i n stimulating the learning disabled group's c r e a t i v i t y . Students were trained to think along the dimensions of fluency, f l e x i b i l i t y , and o r i g i n a l i t y , the same dimensions that are tested by the dependent v a r i a b l e . Within t h i s research design, i t cannot be ascertained whether students are i n fact learning to be creative or learning to take a t e s t . Thus, i t i s impossible to I i determine whether the divergent thinking that students 31 \"learn\" could be transf e r r e d to other a c t i v i t i e s outside the t e s t i n g s i t u a t i o n . Looking at these same students' c r e a t i v i t y i n a natural s e t t i n g would have been useful to see how t h e i r divergent thinking could be transf e r r e d to other s i t u a t i o n s . In addition, t r a i n i n g students to think along predetermined dimensions, as the Jaben (1983) study did, l i m i t s i n d i v i d u a l choice. The (phenomenological) assumption that i n d i v i d u a l s are free to make choices which the experimenter cannot anticipate d i f f e r e n t i a t e s q u a l i t a t i v e from p o s i t i v i s t methodologies. Baum (1984) reports some instances where students joined several separate items on a c r e a t i v i t y t e s t into one fig u r e . \"On several occasions, the authors have observed students combining many pairs of l i n e s into a composite f i g u r a l forms of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. When questioned, they responded that t h e i r main reason for doing so was to avoid making so many pi c t u r e s \" (p. 95). Torrance's scoring procedures o f f e r no room for quantifying such creative rule-breaking responses. These c r i t i c i s m s of the p o s i t i v i s t approach to c r e a t i v i t y do not imply that the quantitative approach i s without value. The p o s i t i v i s t view of c r e a t i v i t y could have h e u r i s t i c value, providing hypotheses for q u a l i t a t i v e research. 32 A R e d e f i n i t i o n of C r e a t i v i t y As discussed above, G u i l f o r d (1960, 1962, 1970), Torrance (1962, 1966), Getzels and Jackson (1970) and Wallace and Kogan (1970) assume that creative people possess t r a i t s that f a c i l i t a t e creative production. Wallas delineated four steps i n a process of creation. Jaben (1983) assumes that a process of divergent thinking was taught to learning disabled students. In contrast to these process and trait approaches to c r e a t i v i t y , Maslow sees c r e a t i v i t y , not as a \" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c process\", but as a \" c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a process.\" \"Creativeness\", as Maslow refers to i t , cannot be categorized as an event or process within a phenomenon. Creativeness or c r e a t i v i t y could be an aspect of p r a c t i c a l l y any behaviour (Moncrieff, 1972, p. 2 67). Maslow (1968) found i t useful to d i f f e r e n t i a t e the kind of c r e a t i v i t y we might f i n d i n geniuses l i k e Van Gogh, Byron, or Mozart from \" s e l f - a c t u a l i z i n g creativeness.\" Drawing from observations of, and discussions with hundreds of c l i e n t s , Maslow portrays people who demonstrate s e l f - a c t u a l i z i n g creativeness: They l i v e i n the \" r e a l world of nature rather than i n a verbal world of concepts and abstraction.\" Their creativeness seemed to be characterized by an \"innocent freedom of perception and uninhibited spontaneity and expressiveness\" (p. 138). \" S e l f - a c t u a l i z i n g people are r e l a t i v e l y unfrightened by the unknown, the mysterious, the puzzling over, and often are p o s i t i v e l y a t t r a c t e d by i t . . . \" (p. 139) The t r a i t s which Maslow i d e n t i f i e s such as \"spontaneity\" and \"expressiveness\" are not t r a i t s i d e n t i f i e d with a p a r t i c u l a r personality complex as i n the theories of G u i l f o r d or Torrance, nor are they associated with d e f i n i t e stages i n a process of c r e a t i v i t y . The person cannot be abstracted from his or her feelings, acts and thoughts of expression. The phenomenological perspective, i n viewing the person as defining his or her world through acts of expression, does not separate the t r a i t s from the process, but looks at how they are part of the person engaged i n expressive a c t i v i t y . Maslow's discussion of the \"cognition of being i n peak experiences\" points out how the person's fas c i n a t i o n with the experience opens the senses to a more d e t a i l e d apprehension (1968). \"Peak experiences\" are those overwhelmingly powerful moments through which the person's understanding and experience of the world i s transformed. The peak experience does not involve a f i n a l purpose. It i s beyond j u s t i f i c a t i o n . It i s one that expands the consciousness through opening the senses and deepening concentration. The fas c i n a t i o n could be focused on an a c t i v i t y , object of love, or an aesthetic experience^ \"In B-cognition the experience or the object tends to be seen a a whole, as a complete unit, detached from relations, from possible usefulness, from expediency, and from purpose. It 34 i s seen as i f i t were a l l there was i n the universe, as i f i t were a l l of Being, synonymous with the universe.\" (1968, p. 74). Maslow's conception of the cognition of being i n the peak experience p a r a l l e l s the d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y underlying t h i s research. Maslow's conception of the peak experience i n c r e a t i v i t y provides substance and depth notably lacking i n Tarver et. a l . ' s (1980) f i n d i n g that c r e a t i v i t y i s r e l a t e d to \"a broad, unfocused attention.\" Maslow's conception of c r e a t i v i t y , as an aspect of p o t e n t i a l l y any a c t i v i t y , i s useful for planning educational a c t i v i t i e s and for encouraging spontaneity, adventurousness and expressiveness. It assumes that students may operate c r e a t i v e l y i n any a c t i v i t y . Because Maslow's conception of c r e a t i v i t y i s not t i e d to s p e c i f i c , predefined t r a i t s , i t can be expanded or deepened i n l i g h t of descriptions, s t o r i e s or metaphorical accounts of how people express themselves c r e a t i v e l y . It i s an assumption of t h i s study that to perform c r e a t i v e l y i s to learn i n a way that transforms the learners' perceptions of themselves. Students' s t o r i e s of t h e i r expressive a c t i v i t i e s can d e t a i l the transformation of t h e i r perceptions and understandings of t h e i r \" l i f e - w o r l d \" . Students' choices of, jand t h e i r understandings of metaphors can provide insight into how they view t h e i r own c r e a t i v i t y . 35 Use of Metaphors i n the Redefinition of C r e a t i v i t y In t h i s present study metaphors were used to i n i t i a t e , mold, and la b e l q u a l i t i e s perceived i n dance and mime expressions. As well, we discussed metaphorically the feelings or sensations we experience i n p a r t i c u l a r movements. We talked, for example, of \"watery\" and \" f i e r y \" gestures, \"ghostly\" walks, and \"gravelly\" voices. It i s therefore appropriate to review a se l e c t i o n of studies of metaphors which focus on the experience of metaphors and on children's understanding of metaphors. Metaphors impact on our r e c o l l e c t i o n and understanding of experience ( C o l a i z z i , 1973). Metaphors can function as labels for memories. These memory labels have personal s i g n i f i c a n c e and take on value to the person above and beyond r e c o l l e c t i o n s of p a r t i c u l a r events. As the events fade from memory, the metaphors remain. Metaphors transform consciousness. This transformation of consciousness through the experience of the metaphor, described by C o l a i z z i (1973), p a r a l l e l s t h i s case study's focus on the experience of moving i n mime and dance and t h e i r imaginative transformation. Yoos (1971) roots the phenomena of metaphor i n the experience of the metaphor. This conception of the metaphor i s applicable to the present study because i t recognizes that the experience of a metaphor i s not s o l e l y an int e r p r e t a t i o n , i t has cognitive, perceptual and emotional 36 dimensions. Metaphors drive the imagination. Metaphors enable one to perceive i n them q u a l i t i e s that have been, perceived elsewhere (p. 78-88). During rehearsals, spoken metaphors conveyed a q u a l i t y which students interpreted and performed using mime or dance. Movement improvisations were used to generate narration. Metaphors were used to l a b e l the same q u a l i t y i n d i f f e r e n t modes of expression, (for example, a ghostly walk and a ghostly v o i c e ) . Winner's (1988) work i s s i g n i f i c a n t to t h i s present study because of the evidence she compiled of children's understanding of metaphors. Winner c i t e s studies which show that f i v e year olds had no d i f f i c u l t y paraphrasing the s i m i l a r i t i e s between concepts re l a t e d i n a metaphor, such as sensory-based metaphors l i k e \"marshmallow clouds\". Children at t h i s age can also select the most appropriate explanation for r e l a t i o n a l metaphors such as \"family roots\" or \"your face i s an open book.\" Children's d i f f i c u l t y i n comprehending metaphors i s not developmentally lim i t e d , but r e s u l t s from t h e i r lack of knowledge or experience with the concepts r e l a t e d i n the metaphor(p. 66-67). Children also produce metaphors spontaneously i n play. Within a year or two a f t e r they begin to name objects, they are able to extend words i n t e n t i o n a l l y through expressing metaphoric r e l a t i o n s h i p s (Winner, 1988, p.109). Winner's research covered both students' understanding of metaphors and t h e i r spontaneous production of metaphors 37 i n play. In t h i s present study, both these d i f f e r e n t phenomena (comprehension and production) were observed. Winner's study confines i t s focus to cognitive understandings, whereas the present study examines metaphorical bridges between kinesthetic and verbal modes of expression. A study extremely relevant to our understanding of the transformations between modes of expression by A y l i v i n (1977) notes that verbal, kinesthetic, and v i s u a l forms of (imagined) representations have d i f f e r e n t \"structures and properties.\" In A y l i v i n ' s study, subjects were given animal names and ins t r u c t e d to respond to each animal name i n three ways: 1) semantic, (verbal free association a f t e r the animal name), 2) v i s u a l , (drawing the animal), 3) kinesthetic, (pretending to be the animal). Subjects discussed and commented on t h e i r representations i n each mode. A y l i v i n concludes that the three forms of representation are encoded i n the memory within d i f f e r e n t semantic structures. Kinesthetic imagery i s expressed i n an actor-action-object framework; v i s u a l imagery i s expressed i n a whole-part framework; and verbal representations contain abstract knowledge surrounding the memory. The A y l i v i n study lays the groundwork for the present study's i n v e s t i g a t i o n of transformations between modes of representation. It provides the t h e o r e t i c a l basis for b o l s t e r i n g learning disabled students' c r e a t i v i t y i n weaker, 38 verbal productions by those from a l t e r n a t i v e (possibly kinesthetic) forms of representation. Cognitive Mapping of Kinesthetic C r e a t i v i t y Most c r e a t i v i t y studies draw data either from the subjects' mental manipulations of geometric figures or the subjects' verbal responses. In t h i s study, I observed and recorded behaviour, image making, and kinesthetic a c t i v i t i e s (the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' dance and mime movements i n three dimensional space). It i s not out of place to provide here a review of the l i t e r a t u r e on cognitive mapping as i t relat e s to c r e a t i v i t y , because much of the data from t h i s case study rel a t e s to the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' understanding and v i s u a l i z a t i o n of the performance space and themselves i n i t . I was drawn to consider the value of the technique of \"cognitive mapping\" as a discovery and a n a l y t i c procedure. The concept of cognitive mapping i s the performers' mental representation of three dimensional space and the projection of themselves i n i t . Cognitive maps include, besides phy s i c a l objects and s p a t i a l r e l a t i o n s , c u l t u r a l l y shared and personal knowledge which the person associates with the area or a c t i v i t y being depicted. For example, a cognitive map of my morning t r i p to the un i v e r s i t y includes the personal s i g n i f i c a n c e of landmarks and topographical features. I have a d i f f e r e n t cognitive map, depending upon whether I drive or ride a b i c y c l e . I f I drive, the t r a f f i c i l i g h t s take on a greater s i g n i f i c a n c e . If I ride a b i c y c l e , 39 the h i l l s and the narrow streets with parked cars where a d r i v e r might open his door, take on greater s i g n i f i c a n c e . In the education l i t e r a t u r e the use of the term cognitive mapping has not always been consistent and has been used to r e f e r to a p a r t i c u l a r s k i l l , a teaching technique, and a means of graphically representing concepts. Studies of cognitive mapping focused on verbal, problem solving, or s p a t i a l s k i l l s . D'Antoni (1984) uses \"cognitive mapping\" to r e f e r to graphic presentations of concepts. D'Antoni found that the \"cognitive mapping\" technique fosters perceptual and verbal comprehension. Gold (1984), who also defined cognitive mapping as information depicted in a graphic form, reported that \"cognitive mapping\" helped non-readers improve reading, l i s t e n i n g , speaking, and comprehension s k i l l s . Studies that define cognitive mapping as a s k i l l are consistent with the mental modeling of space formulations of cognitive mapping proposed by Downs & Stea (1977) and Oakley (1985). Anooshian (1984) summarizes studies of preschoolers that show that \"route mapping\" (finding the way to school) provides a basis for organizing s p a t i a l information and i n t e r n a l representations necessary for problem solving. Mathews (1987) found that boys' early l i f e experiences encompass more extensive explorations of the environment than those of g i r l s . These environmental explorations provide the basis for t h e i r superior s p a t i a l a b i l i t y . 40 M i l l a r (1988) reports the study of \" K e l l i , \" a congenitally b l i n d toddler who was tra i n e d to walk clockwise around four landmarks set i n a diamond configuration. In te s t s of her walking across the \"diamond,\" she succeeded better than would be expected by a random search. Cognitive mapping accounts for K e l l i ' s success. The M i l l a r study i n s p i r e d me to have my p a r t i c i p a n t s t r y choreographies with t h e i r eyes closed. The Crowley (1986), Downs & Stea (1977), and the Oakley (1985) formulations of cognitive mapping have been useful to the present study. Crowley defines cognitive mapping as \"the process by which people acquire, store, and r e c a l l information about r e l a t i v e locations and att r i b u t e s i n the environment\" (1986, p. 67). Downs & Stea re f e r to cognitive mapping as a person's modeling of the environment, which provides a record of his or her p o s i t i o n i n the environment (1977, p.6). Cognitive mapping refers to those abilities which enable the person to \" c o l l e c t , organize, store, r e c a l l , and manipulate information about the s p a t i a l environment... A cognitive map i s a person's organized representation of some part of the s p a t i a l environment\" (Oakley, 1985, p.103). Cues for representing one's p o s i t i o n i n space, can come I ! ' I from many sources and through several senses. For example, the Downs & Stea (1977) ethnography of the Puluwatan navigators describes how c u l t u r a l l y transmitted knowledge 41 about the environment enables the Puluwatan navigators to cross vast distances of the P a c i f i c to reach t i n y i s l a n d s . Movements of the stars, shadows of submerged reefs, and t i d a l forces are the sign posts of the Puluwatans' cognitive maps. The ethnographers have used cognitive mapping as a conceptual t o o l to portray the Puluwatans' knowledge of the environment. Dancers navigate themselves through a musical score i n ways which compare to the navigation of the Puluwatan islanders. The dancer, l i k e the Puluwatan navigator, constructs a transforming mental picture of himself or h e r s e l f moving through space. This cognitive map of the dance i s not a two dimensional diagram of imaginary l i n e s on the f l o o r . The dancer's cognitive map, l i k e the Puluwatan islanders mental picture of the transforming night sky, might embody sensations akin to the surging canoe or v i s i o n s of submerged sea monsters; i t involves v i s u a l , k i n e s t h e t i c (including sensations of movement and balance), auditory, and a f f e c t i v e dimensions, as well as memories of dance sequences. In t h i s study, a cognitive map i s a mentalist representation of how a l l the sensory modes int e r a c t with memory to give.the dancer a picture of his or her p o s i t i o n i n space at any moment i n the choreography. In constructing a mental image or cognitive map of the dance, a dancer f i r s t learns the bare bones of a choreography, and then welds 42 f i n e r q u a l i t i e s and nuances into the movements. The sources for these f i n e r nuances, for example, could come from observations of nature or from remembered aesthetic experiences. This transformation of the dance, from a dancer doing a series of movements to an aesthetic experience, t y p i f i e s the workings of kinesthetic imagination. In Chapter III evidence of the hypothetical cognitive maps of the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' understanding of the performance and the performance space w i l l be discussed. Three types of s p a t i a l coding (Lee, c i t e d i n M i l l a r , 1978) provide useful dimensions of a dancer's cognitive map of a dance. The three types of s p a t i a l coding are: 1) exteroceptive, for coding external r e l a t i o n s of objects to each other, 2) proprioceptive, for coding information about the p o s i t i o n of body parts to each other, 3) exproprioceptive, for r e l a t i n g information about the p o s i t i o n of the body to the environment. In addition to these three types of s p a t i a l coding defined by Lee, I have d i f f e r e n t i a t e d between external proprioceptive and i n t e r n a l proprioceptive. Internal proprioceptive coding involves the awareness of breathing and organ sensations such as heart beat i n r e l a t i o n to the p o s i t i o n of the body parts. These four types of s p a t i a l coding are described to guide observations of the students' k i n e s t h e t i c expressions. The learned content of the dance may be transformed by the imagination. Sardello's phenomenological d e f i n i t i o n of 43 imagination allows us to r e l a t e cognitive mapping to imagination. In summarizing Gaston Bachelard's phenomenological conception of imagination, Sardello portrays imagination: 1) as the \"deforming of images\" provided by perception, 2) a way i n which we can \"transcend\" or go beyond ourselves, 3) \"an excess i n a l l modes of awareness\" (1977, p.147-48). The technique of improvisation provides an arena i n which the a r t i s t sets out to \"transcend\" and transform images, movements, or character r e l a t i o n s h i p s and motivations. Acts of improvisation embody the workings of the memory-imagination complex. Memories of any number of experiences of physical states, dialogues, emotions, or struggles are fused through the action within an improvisation. Through t h i s fusion the workings of the imagination can be seen. Sardello elucidates: \"Imagination i s the context of p o s s i b i l i t y . Memory rela t e s to that context as what was, insofar as i t l i v e s i n the present, l i v e s as p o s s i b i l i t y \" (1977, p. 146) . The workings of the imagination i n a movement improvisation can be mapped. Portraying the process of dance making might reveal facets of c r e a t i v i t y overlooked by t r a d i t i o n a l conceptions of c r e a t i v i t y . The method of cognitive mapping enables the researcher to model students' expressive movements. In t h i s study video records of ki n e s t h e t i c movements as well as p a r t i c i p a n t s ' 44 representations of the performance (as seen through t h e i r r e c o l l e c t i o n s ) were recorded and analyzed. The d e f i n i t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y formulated by Weisberg (1986) and Maslow (1968), are relevant to the above discussion of the complex of memory and imagination. Using the Weisberg d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y , we are directed to examine outcomes novel to the performer, rather than abstract standards. This allows us to focus on the transformation of images or s p a t i a l codings and the workings of k i n e s t h e t i c imagination. Maslow's discussion of \"peak experience\" points out that i n c r e a t i v i t y the experience of the expressive a c t i v i t y , the s i t u a t i o n , and the imagination are u n i f i e d . Summary Several of the most important approaches to c r e a t i v i t y were reviewed and c r i t i q u e d i n l i g h t of t h e i r a p p l i c a b i l i t y to learning disabled students. The p o s i t i v i s t theories postulate (a p r i o r i ) t r a i t s that attempt to explain and predict c r e a t i v i t y . Although t h i s methodology may be v a l i d for examining many creative expressions, the fi n d i n g that k i n e s t h e t i c representations tend to be structured d i f f e r e n t l y from verbal or v i s u a l expressions leads to a search for a broader conception of c r e a t i v i t y ( A y l i v i n , 1977) . Weisberg's d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y was reformulated to make i t applicable to learning disabled students. It 45 s t i p u l a t e s that expressive outcomes be novel and s i g n i f i c a n t to the i n d i v i d u a l . Maslow's conception of creativeness, as well as his observation of peak experiences, have yet to be applied to k i n e s t h e t i c expressions within the context of a performance event. P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n a performance event might be a way of widening the i n d i v i d u a l ' s perceptions and s e n s i t i v i t i e s . Within Maslow's conception, creativeness i s an aspect of the context of the expression as much as i t i s an aspect of the person. This conception i s consistent with the methodology of t h i s study which assumes that a person cannot be abstracted from his or her \" l i f e w o r l d . \" Yoo's phenomenological conception of metaphors i s s i g n i f i c a n t to the present study. During rehearsals, verbal metaphors were used to l a b e l k i n e s t h e t i c expressions. Winner pointed out that children understand metaphors and produce them spontaneously i n play. Winner's research supports my own assumption that the-participants understand the metaphoric labels given to kinesthetic expressions. Studies of cognitive mapping were reviewed and discussed as a method for depicting a dancer's conception of the dance i n a performance area. The studies of cognitive mapping provide the conceptual tools to discuss the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' understandings of t h e i r expressions i n the performance space. The f a c t t h a t i n d i v i d u a l e x p e r i e n c e s o f an e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t y might n ot f o l l o w a g e n e r a l p a t t e r n , s u g g e s t s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t t h e r e a r e many t y p e s o f c r e a t i v e e x p e r i e n c e . I have o f t e n been s t r u c k by t h e n o v e l ways t h a t some p e o p l e , a r t i s t s o r s t u d e n t s , engage i n e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s . P o s i t i v i s t c o n c e p t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y assume an o b j e c t i v e c r e a t i v e r e a l i t y e x i s t s (and i f we c o u l d o n l y d i s c o v e r i t , we c o u l d e a s i l y t e a c h anyone t o be c r e a t i v e ) . P o s i t i v i s t r e s e a r c h e r s h y p o t h e s i z e a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c p r o c e s s o f c r e a t i v i t y and t r a i t s w h i c h p e o p l e m a n i f e s t . On t h e o t h e r hand, a p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l approach a l l o w s us t o assume t h a t \" c r e a t i v e p r o c e s s \" i s i n h e r e n t i n t h e forms o f a c t i v i t y and t h e way t h e p e r s o n chooses t o do t h e a c t i v i t y . T h i s i s how I approached c r e a t i v i t y i n s e t t i n g up t h i s case s t u d y . 47 CHAPTER III SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, AND PROGRAM Introduction In t h i s chapter I describe the s e t t i n g (school and classroom), p a r t i c i p a n t s (students and school s t a f f ) , and the program through which the pa r t i c i p a n t s developed the performance event. I describe Ms. Ainsley's (the s p e c i a l needs teacher) i n i t i a l response to t h i s research, because her remarks show her understanding of her students' c r e a t i v i t y before s t a r t i n g the rehearsal sessions. The program was ostensibly structured to teach the p a r t i c i p a n t s movement, mime and s t o r y t e l l i n g s k i l l s as a means of providing an opportunity for creative expression. Through the improvisations and s t o r y t e l l i n g a c t i v i t i e s the students explored and developed images and ideas to enable them to develop t h e i r own presentations. During the rehearsal sessions, the classroom teacher and I ref i n e d t h e i r s c r i p t s and help them interpret ideas and images into movement. The a c t i v i t i e s have been divided into four phases: 1) preliminary k i n e s t h e t i c a c t i v i t i e s , 2) performance planning and story t e l l i n g , 3) rehearsal, 4) the f i n a l performance. Not a l l the a c t i v i t i e s were planned before the f i r s t session began. A c t i v i t i e s and expressions were introduced to teach s k i l l s or provide a structure through which creative expressions could be observed and developed. 48 Setting \"Riverview Public School\" i s a c e n t r a l l y located older school situated on a busy street i n a r e s i d e n t i a l neighborhood. The school population of 350 students r e f l e c t s the varied ethnic mix of the neighborhood. The school consists of two buildings: the older two-story, wood-frame b u i l d i n g containing two classrooms per f l o o r and the newer bric k single story b u i l d i n g . A l l the sessions, except the l a s t two rehearsals and the f i n a l performance, took place i n Ms. Ainsley's homeroom, one of the two classrooms on the second-story i n the frame b u i l d i n g . The other room on the second f l o o r was the home of another s p e c i a l needs group, a class for p h y s i c a l l y handicapped students. The f i r s t f l o o r of that b u i l d i n g housed two English as a Second Language classrooms. This research took place i n the spe c i a l needs section of the school. This description of the school i s relevant to the research, because the d i f f e r e n t q u a l i t i e s , and the separation of the buildings might reinforce the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' s o c i a l separation and low s e l f esteem discussed i n Chapter IV. Par t i c i p a n t s Mr. Jones, the p r i n c i p a l of Riverview, had been transferred,to Riverview from another school the week before our February 6, 1989 consultation about the f e a s i b i l i t y of conducting t h i s study at Riverview. Mr. Jones believed that the s p e c i a l needs students would benefit from t h e i r 49 p a r t i c i p a t i o n . He approved the carrying out of t h i s research at Riverview on the condition of Ms. Ainsley's (the s p e c i a l needs teacher) agreement. Ms. Ainsley was energetic, a t h l e t i c looking, and i n her second year of teaching, when we met on February 6, 1989. A f t e r presenting my introduction to the research, Ms. Ainsley i n i t i a l l y approved of the project. Two days l a t e r , at our next meeting, Ms. Ainsley expressed some reservations: She stated that her students were too shy and did not have any talent for acting. She was a f r a i d that I might be \"disappointed by her students.\" Although Ms. Ainsley believed that her students would be excited by the project, she did not think that t h e i r i n t e r e s t would continue through the three months of preparation for a performance. She stated that her students were not creative; however, she was interested i n seeing any ways they could become creative. We scheduled eit h e r two or three two-hour sessions/week for the three months beginning March 7, 198 9 and ending June 9, 1989. Although the nature of the s p e c i f i c learning d i s a b i l i t y i s beyond the scope of t h i s study, I w i l l summarize Ms. Ainsley's statements (February 8, 1989) about her students' d i s a b i l i t i e s as her remarks do provide a context for looking at the p a r t i c i p a t i n g students' mime and dance expressions and verbal productions. Eight of her twelve students had been diagnosed as having some degree of dyslexia or other 50 p e r c e p t u a l d i s a b i l i t y a f f e c t i n g p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e i r a b i l i t i e s i n r e a d i n g , word r e c o g n i t i o n , and s p e l l i n g . Ms. A i n s l e y b e l i e v e d t h a t her students (between the ages of nine and twelve years) were about t h r e e years behind the average student i n t h e i r development of w r i t i n g s k i l l s and at l e a s t one year behind the average i n t h e i r a c q u i s i t i o n of spoken E n g l i s h . In a subsequent d i s c u s s i o n f o l l o w i n g a r e h e a r s a l , Ms. A i n s l e y s t a t e d t h a t her s t u d e n t s ' home environments d i d not support her e f f o r t s (to t e a c h r e a d i n g and other v e r b a l s k i l l s ) .' For some students (Robin, Sue, and Bradley) E n g l i s h was not spoken at home; f o r a few ot h e r s (Anne Marie and Ken) the \"emotional environment of the home caused the c h i l d r e n t o withdraw.\" A c c o r d i n g t o Ms. A i n s l e y , o n l y one parent, George's mother, took an a c t i v e p a r t i n her c h i l d ' s e d u c a t i o n . A l l of Ms. A i n s l e y ' s students p a r t i c i p a t e d i n mainstreaming ( i n t e g r a t i o n i n \" r e g u l a r \" c l a s s e s w i t h non-l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students) f o r a minimum of n i n e t y minutes per week. A l l of the students were mainstreamed i n v i s u a l a r t and p h y s i c a l e d u c a t i o n . In some cases, the s p e c i a l needs students were suspended from t h i s i n t e g r a t i o n i n t o o t h e r c l a s s e s because of t h e i r \" d i s r u p t i v e b e h a v i o r \" i n the i n t e g r a t e d classroom s e t t i n g s . Other students attended math and geography s e s s i o n s i n r e g u l a r c l a s s e s . Ms. A i n s l e y p r e d i c t e d t h a t nine or t e n of her twelve students would 51 attend s p e c i a l needs classes for t h e i r e n t i r e school careers. A f t e r a few years, \"two or three\" might be t o t a l l y integrated into \"regular\" classes. Phase I: Preliminary Kinesthetic A c t i v i t i e s I selected t h i s p a r t i c u l a r program and ordering of kinesthetic a c t i v i t i e s i n order to: 1) provide p a r t i c i p a n t s with a movement vocabulary from which images, gestures, or actions could be selected during the s c r i p t development and improvisational sessions; 2) o f f e r a v a r i e t y of approaches to physical theatre to f i t i n d i v i d u a l preferences and working s t y l e s ; 3) develop a working process through which we could learn to communicate personal needs and a r t i s t i c preferences and cooperate towards our common goal of producing a unique experience for an audience. During my f i r s t four v i s i t s to the class I t o l d s t o r i e s or legends and demonstrated how some of the images from these legends could be shown through movement. I wanted the students to see that a r t i s t s use movement or dance to show an idea and that through a sequence of movements a story could unfold. During the l i m i t e d time available within an elementary school schedule, i t would be impossible for students to become accomplished mimes or dancers. We could, however, enhance and transform everyday movements such as walking, bending, reaching, f a l l i n g , etc. to bring to l i f e the images contained i n the s c r i p t s . We could discover ways to lend these \"everyday\" movements p a r t i c u l a r q u a l i t i e s . 52 For example, the students t r i e d \"ghostly\" walks and \" c r i c k e t \" leaps. Relaxation Exercises The Feldenkrais' approach helps us relax through breathing and movement exercises; and for the present study t h i s approach provided a way to look at the usefulness of cognitive mapping. To relax means to become aware of and reduce muscular tension. In addition, through t h i s approach we see how the placement of the limbs and spine are i n t e r - r e l a t e d . Dancers and actors p r a c t i c e the Feldenkrais exercises to improve control and awareness of the body. The d e t a i l and subtlety of his movement approach enables us to v i s u a l i z e a cognitive map of the body. It was designed to help the p a r t i c i p a t i n g students understand the d e t a i l and the subtle q u a l i t i e s one could express through movement. To give the reader an example of how awareness can be achieved, I describe two of the exercises from Awareness through Movement, (Feldenkrais 1972). In an exercise to reduce tension and a t t a i n subtle control and awareness of the lower back, the persons are instructed to l i e on t h e i r backs, with the arms relaxed at the sides. To enable the students to concentrate more f u l l y on the t h e i r own bodies and shut out external s t i m u l i , I asked the students to close t h e i r eyes during the relaxation exercises. The feet are s l i d along the f l o o r towards the hips so that the legs are relaxed and the knees are pointing towards tile c e i l i n g . 53 From t h i s p o s i t i o n the e x e r c i s e b e g i n s . F e l d e n k r a i s i n s t r u c t s the p a r t i c i p a n t s t o imagine t h a t they have a c l o c k a t t a c h e d t o the bottom few ( s a c r a l ) v e r t e b r a e so t h a t twelve o ' c l o c k i s at the top of the p e l v i s and s i x o' c l o c k i s at the t i p of the s p i n e . The e x e r c i s e c o n s i s t s of s l o w l y r o c k i n g the lower spine between the imaginary \" s i x o ' c l o c k \" and \"twelve o ' c l o c k \" . When t h i s was accomplished, the students moved from \"twelve\" t o \" t h r e e \" and to other c l o c k p o s i t i o n s . In t h i s e x e r c i s e the image of the c l o c k i s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the r o c k i n g movement; a \"road s i g n \" on a c o g n i t i v e map i s drawn. The i n d i v i d u a l i s b e t t e r a b l e t o sense f i n e r and more s u b t l e p o s i t i o n s and arrangements of the body. In a second e x e r c i s e students l e a r n e d t o p o r t r a y a \" f l o a t i n g \" q u a l i t y when moving from a prone p o s i t i o n t o a s t a n d i n g p o s i t i o n . From a p o s i t i o n l y i n g on the back, the r i g h t arm i s r o t a t e d i n a c l o c k w i s e d i r e c t i o n . During the r o t a t i o n , the hand s t a y s as c l o s e t o the f l o o r as p o s s i b l e . The head and eyes f o l l o w s the hand. The c i r c l e of the hand e n l a r g e s u n t i l the motion of the hand, always c o n t i n u i n g i n a c i r c l e , b r i n g s one t o a s t a n d i n g p o s i t i o n . I have the students work j u s t one s i d e of the body so they can compare d i f f e r e n c e s between the two s i d e s . , In most of F e l d e n k r a i s ' e x e r c i s e s a b r e a t h i n g sequence i s i n t e g r a t e d i n t o the movement. The p o s i t i o n and a c t i o n of the lungs become p a r t o f t h a t person's s e l f - i m a g e i n space. 54 The r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s flow i n t o the v i s u a l i z a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , because between e x e r c i s e sequences I ask students t o f e e l t e n s i o n flow out of t h e i r b o d ies and t o n o t i c e d i f f e r e n c e s b e f o r e and a f t e r the e x e r c i s e s . As they are asked t o n o t i c e d e t a i l e d s t a t e s w i t h i n t h e i r own b o d i e s , they are b e i n g p r e p a r e d to v i s u a l i z e d e t a i l e d environments such as f o r e s t s or seas which they would c r e a t e and move through d u r i n g i m p r o v i s a t i o n s . V i s u a l i z a t i o n E x e r c i s e s Movements come a l i v e as the performer v i s u a l i z e s the s u r r o u n d i n g environment and thus g i v e s a context and i n t e n t i o n t o the movement. V i s u a l i z a t i o n e x e r c i s e s are e x e r c i s e s of the i m a g i n a t i o n . For \" f i r e b u i l d i n g , \" the v i s u a l i z a t i o n e x e r c i s e used i n t h i s program, the students remained completely s t i l l . I i n s t r u c t e d the students t o s i t c r o s s legged, t o \"see\" a p i l e of wood i n f r o n t of them. In the c e n t r e of t h a t p i l e of wood they were t o imagine a s m a l l smoldering ember. Using t h e i r eyes only, they were to \" s e t the p i l e of wood on f i r e . \" I s o l a t i o n s I s o l a t i o n s are a s e r i e s of e x e r c i s e s p r a c t i c e d p a r t i c u l a r l y by mimes and dancers t o l e a r n t o move s p e c i f i c p a r t s of the body w h i l e other p a r t s remain m o t i o n l e s s . I s o l a t i o n s enable the performer t o focus the a t t e n t i o n of the audience members on the p a r t s of the body \" t h a t t e l l the 55 s t o r y \" or c r e a t e a p a r t i c u l a r images at any g i v e n moment d u r i n g the performance. I s o l a t i o n s l e n d c l a r i t y t o the mime images we used d u r i n g the performance. During most s e s s i o n s we p r a c t i c e d i s o l a t i o n s p r i o r t o r e h e a r s a l s . We p r a c t i c e d s e v e r a l neck i s o l a t i o n s , chest i s o l a t i o n s , abdomen i s o l a t i o n s , and h i p i s o l a t i o n s . N e u t r a l Mask N e u t r a l mask e x e r c i s e s l e n d the q u a l i t i e s of the primary elements - a i r , f i r e , water, wind, and t r e e - t o the movements of mime and dance. The awareness gained through the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , the use of the i m a g i n a t i o n , and the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of metaphors i n t o movement, and the c o n t r o l of the body gained through i s o l a t i o n s were a l l drawn upon d u r i n g the n e u t r a l mask e x e r c i s e s . In mask t h e a t r e , the f e e l i n g s and thoughts of the c h a r a c t e r must be p r o j e c t e d through the body t o the audience. As mask performers o f t e n do not speak and as t h e i r f a c e s are hidden, the n e u t r a l mask t r a i n i n g h e l p s the a r t i s t l e a r n t o use the body as an e x p r e s s i v e t o o l . In t h i s study the n e u t r a l mask e x e r c i s e s d i r e c t e d students towards t r a n s f o r m i n g m e t a p h o r i c a l (verbal) i n s t r u c t i o n s i n t o a k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n . The t r a n s f o r m e d movements and g e s t u r e s h e l p e d them p o r t r a y the c h a r a c t e r s i n t h e i r legends. The q u a l i t i e s were e x p l a i n e d t o the students m e t a p h o r i c a l l y and, w h i l e wearing masks, the students t r a n s f o r m e d the metaphor i n t o a movement. For example, we 56 can r a i s e an arm l i k e a mechanical crane, the wing of a b i r d , or l i k e a f e a t h e r i n an u p d r a f t . When i n s t r u c t i n g the students i n the n e u t r a l mask e x e r c i s e s , f i r s t , I s p e c i f i e d a p a r t i c u l a r q u a l i t y . Next, the students t r i e d t o express the q u a l i t y through t h e i r b o d i e s . Afterwards, the q u a l i t i e s of each movement were i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o s p e c i f i c s i t u a t i o n s or c h a r a c t e r s . For example, t o the accompaniment of calm watery music students took on the q u a l i t y of water and began to \" f l o a t \" and \"waft\" about the room. At a l a t e r s e s s i o n we used the q u a l i t y of water t o show how some legendary c h a r a c t e r s f e l l out o f t h e i r boats i n t o the l a k e , f l o a t e d on the s u r f a c e , and l e a r n e d how t o breathe l i k e f i s h underwater. We c r e a t e d imaginary environments, such as f o r e s t f i r e s and then p r a c t i c e d moving through them. Choreography I taught the p a r t i c i p a t i n g students the \"Cycle of L i f e \" choreography t o help.them understand t h a t a performance i s a sequence of events, developed i n r e h e a r s a l , and then shown to an audience. \"The C y c l e of L i f e \" i s a p e r p e t u a l motion machine where the performers go through a sequence of f o u r c o n t i n u o u s l y r e p e a t e d s t a g e s . I a s s i g n e d each student one of f o u r s t a r t i n g p o s i t i o n s . Each student moved through each of the f o u r s t a g e s : 1) b i r t h out of the sea, 2) the walk a c r o s s the waves (other students r o l l i n g under her i n the o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n ) , 3) m e l t i n g or d y i n g i n t o the sea, 4) a 57 wave r o l l i n g back a c r o s s the room under those s t e p p i n g over the waves. In t h i s choreography, the waves are spaced t o a l l o w the \"walkers\" t o s t e p through the water. The r e b i r t h s and the deaths are timed t o keep the sequence r o l l i n g smoothly. A f t e r the students l e a r n e d the b a s i c choreography, s p e c i f i c q u a l i t i e s were added t o the r o l l i n g waves, the walks through the waves, the b i r t h s , and the deaths. The sequence of the \" C y c l e of L i f e \" remained, but the q u a l i t i e s were transformed. Mime Mime e x e r c i s e s such as the \"tug of war\", rope p u l l , p a d d l i n g , f a l l i n g i n the water, t r a n s f o r m i n g underwater, were p r a c t i c e d i n the p r e - r e h e a r s a l stages of the workshop, as w e l l as d u r i n g the r e h e a r s a l p e r i o d , t o develop s p e c i f i c images f o r the s t u d e n t s ' s t o r i e s . Phase I I : Planning the Performance Event I n t r o d u c t i o n t o World Legends I i n t r o d u c e d each of the f i r s t f o u r ninety-minute s e s s i o n s by t e l l i n g a legend and through mime and•movement p o r t r a y e d many of the images from the legend. During the f i r s t t e l l i n g the students were i n s t r u c t e d o n l y t o l i s t e n . D u r i n g the second t e l l i n g I asked the students t o a c t out the p a r t s of the c h a r a c t e r s . I chose some Chinese legends and some N a t i v e Indian legends t o t e l l . The students were i n t r i g u e d by the Chinese \"Zen T a l e s \" because the Master i n 58 the story had magic powers. This offered the students an introduction to v i s u a l theatre sty l e s such as dance theatre. During the demonstration I also was able to explain the purpose of the relaxation, neutral mask, mime, and v i s u a l i z a t i o n exercises. On A p r i l 7, 198 9, I performed a dance and mask show with Metamotion and the Theatre of Giants which the en t i r e school population at Riverview witnessed. This performance f a m i l i a r i z e d the students with some of the theatre and dance st y l e s we would use i n t h e i r production. The members of the company discussed the show with the p a r t i c i p a n t s of t h i s study. C o l l e c t i v e Creation of.Legends: The Story C i r c l e During the t h i r d through seventh sessions, as a c o l l e c t i v e , we created several o r a l s t o r i e s . The students sat i n a c i r c l e . One student began the story and introduced characters and s i t u a t i o n s . The st o r i e s grew as the task of adding to i t moved around the c i r c l e . Students contributed images and embellished the events, characters and si t u a t i o n s within the \"rotating\" s t o r i e s . P o l i s h i n g the Legends During t h i s phase of our work, we changed our improvised o r a l versions of the legends into a written performance s c r i p t . Amalgamating the students' oral contributions from the seventh session, I produced a \" s c r i p t \" . I presented the s c r i p t to the students during the next session. This story 59 was t i t l e d \"the R i c h Man and the T h i e f \" (see Appendix I) named a f t e r two the main c h a r a c t e r s i n the s t o r y . I i n t r o d u c e d i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , \" b r a i n s t o r m i n g \" (De bono, 1973) s e s s i o n s , and mime e x e r c i s e s to f u r t h e r develop the images and i d e a s from the s t o r y c i r c l e . The i m p r o v i s a t i o n s were p a r t i c u l a r l y important f o r d e v e l o p i n g movement e x p r e s s i o n s f o r \"the R i c h Man and the T h i e f \" and the second legend which was developed through a s l i g h t l y d i f f e r e n t p r o c e s s . The second s t o r y was c r e a t e d from an Ojibway legend d e p i c t i n g a magical green sturgeon which p r o t e c t e d the Indian people long ago. The c h a r a c t e r s were borrowed from the legend. The students c o n s t r u c t e d the p l o t , which r e v o l v e d around a kidnapping, t o show how the magic f i s h might have h e l p e d the Indian people. Both legends were f u r t h e r developed through i m p r o v i s a t i o n s . I t i s a p p r o p r i a t e to d i s c u s s here the approach t o i m p r o v i s a t i o n used w i t h the p a r t i c i p a n t s because i t p r o v i d e s an important avenue through which t h e i r c r e a t i v i t y c o u l d be observed. An i m p r o v i s a t i o n i s a t h e a t r i c a l or movement se a r c h i n a world imagined by the i m p r o v i s o r and r e a l i z e d through the a c t i o n s of i m p r o v i s a t i o n . I m p r o v i s a t i o n s can be performed w i t h s p e c i f i c g o a l s such as the u n c o v e r i n g of a c h a r a c t e r ' s r e a c t i o n t o a d e f i n e d s i t u a t i o n . Movement i m p r o v i s a t i o n s can b r i n g out body p o s t u r e s and g e s t u r e s r e f l e c t i n g s p e c i f i e d images, i d e a s , or q u a l i t i e s . 60 T h i s approach t o i m p r o v i s a t i o n engenders co n s c i o u s n e s s of the body and b r e a t h , emotional memory, and s e l f image. The memory of the heightened consciousness i s woven i n t o the t e x t , the dance p i e c e or the c h a r a c t e r work. The i m p r o v i s o r t r i e s t o suspend e x p e c t a t i o n s of l i k e l y outcomes. A c t o r s t r y t o see the world through the eyes of the c h a r a c t e r i n the s c r i p t . The i m p r o v i s o r might g a i n awareness of p h y s i c a l s t a t e s , d i s p l a y q u a l i t i e s of movements, produce v e r b a l t e x t s , connect emotional memories t o p h y s i c a l s t a t e s , i d e n t i f y p e r s o n a l memories wi t h the s t r u g g l e s of a p a r t i c u l a r c h a r a c t e r , break a movement or p o s t u r e h a b i t , chop away e l a b o r a t i o n s , f i n d the e s s e n t i a l g e s t u r e , or e x p e r i e n c e s t i l l n e s s . T h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n focuses upon the s e n s i t i v i t i e s and the awarenesses of the i m p r o v i s o r . Mask Making During the f i f t h s e s s i o n the making of the masks f o r the c h a r a c t e r s (developed i n the s t o r y c i r c l e s ) began. The stages i n the c r e a t i o n of the paper mache masks were: 1) s c u l p t i n g the mould, 2) a p p l y i n g l a y e r s of paper, and 3) p a i n t i n g . . G i v i n g B i r t h t o the Masked C h a r a c t e r s The students l e a r n e d t o take on new c h a r a c t e r s through an i m p r o v i s a t i o n , which a l s o f o l l o w s the b i r t h - l i f e - d e a t h of the \" C y c l e of L i f e \" , but i s performed i n d i v i d u a l l y . The b i r t h phase takes p l a c e w i t h the students \"being born\" from l a r g e s t r e t c h y c l o t h sacks. T h i s a c t i v i t y c e l e b r a t e d the 61 completion of the masks. I demonstrated how we could f i n d the q u a l i t y of movement of the character within the sack. From within one of the sacks, I showed how the \"paw\" or hand could take shape and how i t could be shown to the \"audience\" by pressing i t against the stretchy c l o t h . Each part of the character took shape i n t h i s way. The exercise was presented i n three phases: 1) moving i n the sack, expressing q u a l i t i e s of water, wind, or f i r e ; 2) moving i n the sack as a watery, windy or f i e r y character 3) wearing the mask and becoming the masked character within the sack, being born and i n t e r a c t i n g with others who have just been born. The exercise begins as students enter the sacks, c u r l up into a f e t a l p o s i t i o n , concentrate on t h e i r breathing and wait for the accompanying music to begin. I instructed that a f t e r t h e i r character took shape within the sack, they were to come out, as i f just born, and to allow t h e i r character to pass through the ages of l i f e from infancy, through childhood, adulthood, and old age. Each student t r i e d the \" r i t u a l \" two or three times during separate sessions and took from four to ten minutes to complete the r i t u a l each time. Rehearsing the Performance Event During the rehearsal sessions we found images through which we could \"render\" the images i n the written texts. I selected mime techniques which portrayed images from the students' s t o r i e s . I helped the students embody the images 62 from the s t o r y so t h a t the audience would be a b l e t o understand the s t o r y . In the r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s e x p r e s s i v e movements were s y n c h r o n i z e d w i t h n a r r a t i o n . D i s c u s s i o n s were h e l d t o c r i t i q u e and develop q u a l i t i e s of v o i c e and movement. Im p r o v i s a t i o n s were a l s o used t o c r e a t e and r e f i n e the d i a l o g u e . Much of the i n i t i a l n a r r a t i o n was g i v e n simple \" s u b j e c t \" - \" v e r b \" form. Both by a s k i n g students t o repeat images developed i n the i m p r o v i s a t i o n s and through my q u e s t i o n i n g , the n a r r a t i o n was r e f i n e d . For example, by a s k i n g a q u e s t i o n l i k e - \"how d i d he go to the shore?\" - a s t u d e n t ' s response such as, \"he crawled.\" p r o v i d e d a s p e c i f i c image t o i n s p i r e another or more d e t a i l e d p h y s i c a l e x p r e s s i o n . Throughout the r e h e a r s a l I encouraged the students t o f i n d t h e i r own ways t o show the events o c c u r r i n g w i t h i n t h e i r s t o r i e s . Phase I I I F i n a l P r e s e n t a t i o n The f i n a l performance was p r e s e n t e d to seven c l a s s e s from the s c h o o l as w e l l as to t e a c h e r s and s e v e r a l p a r e n t s . Two legends were performed: \"The R i c h Man and the T h i e f \" and \"The Water Beings\". (See Appendix I f o r t e x t s . ) One week a f t e r the f i n a l performance, the students watched and commented on a v i d e o t a p e of the f i n a l performance. 63 CHAPTER IV INTERPRETATION OF DATA Introduction The s t u d e n t s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the r e h e a r s a l and i n the performance event i s ana l y z e d and d i s c u s s e d i n the f o u r s e c t i o n s o f t h i s c h a p t e r . F i r s t l y , I compare and c o n t r a s t ways i n which the r e h e a r s a l a c t i v i t i e s , e x e r c i s e s and i m p r o v i s a t i o n s supported or encouraged the stu d e n t s ' achievements and e x p r e s s i o n s . The impact of the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s i s seen through the q u a l i t y o f the st u d e n t s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the choreography, the i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , and the c o l l e c t i v e c r e a t i o n o f s t o r i e s . The d e s c r i p t i o n s of the stu d e n t s ' behaviour i n these e x e r c i s e s are asse s s e d f o r evidence t h a t t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , choreographies, and t h e i r sequencing encouraged v e r b a l c r e a t i v i t y . Secondly, I use the a n a l y t i c t e c h n i q u e of c o g n i t i v e mapping t o d i s c u s s how the students understand and v i s u a l i z e t h e i r movements and p o s i t i o n s i n the performance. The u s e f u l n e s s o f c o g n i t i v e mapping as a means of i d e n t i f y i n g the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c r e a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n i s d i s c u s s e d . T h i r d l y , important i n t e r a c t i o n a l i s s u e s are examined. I compare s t u d e n t s ' c o n c e p t i o n s of the b e h a v i o u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s s u r r o u n d i n g a r e h e a r s a l and performance w i t h those of the a d u l t s (teachers' and my own). The impact of 64 these c o n f l i c t i n g e x p e c t a t i o n s on the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' e x p r e s s i v e outcomes i s examined. F o u r t h l y , I d i s c u s s the d i f f e r i n g c r i t e r i a by which t e a c h e r s and students e v a l u a t e the performance. I compare these e v a l u a t i o n s o f the performance i n l i g h t o f the d e f i n i t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y d i s c u s s e d i n Chapter I I . The d e s c r i p t i o n s o f the exp e r i e n c e o f c r e a t i v i t y are o r g a n i z e d and e v a l u a t e d from the p e r s p e c t i v e s o f the stud e n t s , t e a c h e r s , and from my own p e r s p e c t i v e . The students d e s c r i b e t h e i r own c r e a t i v e involvement i n the r e h e a r s a l s and performance. The t e a c h e r s ' and my own o b s e r v a t i o n s are of the stu d e n t s ' involvement i n e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s . The e v a l u a t i o n s we made of the st u d e n t s ' work are based upon d i f f e r e n t s e t s o f e x p e c t a t i o n s , knowledge and ex p e r i e n c e . By i d e n t i f y i n g these competing s e t s o f c r i t e r i a f o r j u d g i n g c r e a t i v i t y , I may be i d e n t i f y i n g i s s u e s t h a t are p e d a g o g i c a l l y u s e f u l i n h e l p i n g s t u d e n t s . K i n e s t h e t i c Expressions R e l a x a t i o n : A d j u s t i n g t o a New Way of Working The students p a r t i c i p a t e d e a g e r l y , but were b e w i l d e r e d by the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s . D e s p i t e t h i s bewilderment the degree of t h e i r commitment c o u l d be seen i n the way they conducted themselves i n the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s ; I remarked i n my f i e l d n o t es: \"Jay melted i n t o the f l o o r . Sue and Sean were extremely i n t e n t on r e l a x i n g . They were t r y i n g too hard... The 65 s t u d e n t s were extremely mellow. I wanted t o see how l o n g I c o u l d s t r e t c h t h i s p e r i o d of calm.\" I n i t i a l l y , s e v e r a l students t r i e d so hard t o r e l a x , they c o u l d not r e l a x at a l l . For example, a f t e r I had i n s t r u c t e d the students t o c o n c e n t r a t e on a f e e l i n g i n the lower back, Sean f i x e d an i n t e n s e , s t r a i n e d s t a r e at the c e i l i n g . At f i r s t , I i n t e r p r e t e d h i s b u l g i n g eyes as \"clowning\". However, the s t u d e n t s ' own r e c o l l e c t i o n s of t h e i r f i r s t e x p e r i e n c e w i t h the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s p o i n t e d out t h a t they had been t r y i n g t o show t h a t they were f o l l o w i n g i n s t r u c t i o n s . With c o n c e n t r a t i o n and r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s the i n t e n d e d focus s h o u l d have been on the p a r t i c i p a n t d e v e l o p i n g awareness of h i s or her own body. When they showed they were f o l l o w i n g i n s t r u c t i o n s , they were f o c u s i n g on t h e i r s u r r o u n d i n g s . The act of showing t h a t they were t r y i n g t o r e l a x h i n d e r e d r e l a x i n g . While the e x e r c i s e was i n t e n d e d t o develop an awareness of i n n e r s t a t e s (muscular t e n s i o n and q u a l i t i e s of b r e a t h ) , the students were t r y i n g t o i n t e r p r e t the meaning of both the i n s t r u c t i o n s and the meaning of my (adult world) e x p e c t a t i o n s . They c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e i r own adjustment t o the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s i n comments made at the end of the p r o j e c t : \" p r e t t y weird\", \"strange\", something \"I've never heard of b e f o r e \" . Dan s a i d the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s were \" b o r i n g \" . 66 In the next s e s s i o n , the p a r t i c i p a n t s became somewhat more accustomed t o the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , but t h e i r c o n t i n u e d bewilderment c o u l d be seen i n the g l a n c e s they gave one another. Anne Marie and A n i t a looked at each o t h e r . Anne Marie gave A n i t a a motherly, r e a s s u r i n g look. I asked them t o c l o s e t h e i r eyes. At one p o i n t B r a d l e y g i g g l e d . Dan and Ron soon j o i n e d i n (the g i g g l i n g ) . I t o l d them t o r e l a x and c o n c e n t r a t e on t h e i r b r e a t h i n g . I asked Ron t o move t o a d i f f e r e n t p l a c e on the f l o o r . (So as not t o be d i s t r a c t e d by the others.) They were a b l e t o c o n t r o l t h e i r g i g g l i n g . . . The group had a c h i e v e d an o v e r a l l calm f o r the f i r s t time. I f e l t i t was the r i g h t time t o t e a c h them the \"Cycl e o f L i f e \" choreography. R e l a x a t i o n : I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r Performance E x p r e s s i o n s A f t e r s e v e r a l s e s s i o n s they a d j u s t e d t o the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , as Ms. A i n s l e y noted i n the changed mood wrought by the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s : \"By F r i d a y s , t h e y ' r e p r a c t i c a l l y bouncing o f f the w a l l s . I t ' s the worst when t h e y ' r e e x p e c t i n g you ( r e s e a r c h e r ) . On r a i n y days, l i k e today, t h e y ' r e w i l d . I can't get them t o work. The r e l a x a t i o n work you do s e t t l e s them down. I can r e a l l y see a b i g d i f f e r e n c e . . . I t would pr o b a b l y pay o f f t o use i t w i t h ot h e r s u b j e c t s , p o s s i b l y b e f o r e c r e a t i v e w r i t i n g . . . \" E v e n t u a l l y , the b e n e f i t s of the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s c a r r i e d 67 over i n t o t h e i r performance e x p r e s s i o n s , but not without the \" a d u l t \" c o n t r o l s e x e r t e d by Ms. A i n s l e y and myself. The p a r t i c i p a n t s ' adjustment t o the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s and t h e i r l e a r n i n g t o work cal m l y enhanced t h e i r dance and movement work. In the \"Cyc l e o f L i f e \" I used m e t a p h o r i c a l phrases t o c h a r a c t e r i z e the changes from one stage t o the next i n the choreography. The t r a n s f o r m a t i o n from a \" r o l l i n g wave\" t o a \"walker\" was t o be performed \"as i f one i s b e i n g born and sees the world f o r the f i r s t time\" (my own i n s t r u c t i o n ) . The r e v e r s e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n from a \"walker\" t o a \" r o l l e r \" was performed \"as i f one i s d y i n g and descending t o the underworld.\" I used other metaphors of xgrowth', b e s i d e s x b i r t h ' , as w e l l as other metaphors f o r Mecay', b e s i d e s vdeath', (such as a flo w e r growing and w i l t i n g ) . They l e a r n e d the sequence of movements f i r s t , but had more d i f f i c u l t y a c h i e v i n g the movement q u a l i t i e s suggested by the m e t a p h o r i c a l phrases. As I remark i n my f i e l d notes, \"the s p a c i n g was good... q u a l i t i e s o f movement were not performed a c c u r a t e l y . . . An attempt was made t o capture the q u a l i t i e s o f calmness i n the walk, growth on the ascent and decay i n the descent. The calmness found through the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e was e n t i r e l y l o s t (during t h e i r f i r s t attempt) because of the d i f f i c u l t y of the choreography.\" The r e l a x e d , calm group mood a i d e d the s y n c h r o n i z a t i o n of movement i n the \"Cycle of L i f e \" . The s p a c i n g and t i m i n g had t o be p r e c i s e l y m a i n t a i n e d t o prevent the students from 68 s t e p p i n g on each o t h e r . In g e n e r a l , as the s e s s i o n s p r o g r e s s e d , the calmer they became, and t h e i r awareness of one another i n the choreography improved . During the e a r l y s e s s i o n s , when the xcalm' was l o s t i n the choreography, I t r i e d t o b r i n g i t back i n t o the \" c i r c l e s t o r y e x e r c i s e . \" I t r i e d t o focus t h e i r a t t e n t i o n on the manner i n which we s a t down and began the s t o r y . During the f i r s t two s e s s i o n s i n which t h i s sequence of e x e r c i s e s was t r i e d ( r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , \" C y c l e of L i f e \" , s t o r y c i r c l e ) , the students l o s t awareness of q u a l i t y i n t h e i r movement. I comment i n my f i e l d notes: They \"raced t o the c o r n e r where they h a b i t u a l l y formed t h e i r c i r c l e f o r r o u t i n e classroom a c t i v i t i e s , except f o r Ron and Sue, who had t o be coaxed by Ms. A i n s l e y t o j o i n the c i r c l e . Sue s a i d she was t i r e d . The calm and c o n c e n t r a t i o n gained i n the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s were now l o s t . \" The i n i t i a l l a c k of c o n t i n u i t y between the p r e p a r a t i o n e x e r c i s e s ( r e l a x a t i o n and \" C y c l e of L i f e \" ) can be seen i n the s t u d e n t s ' f i r s t attempts at the s t o r y e x e r c i s e . Many o f the students used i t t o aim i n s u l t s at each o t h e r . G e n e r a l l y i n s u l t s were c a s t a c r o s s gender l i n e s . Anne Marie, who i n every other phase of the work had been s u p p o r t i v e towards the other p a r t i c i p a n t s , i n i t i a t e d the s t o r y and began the c h a i n of name c a l l i n g : \"A boy named ^Bradley' came from the moon. He was u g l y . \" 69 B r a d l e y s i t t i n g next t o Anne Marie spoke next: \"Bradley, hated Anne Marie so much t h a t he b a r f e d on top of her. \" Sean c o n t i n u e d : \"The next t h i n g you know...,\" he paused (and B r a d l e y i n t e r j e c t e d , \"he t u r n e d cute.\") Sean repeated, \"he t u r n e d c u t e . \" The p a r t i c i p a n t s brought p a t t e r n s of i n t e r a c t i o n from the playground i n t o the ^play' of the s t o r y c i r c l e . These p a t t e r n s of i n t e r a c t i o n competed w i t h the awareness which the e x e r c i s e s were supposed t o develop. One student would e s t a b l i s h a s i t u a t i o n or c h a r a c t e r and the next one would c o n t r a d i c t t h a t which had been developed. Dan spoke next: \" A f t e r t h a t , he s t a r t e d e a t i n g garbage a l l day, and he got f a t . \" Ron r e v e r s e d t h a t image: \"Then he l o s t Weight.\" A n i t a began t o speak h e s i t a n t l y . \"Say something!\" S e v e r a l o t h e r s i n t e r r u p t e d . \"Don't t e l l me your tongue i s t i e d . \" I was d i s a p p o i n t e d i n t h e i r performance. Ms. A i n s l e y asked me i f she c o u l d speak t o them. I nodded. \"I j u s t want you t o remember the r u l e s . I t ' s not s e r i o u s , but j u s t keep out the names. Make i t an imaginary name. Be a n i c e audience. I f you can' t | t h i n k of a n y t h i n g say pass.\". During the next attempt the students were ab l e t o b u i l d a s t o r y so t h a t more f r e q u e n t l y one student's c o n t r i b u t i o n I e m b e l l i s h e d and c o n t i n u e d the p r e v i o u s one's. The s t o r y was 70 passed around the c i r c l e i n the other d i r e c t i o n . Anne Marie t o l d of \"a l i t t l e g i r l who went f o r a walk and found a dog. \" Sean added t h a t \"the dog ran o f f and the g i r l chased a f t e r him.\" B r a d l e y kept the dog and the g i r l i n the s t o r y and added a new c h a r a c t e r . \"The g i r l found the dog but h i s owner wanted him back.\" By the t h i r d s e s s i o n i n which we f o l l o w e d t h i s sequence, the students were ab l e t o move t o the c i r c l e c a l m l y and b e g i n the s t o r y w i t h the t i m i n g o f the \" C y c l e of L i f e \" choreography o v e r f l o w i n g i n t o t h e i r p a t t e r n s o f speech. They waited t h e i r t u r n t o speak without any cues from me e i t h e r t o wait or t o begin, and they were ab l e t o r e f r a i n from both i n t e r r u p t i n g and c ueing each o t h e r . The calming i n f l u e n c e of the r e l a x a t i o n a c t i v i t i e s and the choreography began to have an impact on t h e i r v e r b a l i n t e r a c t i o n s , as evidenced i n the \" s t o r y c i r c l e \" : not only by the g i v i n g and t a k i n g of t u r n s t o speak, but i n the way the themes of the s t o r y emerged. The p a t t e r n of o p p o s i t e s seen i n the antonyms \"growth\" and \"decay,\" around which I s t r u c t u r e d the choreography, appeared i n the s t u d e n t s ' spontaneous e x p r e s s i o n s . C h a r a c t e r s got f a t and t h i n then i i f a t a g a i n . Dogs were found and l o s t . \"A man got b l i n d and then got h i s s i g h t back.\" 71 The observation that the p a r t i c i p a n t s learned to move from one a c t i v i t y to the next and maintain a relaxed composure contradicts the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of data of Tarver et. a l . (1980) that \"a broad, unfocused attention\" i s r e l a t e d to c r e a t i v i t y . The more focused the p a r t i c i p a n t s became, the more r e a d i l y they were able to contribute to the group story as well as devise expressive movements from a verbal or metaphorical cue. The issue of \"focus\" i n an expressive a c t i v i t y i s expanded i n t h i s chapter i n the discussion of children's understanding of play. Kinesthetic Productions and Verbal C r e a t i v i t y The students had begun to contribute narratives that developed simple c o n f l i c t s i n t h e i r c o l l e c t i v e s t o r i e s . A f t e r r e l a t i n g an introductory legend, I pointed out that s t o r i e s often involve the statement of a problem and the characters' struggles to solve the problem. Before beginning the c i r c l e story exercise, I used a \"brainstorming\" approach ( c a l l i n g for suggestions without evaluating content) to help them outline the story and to c l a r i f y the central c o n f l i c t s of t h e i r s t o r i e s . I structured mime and movement improvisations around t h e i r story ideas and helped them enrich t h e i r own images. The| p a r t i c i p a n t s derived many of the ideas and images for t h e i r c o l l e c t i v e s t o r i e s from both the introductory t a l e s and the movement sequences i n the mime classes. For example, \"the Rich Man and the Thief\" started with the 72 c h a r a c t e r o f the monk who l i v e d i n the cave, a c h a r a c t e r they borrowed from one of the Zen t a l e s I had t o l d . The monk had f o r e s i g h t ; he c o u l d diagnose an approaching s t r a n g e r ' s a i l m e n t s . I asked the students what ot h e r k i n d s of problems he might s o l v e . B r a d l e y suggested, \"to h e l p someone f i n d a g i r l f r i e n d . \" Out of t h a t i d e a our s t o r y was born. \"Why co u l d n ' t he f i n d l o v e . . . ? \" \"He was o l d and u g l y . \" I demonstrated and i n v o l v e d the students i n c r e a t i n g i l l u s i o n s o f such images as f l o a t i n g i n water, c l i m b i n g i n and out of a boat, throwing a net, f a l l i n g i n water, and p a d d l i n g and p o l i n g b o a t s . I suggested they might want t o t r y working these images i n t o t h e i r s t o r i e s . Many of the images i n t h e i r s t o r i e s came from these mime i l l u s i o n s . When I asked how would the o l d man get t o the monk. \"A boat!\" Ron suggested. With t h i s p r e p a r a t i o n and s i x p r e v i o u s attempts t o come up w i t h a c o l l e c t i v e s t o r y , we began our c i r c l e s t o r y e x e r c i s e . The p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c r e a t i v i t y can be seen i n the ways they combined and changed ide a s from the i n t r o d u c t o r y legends, and i n t h e i r t r a n s f o r m i n g the mime a c t i v i t i e s i n t o n a r r a t i v e content f o r t h e i r own s t o r i e s . Below, I quote from one s u c c e s s f u l attempt: Robin: \"Once upon a time t h e r e was an o l d man who l o v e d a young woman.\" i Dan: \"He gave her a p r e s e n t . Gold and j e w e l s . \" 73 Ron: \"And a c a r . \" Bryan : \"He t r i e d t o act c o o l . She always t u r n e d him down. \" Anne Marie: \"So one day he d e c i d e d t o v i s i t a wise monk who would h e l p him f i n d someone t o l o v e . \" Ms. A i n s l e y : \"O.K. How would he get t h e r e ? Remember? You s a i d i t b e f o r e . \" George: \"He got on a boat t o take him t o the monk.\" L i n d a : \"He t r a v e l e d many days and many n i g h t s . \" M o l l y : \"One n i g h t a crook snuck up and the crook t r i e d t o s t e a l t h e i r boat.\" Sophie: \"The r i c h man woke up.\" Sean: \"The r i c h man t r i e d t o k i l l the robber, but then he thought he c o u l d make him a s l a v e . \" Jay: \"The robber wasn't r e a l l y a robber. So he t o l d a s t o r y about how they thought he was but he r e a l l y was innocent, l i k e Rambo.\" In t h i s round we had a seed f o r our performance legend. I asked the students t o t h i n k about the t h i e f ' s s t o r y . I asked them t o t r y t o t e l l i t as i f they were the t h i e f , u s i n g \" I . \" Sue developed the t h i e f ' s s t o r y . Ms. A i n s l e y h e l p e d her w i t h i t , p a r t i c u l a r l y the s p e l l i n g : \"Long ago, when I was young, I worked on the l a n d . I worked hard. So I became a r i c h farmer. The s o l d i e r s came and threw me i n j a i l . Then I escaped from j a i l . \" 74 Between r e h e a r s a l s e s s i o n s , Ms. A i n s l e y h e l p e d them add d e t a i l t o the s t o r y . In a d d i t i o n , she made su g g e s t i o n s t o change s i t u a t i o n a l i n c o n s i s t e n c i e s such as the g i f t of the c a r . We completed the s t o r y i n two subsequent c i r c l e s e s s i o n s . Before s t a r t i n g a subsequent c i r c l e s t o r y , Ms. A i n s l e y and I reviewed the s t udents' c o n t r i b u t i o n s and c l a r i f i e d what we might achieve i n the coming round. We made changes through the r e h e a r s a l s e s s i o n s and even up through the f i n a l r e h e a r s a l s as the n a r r a t o r s found o t h e r ways t o t e l l the s t o r y . The f i n a l complete v e r s i o n of \"the R i c h Man and the T h i e f \" i s p r i n t e d i n Appendix I. The s t u d e n t s ' s t o r y , developed c o l l e c t i v e l y , i s a c r e a t i v e outcome; t h e i r own statements, summarized i n the Student E v a l u a t i o n s s e c t i o n of t h i s chapter, a t t e s t t o the s t o r y ' s s i g n i f i c a n c e t o the p a r t i c i p a n t s . I t f i t s the two s t i p u l a t i o n s of the r e f o r m u l a t e d Weisberg d e f i n i t i o n (see Chapter I I ) , i n t h a t i t was both n o v e l and s i g n i f i c a n t t o the p a r t i c i p a n t s . I n d i v i d u a l Approaches t o C r e a t i v i t y : Mask P a i n t i n g as a K i n e s t h e t i c A c t i v i t y Mime and dance o b v i o u s l y have a k i n e s t h e t i c dimension and are i n f a c t l a r g e l y movement a r t s . I n d i v i d u a l p a i n t i n g s t y l e s were observed t o a r i s e from k i n e s t h e t i c a s p e c t s of the p a i n t i n g and and s c u l p t i n g a c t i v i t i e s . In t h i s s e c t i o n , movements, as they r e l a t e t o the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' p a i n t i n g , are observed and d i s c u s s e d . 75 At the b e g i n n i n g of the s e s s i o n d u r i n g which students p a i n t e d t h e i r masks, I demonstrated s e v e r a l p a i n t i n g s t y l e s , showed-the students s e v e r a l masks which had been p a i n t e d i n a v a r i e t y of s t y l e s , and I p r e s e n t e d the students w i t h a few c h o i c e s of t o o l s or ways wit h which to apply the p a i n t t o the masks. The students c o u l d choose a brush, sponge, or f i n g e r s t o apply the p a i n t . The students were shown a v a r i e t y of s t r o k e s , ways t o exaggerate the contours of the f e a t u r e s , ways of b l e n d i n g and l a y e r i n g the c o l o r s , and we d i s c u s s e d the e f f e c t s which the combinations c o u l d produce. They were so eager t o b e g i n w i t h the p a i n t t h a t l i t t l e i n t e r e s t was shown i n the d i s c u s s i o n . Almost a l l the students t r i e d the l a y e r i n g of the p a i n t w i t h the sponges and the b l e n d i n g of c o l o r s . I r e c o r d e d i n my f i e l d notes t h a t : \" t h e i r use of t h i s approach was q u i t e a b i t f r e e r than what I have been accustomed t o . \" For f o r t y - f i v e minutes the p a r t i c i p a n t s remained on t a s k ; when s c h o o l was about t o end and Ms. A i n s l e y and I had t o drag the students away from t h e i r p a i n t s to c l e a n up. B r a d l e y m a i n t a i n e d a constant rhythm of sponging l a y e r upon l a y e r of p a i n t . He bent s l i g h t l y at the waist each time h i s arm dabbed the p a i n t on the canvas. He bore down on the p a i n t soaked sponge. With each s p l o t c h of c o l o r an e f f e c t appeared and then d i s a p p e a r e d . He overworked the s u r f a c e of the mask. 76 \"I'm w a i t i n g f o r i t t o look j u s t so.\" But he was not abl e t o v e r b a l i z e what i t was he wanted. B r a d l e y ' s approach t o the p a i n t i n g o f h i s mask was c h a r a c t e r i z e d by a steady r h y t h m i c a l a p p l i c a t i o n of p a i n t and an i n t e n s e c o n c e n t r a t i o n . A n i t a , i n the same me t h o d i c a l , p a t i e n t way she b u i l t her p l a s t i c e n e mold, c a r e f u l l y p a i n t e d a grey face w i t h r e d t e a r s streaming down the cheeks. With a l i g h t touch, each t e a r was e x p e r t l y formed. From the b e g i n n i n g she s a i d she knew her mask was t o be sad. Although a few of the oth e r students c l a i m e d t o know what they wanted t o achieve w i t h t h e i r masks, on l y A n i t a f o l l o w e d through w i t h her p l a n s . She c o n t r o l l e d her brush s t r o k e s . Although her c o n c e n t r a t i o n , l i k e B r a d l e y ' s , remained constant, she d i d not experiment w i t h the p a i n t . B r a d l e y and A n i t a adopted two c o n t r a s t i n g approaches: one spontaneous and i n s t i n c t i v e , the other i n v o l v i n g the c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n of go a l s and me t h o d i c a l steps t o achieve the g o a l s . For these students, both the involvement i n the exp e r i e n c e of p a i n t i n g and the appearance of t h e i r masks were n o v e l and s i g n i f i c a n t , and were c o n s i s t e n t w i t h the r e f o r m u l a t e d Weisberg d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y developed i n Chapter I I . 77 C o g n i t i v e Mapping o f t h e Performance I n t r o d u c t i o n C o g n i t i v e mapping was used i n t h i s study as an a n a l y t i c t o o l f o r i n v e s t i g a t i n g and d e p i c t i n g the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' u n d e r s t a n d i n g ( c o g n i t i v e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ) of the performance space, the sequence of movements comp r i s i n g the choreographies, and a l l knowledge and k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s i n v o l v e d i n the above. Because we cannot look d i r e c t l y i n t o the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' heads t o see how they v i s u a l i z e or r e p r e s e n t themselves moving i n the performance space and because of the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' l i m i t e d a r t i c u l a t e n e s s , I have i s o l a t e d f o u r b e h a v i o u r a l c a t e g o r i e s which h e l p t o i n d i c a t e the content of t h e i r c o g n i t i v e maps. F i r s t l y , I w i l l i s o l a t e events which p o i n t out the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o n c e p t i o n of the \"stage\" and d i s c u s s i n s t a n c e s t h a t l e d t o t h e i r changing i n i t i a l c o n c e p t i o n s o f the \"stage.\" Secondly, I w i l l d i s c u s s the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' adjustments, as they i n c o r p o r a t e the conventions o f mask t h e a t r e (such as f a c i n g the audience) i n t o t h e i r c o g n i t i v e maps of the performance. I w i l l d i s c u s s evidence o f the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' s p a t i a l awareness i n a choreography. T h i r d l y , I w i l l d i s c u s s evidence showing t h a t h a b i t u a l , \"everyday\" ways of c o n v e r s i n g and i n t e r a c t i n g may i n t e r f e r e w i t h conventions o f mask t h e a t r e . T h i s i n t e r f e r e n c e i s evidence of the o p e r a t i o n of two kinds o f memory: c o g n i t i v e and k i n e s t h e t i c . F o u r t h l y , I w i l l d i s c u s s evidence o f the 78 p a r t i c i p a n t s ' a c q u i s i t i o n o f knowledge about and k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s o f the sequence of movements, which are bound i n t o t h e i r c o g n i t i v e maps of the performance. Through these f o u r i n d i c a t o r s o f the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o g n i t i v e mapping of the performance, I w i l l d i s c u s s how c r e a t i v i t y i s i n v o l v e d i n those n o v e l ways by which students t r a n s f o r m the movement sequences of the c h o r e o g r a p h i e s . P a r t i c i p a n t s ' Conception of xStage' Because the a c t u a l stage at R i v e r v i e w School was a v a i l a b l e f o r on l y the l a s t two r e h e a r s a l s e s s i o n s , desks were c l e a r e d from the c e n t r e of the classroom, and a performance area was demarcated. The f r o n t o f the stage (downstage) and the e x i t s were d e f i n e d t o correspond t o the dimensions of the a c t u a l stage i n the gymnasium. The performance s c r i p t s c a l l e d f o r the p a r t i c i p a n t s t o e n t e r and e x i t many times. By l o o k i n g at where they e n t e r and e x i t and at the t i m i n g of t h e i r entrances and e x i t s (through a p r o g r e s s i o n of s e v e r a l r e h e a r s a l s ) , a f e a t u r e of the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' ^ c o g n i t i v e maps' can be d e p i c t e d . A f t e r changing the classroom i n t o our \"stage\" and d e f i n i n g the bo r d e r s , we d e c i d e d on the be s t p l a c e s f o r each c h a r a c t e r t o e n t e r and e x i t . In r e v i e w i n g the data I found t h a t the p a r t i c i p a n t s were ab l e to. d e t a i l the events of the n a r r a t i v e and t e l l me the l o c a t i o n s o f t h e i r e ntrances and e x i t s (when asked), but d i d not always perform so. When \" i n c h a r a c t e r \" they would o f t e n become q u i t e e x c i t e d . I t was as 7 9 i f the commitment t o t h e i r c h a r a c t e r s took them o u t s i d e the boundaries of t h e i r c o g n i t i v e maps of the stage. During the e a r l y r e h e a r s a l s , I had t o remind them t o stay on the \"stage.\" We i m p r o v i s e d a chase scene which meandered through the classroom. B r a d l e y as a f i s h , d i d a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n t o a \"merman\" o f f the (demarcated) stage i n the classroom. The l a s t two r e h e a r s a l s and the f i n a l performance took p l a c e on the stage. In r e v i e w i n g the v i d e o tapes I saw t h a t the l o c a t i o n s on the stage, where s p e c i f i c movements were performed, were s i m i l a r d u r i n g those l a s t two r e h e a r s a l s and the f i n a l performance. The energy and excitement put i n t o the movements was a m p l i f i e d f o r the f i n a l performance. Another i n t e r e s t i n g source of data came from l o o k i n g at how s u b s t i t u t e student a c t o r s performed f o r students who were absent. During the l a s t f i v e r e h e a r s a l s , s u b s t i t u t e s seemed t o know the b l o c k i n g o f the o t h e r s ' p a r t s , but they had problems g i v i n g movements and g e s t u r e s those s p e c i f i c q u a l i t i e s t h a t the u s u a l performer had d i s c o v e r e d . Movement sequences were more r e a d i l y absorbed i n t o t h e i r c o g n i t i v e maps than the k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s t h a t were welded t o the movement. I t i s the d i s c o v e r y of the q u a l i t i e s and s e n s i t i v i t i e s o f an event t h a t l e n d the movements communicative or e x p r e s s i v e v a l u e . One's d i s c o v e r y o f movement q u a l i t y a i d s r e t e n t i o n of the choreography of the event. 80 Conventions of Mask Theatre and 'Everyday' S o c i a l S p a t i a l Arrangements Some of the conventions used i n mask t h e a t r e c o n f l i c t e d w i t h the s t u d e n t s ' h a b i t s o f p o s i t i o n i n g themselves i n 'everyday' c o n v e r s a t i o n s . In order t o d e s c r i b e t h i s c o n f l i c t , I w i l l f i r s t d e s c r i b e the c o n v e r s a t i o n c o n v e n t i o n used i n mask t h e a t r e and then compare i t t o f i e l d o b s e r v a t i o n s of the p a r t i c i p a n t s s t r u g g l i n g w i t h t h i s c o n v e n t i o n . In mask t h e a t r e , p h y s i c a l movements are used t o e s t a b l i s h c h a r a c t e r s , d e p i c t t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p s , and t e l l the s t o r y . An important technique i n u s i n g masks i n v o l v e s b r i n g i n g the energy from the body through the mask, p a r t i c u l a r l y through the eyes, and t o the audience. I r e f e r t o t h i s as \" p r o j e c t i n g \" through the mask. The audience members must see the mask i n order t o experi e n c e the \"energy\" o f the c h a r a c t e r . An important p a r t of p r o j e c t i n g i n v o l v e s the performer d i r e c t i n g or a n g l i n g the mask towards the audience. The masked performer does not always f a c e directly towards the audience i n every movement. For example, when two c h a r a c t e r s are \" c o n v e r s i n g \" s i d e by s i d e , they both w i l l angle t h e i r heads s l i g h t l y towards each other, and angle t h e i r bodies n e a r l y d i r e c t l y towards each o t h e r . T h i s i s one conv e n t i o n o f mask t h e a t r e which I in t e n d e d t o te a c h Ms. A i n s l e y ' s s t u d e n t s . T h i s convention i 81 i s c o n t r a r y t o our \"everyday h a b i t \" of f a c i n g the person w i t h whom we are c o n v e r s i n g . In the r e h e a r s a l s and i n the a c t u a l performance, n a r r a t o r s s i t u a t e d at the s i d e o f the stage read the t e x t and d i a l o g u e o f t h e i r s t o r i e s . As the d i a l o g u e was read, the c h a r a c t e r s a c t i n g out the c o n v e r s a t i o n g e s t u r e d and moved t h e i r heads as i f they r e a l l y were speaking. In r e h e a r s a l I demonstrated the c o n v e r s a t i o n c o n v e n t i o n of mask t h e a t r e . In a d d i t i o n , w h i l e they were p r a c t i c i n g the performance, I c a l l e d out \"face the audience\" or \"audience\". S e v e r a l times I h a l t e d the r e h e a r s a l t o make sure t h a t everyone knew about the con v e n t i o n . A l l the p a r t i c i p a n t s c o u l d r e c i t e both the stage d i r e c t i o n s and the the c o n v e r s a t i o n c o n v e n t i o n . For a few moments a f t e r my reminder, they adopted the convention, but then soon r e t u r n e d t o the h a b i t of f a c i n g one another. In onl y a few i n s t a n c e s were the students a b l e t o overcome t h e i r h a b i t o f f a c i n g the person w i t h whom they were c o n v e r s i n g and p r o j e c t the energy of the c o n v e r s a t i o n through t h e i r masks. T h i s i s r e l e v a n t t o the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o g n i t i v e maps of the performance because they were ab l e t o d e s c r i b e the convention, but i n pe r f o r m a n c e , g e n e r a l l y , r e v e r t e d t o t h e i r everyday h a b i t s of c o n v e r s i n g . C o g n i t i v e and k i n e s t h e t i c memory do not c o i n c i d e . In most other a c t i o n s of the performance, b e s i d e s c o n v e r s i n g , the students demonstrated the conve n t i o n of 82 p r o j e c t i n g t o the audience. For example, when Jay and Dan paddled the canoe, when Jay c a s t the net, and when Jay was p u l l e d i n t o the water, the convention was used. When Br a d l e y as the Merman began t a l k i n g t o Jay, Jay t u r n e d t o face him. A s i m i l a r p a t t e r n was f o l l o w e d when George as the e v i l s o r c e r e r c r e p t up on Li n d a , the maiden. F a c i n g the audience, L i n d a p i c k e d b e r r i e s . George moved downstage, \" h i d i n g behind rocks and t r e e s \" , f a c i n g the audience. As soon as the s o r c e r e r \"spoke\" t o the maiden, they t u r n e d towards each o t h e r . The conventions o f mask t h e a t r e compete wi t h h a b i t u a l ways of i n t e r a c t i n g . In g e n e r a l , the students d i d not demonstrate t h a t they c o u l d overcome h a b i t u a l ways of i n t e r a c t i n g i n c o n v e r s a t i o n and adopt the co n v e n t i o n . However, when the movement d i d not i n v o l v e i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h another c h a r a c t e r , the p a r t i c i p a n t s had l i t t l e d i f f i c u l t y d emonstrating the convention o f p r o j e c t i n g t o the audience. Since students knew what the convention was (oft e n , p a r t i c i p a n t s would remind t h e i r f e l l o w students when they n o t i c e d t h a t they were not p r o j e c t i n g t o the aud i e n c e ) , i t i s apparent t h a t the knowledge about f a c i n g the audience at s p e c i f i e d p o i n t s i n the performance was p a r t o f t h e i r c o g n i t i v e map of the performance. In a d d i t i o n , t h e i r drawings of a performance image d e p i c t the c h a r a c t e r s f a c i n g I d i r e c t l y towards the viewer. Since they g e n e r a l l y d i d not 83 demonstrate the convention d u r i n g the c o n v e r s a t i o n sequences, the p a r t i c i p a n t s . l a c k e d the awareness of the p o s i t i o n of t h e i r b o d ies i n r e l a t i o n t o the stage ( e x p r o p r i o c e p t i v e s p a t i a l coding) at those times. During the c o n v e r s a t i o n sequences, i n s t e a d of c o n c e n t r a t i n g on t h e i r p o s i t i o n s , they focused on making g e s t u r e s and moving t h e i r heads i n a manner t h a t would make i t seem t h a t they were s a y i n g what the n a r r a t o r s were i n f a c t s a y i n g . T h i s example shows t h a t the students do not v i s u a l i z e themselves moving from the p e r s p e c t i v e of o t h e r s on the stage. F u r t h e r , evidence f o r t h i s can be seen and heard i n the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' r e a c t i o n s and comments as they watched a v i d e o tape of themselves doing the f i n a l performance: \"I d i d n ' t know I was moving so f a s t . \" \"Yuk.\" \"Was I p a d d l i n g l i k e t h a t ? \" S p a t i a l Awareness and K i n e s t h e t i c Memory The \"C y c l e of L i f e \" choreography i s a sequence of movements i n which the p a r t i c i p a n t s take on the a b s t r a c t q u a l i t i e s of growth and decay. Since they are not a c t i n g or moving as r e a l humans, t h e r e i s no e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t they r e s o r t t o h a b i t u a l conventions of s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n , as i s the case when they p l a y the c h a r a c t e r s from t h e i r s t o r i e s . The \"Cycle of L i f e \" choreography i n v o l v e s e x p r o p r i o c e p t i v e coding ( r e l a t i n g the p o s i t i o n of the body to the environment). I t i n v o l v e s a more complex s e r i e s of movements than c o n v e r s i n g . 84 During the f o u r t h s e s s i o n , i n which the \" C y c l e of L i f e \" choreography was p r a c t i c e d , I i n s t r u c t e d the students t o c l o s e t h e i r eyes w h i l e c o n t i n u i n g the same rhythm and movement, whenever I c l a p p e d my hands. I asked them to l i s t e n f o r and sense the p o s i t i o n s of the o t h e r s . T h i s way no one would be stepped on. The second time I c l a p p e d my hands they c o u l d open t h e i r eyes. I observed t h a t not everyone would keep t h e i r eyes c l o s e d f o r more than f i v e or t e n seconds. S e v e r a l times, I reminded them t o keep t h e i r eyes c l o s e d . A f t e r , s e v e r a l attempts, the p a r t i c i p a n t s were abl e t o keep t h e i r eyes c l o s e d . I d e l a y e d my second c l a p of the hands and extended the p e r i o d s of time which they had t o r e l y on t h e i r senses other than s i g h t , and p o s s i b l y t h e i r k i n e s t h e t i c memories. E v e n t u a l l y they c o u l d keep our p e r p e t u a l motion moving unimpeded f o r t e n seconds. The f a c t t h a t they l e a r n e d t o m a i n t a i n the constant rhythm and p r o g r e s s \" s i g h t l e s s \" through the choreography i s evidence of the complexity of the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o g n i t i v e maps. P a r t i c i p a n t s ' C r e a t i v e C o n t r i b u t i o n s : Transforming K i n e s t h e t i c Movements The s t u d e n t s ' c o g n i t i v e maps of the performance c o n t a i n knowledge and k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s t h a t are the outcomes of many of the p r e l i m i n a r y e x e r c i s e s d e s c r i b e d i n Chapter I I I . THe k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s r e p r e s e n t the s t u dents' c r e a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s . T h e i r p a s t e x p e r i e n c e s and i n d i v i d u a l approaches i n the i m p r o v i s a t i o n s l e d ' t o 85 outcomes t h a t are both n o v e l and s i g n i f i c a n t t o the i n d i v i d u a l . The students l e a r n e d the movements which t o l d the s t o r y . By v i r t u e of t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the n e u t r a l mask and i m p r o v i s a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s , t h e i r movements showed g r e a t e r s e n s i t i v i t y t o the task, and a sense of q u a l i t a t i v e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n t h a t c o u l d be c a l l e d a r t i s t i c e x p r e s s i o n . They drew not only from t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n these e x e r c i s e s , but a l s o from t h e i r p e r s o n a l r e s o u r c e s and e x p e r i e n c e i n t r a n s f o r m i n g the sequence of movements i n t o an a r t i s t i c e x p r e s s i o n . T h e i r commitment and enthusiasm a l s o c o n t r i b u t e d t o the movements. Herein, l i e s the c r e a t i v e element f o r the student. Below I d e s c r i b e t h r e e cases i n which students developed n o v e l k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s . The \"Water Beings\", the legend which we adapted f o r the performance, c o n t a i n s an i n c i d e n t i n which a fisherman f a l l s i n t o the water. A magic f i s h g i v e s the fisherman the power to breathe underwater. Sean worked on h i s own i n a c o r n e r of the room. I c o u l d see by h i s shaking hands and l e g s t h a t he was ( p o r t r a y i n g a) drowning. A f t e r a minute of t h i s shaking, he gasped. His movements calmed. He f l o a t e d . The gasp p r o v i d e d the p e r f e c t t r a n s i t i o n between the p a n i c of the drowning and the calm of l e a r n i n g how t o breathe underwater. The s p e c i f i c q u a l i t i e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the drowning and the calm of the magic moment of l e a r n i n g t o breathe underwater were a l s o developed d u r i n g s p e c i f i c i i e x e r c i s e s d u r i n g the p r e l i m i n a r y s t a g e s . The shaking d u r i n g 86 the p o r t r a y a l of the drowning was s i m i l a r t o the movement expressed d u r i n g the \" f i r e \" e x e r c i s e . The r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s s e n s i t i z e d the students t o the use of b r e a t h as a dramatic element. The calm q u a l i t y had been developed through the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s . Sean's c r e a t i v i t y can be seen i n the n o v e l way these q u a l i t i e s and movements were amalgamated t o f i t the dramatic s i t u a t i o n . In t h i s second i n s t a n c e the student l e n t a sequence of movements a dream-like q u a l i t y . Here, the student not o n l y found the movement, but added t o the p l o t of the s t o r y , so t h a t the movements c o u l d be used. B r a d l e y , L i n d a , and M o l l y were watching from the s i d e of the performance area. I was working w i t h George on a k i d n a p p i n g sequence. The s t u d e n t s ' s c r i p t c a l l e d f o r George's c h a r a c t e r , Majeawea, t o sneak up on L i n d a ' s c h a r a c t e r and drag her away. B r a d l e y made a l o u d \"burping\" sound v e r y c l o s e t o L i n d a . L i n d a pretended t o f a i n t . When she p u l l e d h e r s e l f o f f the f l o o r she suggested t h a t Majeawea c o u l d make her f a i n t . B r a d l e y suggested he c o u l d g i v e her a magic p o t i o n . L i n d a t r i e d t a k i n g the magic p o t i o n . She pretended t o pour i t down her t h r o a t . Her l e g s s t a r t e d s h aking. The shaking rose up her body t o her head and she f e l l over. I t had looked as i f the p o i s o n had gone s t r a i g h t t o her f e e t and then had r i s e n up her body. In t h i s i n c i d e n t the i n s p i r a t i o n f o r the student's c r e a t i v i t y came out of \"non-purposeful p l a y . \" She was not l o o k i n g f o r a way 87 to change an element from the p l o t . An addition to the p l o t was made to accommodate a new expression. In post-performance interviews, several students sa i d that the \"way Bradley did the f i s h was the most creative\" contribution to the performance. In contrast to the above examples, where movements were invented, Bradley's c r e a t i v i t y could be seen i n the q u a l i t y he gave the movement. The f i s h was a large f a b r i c sculpture which t o t a l l y covered his body. It had a long t a i l which was moved by extending the l e f t arm into the t a i l . The eyes were manipulated with the right arm. Bradley's r i g h t hand moved the f i s h ' s l e f t eye, his right elbow moved the f i s h ' s r i g h t eye. This technique for playing the f i s h was my invention. The languid, watery movement was Bradley's creation. That i s not to say that the \"idea\" of watery movement was his creation. The c r e a t i v i t y was the movement i t s e l f . The consistent, watery movement gave the impression that the f i s h was f l o a t i n g . The consistency of the movement evidenced Bradley's commitment to the image of the f i s h i n the water. Bradley's c r e a t i v i t y was i n the q u a l i t y of and the commitment to the movement. His k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t y towards the languid movement was brought into his cognitive map of the performance. l Summary of Cognitive Mapping and Kinesthetic Expression The conception of cognitive mapping developed by Downs & Stea (1978) proved useful i n analyzing the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' 88 k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s . F i r s t , the technique o f c o g n i t i v e mapping was used t o analyze how the p a r t i c i p a n t s d e f i n e d ( s p a t i a l l y ) the \"stage.\" I d e s c r i b e d the \"Cycl e o f the Sea\" choreography t o p o i n t out t h a t c o g n i t i v e maps contain d e t a i l e d memories of the p o s i t i o n s o f the body p a r t s (limbs) i n r e l a t i o n t o each other, the other performers, and the space. F i e l d o b s e r v a t i o n s reviewed i n t h i s s e c t i o n suggest t h a t M i l l a r ' s t h r e e types o f s p a t i a l codings ( e x t e r i o c e p t i v e , p r o p r i o c e p t i v e , e x p r o p r i o c e p t i v e ) may be expanded t o i n c l u d e the performers' k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s i t i v i t i e s as they l e n d s p e c i f i c q u a l i t i e s t o t h e i r movements. Next, I d i s c u s s e d how the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o g n i t i v e maps of a \"normal c o n v e r s a t i o n \" i n t e r f e r e d w i t h the c o g n i t i v e map of a c o n v e r s a t i o n between the masked c h a r a c t e r s . F i n a l l y , I d e s c r i b e d examples i n which the stu d e n t s ' c o g n i t i v e maps o f movement sequences were transf o r m e d i m a g i n a t i v e l y as they welded s p e c i f i c q u a l i t i e s i n t o the movement sequences. The a n a l y t i c t echnique o f c o g n i t i v e mapping was u s e f u l i n l o o k i n g at the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' memories of the movements. The p a r t i c i p a n t s ' i m a g i n a t i o n s t r a n s f o r m e d movement sequences. I t would be u s e f u l at t h i s time t o d i s c u s s a s p e c t s of the working environment and i n t e r a c t i o n a l i s s u e s t h a t support i m a g i n a t i o n . 89 S o c i a l I n t e r a c t i o n i n t h e R e h e a r s a l S i t u a t i o n I n t r o d u c t i o n : S o c i a l E x p e c t a t i o n s of the Rehearsal S i t u a t i o n A c t o r s and dancers who are accustomed t o r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n s f o l l o w unspoken norms and e x p e c t a t i o n s of b e h a v i o u r . During the a c t i v i t i e s i n v o l v e d i n the p r e s e n t study s t u d e n t s ' behaviour was i n f l u e n c e d by t h e i r c o n c e p t i o n of a r e h e a r s a l . The r u l e s of the r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n enable the performers t o complete the p l a y , as w e l l as m a i n t a i n and p r a c t i c e t e c h n i q u e . A comprehensive l i s t o f the norms and e x p e c t a t i o n s s u r r o u n d i n g a r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n i s o u t s i d e the scope of t h i s study. I w i l l g i v e a few examples of a d u l t e x p e c t a t i o n s i n the r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n because they are r e l e v a n t t o the ways Ms. A i n s l e y and I a c t e d towards the students i n the r e h e a r s a l s . A d u l t Conceptions of Rehearsal A d u l t a c t o r s have been s o c i a l i z e d t o behave a c c o r d i n g t o the norms and e x p e c t a t i o n s of the r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n . W i t h i n a r e h e a r s a l , performers p a r t i c i p a t e i n a d i v e r s i t y of a c t i v i t i e s i n c l u d i n g warm-up, i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , l e a r n i n g choreography, c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n and c o n c e n t r a t i o n e x e r c i s e s . The e x p e c t a t i o n s and the norms of behaviour vary from a c t i v i t y t o a c t i v i t y . During a group warm-up performers do not t a l k ; they might look at each o t h e r . During i m p r o v i s a t i o n s performers are spontaneous, o f t e n p l a y f u l , and are c o g n i z a n t of the o t h e r s i n t h e i r group. On the . other hand, c o n c e n t r a t i o n e x e r c i s e s demand t h a t the 90 performers m a i n t a i n an i n t e r n a l focus and c l o s e o f f the p o s s i b i l i t y of i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h o t h e r s . Other a d u l t conceptions about the nature of the e x p r e s s i v e p r o d u c t i o n s r e v o l v e around how a d i r e c t o r phrases comments t o the a c t o r about h i s or her work. Rather than t a l k i n g about the a c t o r doing the ' r i g h t ' t h i n g or the 'wrong' t h i n g i n an i m p r o v i s a t i o n , a c t o r s t a l k about 'making c h o i c e s . ' The o v e r r i d i n g q u e s t i o n i s : How can the a c t o r s ' c h o i c e s c o n t r i b u t e t o the audience's exper i e n c e of the p l a y ? In l i g h t of the agreed upon i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the p l a y , the a c t o r ' s c h o i c e s are a d j u s t e d , r a t h e r than c o r r e c t e d . A d u l t Versus C h i l d r e n ' s D e f i n i t i o n s of R e h e a r s a l and P l a y Seeing the r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s i n r e l a t i o n t o the f i n a l g o a l s i s a s i g n i f i c a n t p a r t of the d a i l y work of an a c t o r . On the o t h e r hand, the p a r t i c i p a n t s o f t e n p e r c e i v e d t e c h n i q u e s such as i m p r o v i s a t i o n as a means t o p l e a s e a d u l t s . The r u l e s t h a t s t r u c t u r e i m p r o v i s a t i o n s were seen as a b s o l u t e s passed down from the a d u l t world. In s c h o o l , s t u d e n t s ' e x p r e s s i v e images are too o f t e n seen i n terms of r i g h t or wrong. Students are accustomed t o h a v i n g t h e i r work \" c o r r e c t e d . \" The t e a c h e r does not \" a d j u s t \" t h e i r work. The c h i l d ' s world i s f i l l e d w i t h r i g h t s and wrongs s p e c i f y i n g d e t a i l s from which i s the \"up\" s t a i r w a y to when you can use the p e n c i l sharpener. Much of t h e i r day i s spent t r y i n g t o uncover what the r u l e s are. They o f t e n assume t h e r e must be a r i g h t way and a wrong way 91 t o make c h o i c e s i n an e x p r e s s i v e s i t u a t i o n such as occurs i n an improvis at i on. For example, when I asked George t o repeat the mime sequence o f p o u r i n g a magic p o t i o n and h i d i n g behind an imaginary t r e e , he repeated the movement s e v e r a l times. Then s i l e n t t e a r s streamed down h i s f a c e . S e v e r a l weeks l a t e r when I asked him why he become unhappy on t h a t o c c a s i o n , he answered, \"because I c o u l d n ' t do i t r i g h t . \" In r e t r o s p e c t , I r e c a l l e d a s k i n g him t o repeat the movement because he added more d e t a i l each time and I was i n t e r e s t e d i n showing the o t h e r s how d e t a i l e d movement c o u l d make the a c t i o n of h i d i n g behind the t r e e seem so r e a l . George d i d not understand my assumptions about the purpose of the r e h e a r s a l s and became upset. He was extremely c o o p e r a t i v e t o have gone so f a r i n the a c t i v i t y . T h i s i s another i n s t a n c e of the s t u d e n t s ' v i e w i n g the r e h e a r s a l as a way of g e t t i n g t h i n g s r i g h t , w h i l e my a d u l t c o n c e p t i o n of the a c t o r ' s job holds t h a t r e p e t i t i o n can be enjoyed as a way t o enable a refinement of the a c t i o n . A d u l t Versus C h i l d r e n ' s D e f i n i t i o n s of Time When a choreography or b l o c k i n g scheme i s taught, i t i s expected t h a t those performers d i r e c t l y i n v o l v e d would ask f o r c l a r i f i c a t i o n s , or make su g g e s t i o n s , w h i l e those performers not i n v o l v e d watch the a c t i o n or work on o t h e r p a r t s of the p i e c e . A c t o r s might o f t e n repeat the same movement t h i r t y t i m e s. P r o f e s s i o n a l performers are aware of 92 how q u i c k l y r e h e a r s a l s can pass and t r y to u t i l i z e a l l the time a v a i l a b l e l e a r n i n g t h e i r p a r t s . D u r i n g the l a s t f i v e r e h e a r s a l s e s s i o n s , I asked students not d i r e c t l y i n v o l v e d t o work on t h e i r own or i n s m a l l groups on p a r t i c u l a r movements or images t h a t needed c l a r i f i c a t i o n . The students on the f r i n g e would repeat the movement one time, stop, b e g i n t o t a l k , or mix w i t h o t h e r groups who were presumably a l s o working on t h e i r own. What seemed l i k e l a c k of i n t e r e s t or f o o l i n g around, at f i r s t , was another u n d e r s t a n d i n g of what \"repeat the movement\" means. The students had not been s o c i a l i z e d i n t o what a d u l t s t h i n k of as \" e f f i c i e n t use of time.\" P l a y as Non-purposeful A c t i v i t y I wanted the p a r t i c i p a n t s t o have an o v e r a l l view of the p r o j e c t and understand i s s u e s such as how t h e i r s c u l p t i n g the mould f o r t h e i r mask would a f f e c t t h e i r v i s i o n or how l e a r n i n g t o r e l a x would h e l p them on the stage. I c a l l e d \"meetings\" t o e x p l a i n the p r o c e s s of work and the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between v a r i o u s e x e r c i s e s . At each meeting I o u t l i n e d what the next phase of our work would e n t a i l . G e n e r a l l y , the p a r t i c i p a n t s were not i n t e r e s t e d i n the r e a s o n i n g or j u s t i f i c a t i o n s behind the a c t i v i t i e s , as e videnced by t h e i r r e s t l e s s g l a n c e s toward the performance area or towards the mask making s u p p l i e s . They e a g e r l y a n t i c i p a t e d g e t t i n g t o work. Ms. A i n s l e y would c a l l out \"eyes,\" meaning t h a t they s h o u l d watch and pay a t t e n t i o n . 9 3 The problem s o l v i n g approach t o c r e a t i v i t y assumes c r e a t i v i t y i s p u r p o s e f u l : Student c h o i c e s are e v a l u a t e d i n terms of how the c h o i c e c o n t r i b u t e s t o a s o l u t i o n . C r e a t i v i t y t e s t s are made up of t a s k s and s o l u t i o n s . But i n t h i s study, much of the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t y was n o n - p u r p o s e f u l . The v a l u e of the a c t i v i t y was i n t r i n s i c t o the e x p r e s s i o n . D uring the f i f t h s e s s i o n the students s t a r t e d t o make masks. I demonstrated b r i e f l y each stage o f the mask making procedure t o g i v e them an overview, and then, i n some d e t a i l , I demonstrated the s c u l p t i n g of the p l a s t i c e n e t o make a mould. The p l a s t i c e n e was s t i f f and d i f f i c u l t f o r the students t o s c u l p t . I showed them how t o warm and s o f t e n i t by r o l l i n g i t i n t o s n a k e - l i k e forms. I suggested they \" p l a y \" w i t h the p l a s t i c e n e t o see what i n t e r e s t i n g shapes they c o u l d f i n d f o r the f e a t u r e s o f the f a c e . A f t e r a few moments, Ron hung a r o l l e d p i e c e o f p l a s t i c e n e from h i s nose and c a l l e d a t t e n t i o n t o i t . \"Look, a booger.\" A few minutes l a t e r Ron found another way t o make a p l a s t i c e n e \"booger\". Ms. A i n s l e y cut him o f f . \"O.K., t h a t ' s enough of t h a t . \" Swinging a snake-shaped p i e c e o f p l a s t i c e n e i n a f i g u r e e i g h t c o n f i g u r a t i o n , Sean c a l l e d out, \"I got nanchuks,\" (an o r i e n t a l weapon). i I 94 Dan took another snake-like shape and placed i t i n the mouth of his mask which he had already begun. He twisted the piece of plasticene and said, \"looks l i k e he's doing a tongue twister.\" Sean attached f i v e snake shaped pieces of plasticene on the ends of his fingers. \"Look at these f i n g e r s . \" Ms. Ainsley, n o t i c i n g his wormy fingers, scolded him mildly, \"he doesn't mean play l i k e that.\" I t o l d Sean the fingers were a good idea and we could t r y them with paper mache and chicken wire, another technique I had previously mentioned. The st r u c t u r i n g of l i m i t s to behaviour has implications for c r e a t i v i t y . As Maslow (1968) noted, play i s an important facet of c r e a t i v i t y . For the c h i l d play i s natural and spontaneous. It i s having fun. Educators, however, tend to see \"play\" as a purposeful a c t i v i t y . In the above example the adults and the children d i d not share the same conception of play. Ms Ainsley, i n rebuking Ron, indicated where the l i m i t s were to be set. Sean placed a wedged shaped piece of plasticene on top of the cardboard box that supported his mould. Chanting the suspense theme song from the f i l m \"Jaws\", Sean's mould emerged from under the table as he c r i e d \"shark.\" These seemingly off-task behaviours are not off-task i n the mind of the student. Their behaviours are a response to i my suggestion that they \"play\" with the plasticene to t r y to 95 discover i n t e r e s t i n g forms. Much of t h e i r play d i d lead to f a c i a l features that were incorporated into t h e i r masks. Pressing a slab of plasticene at the top of his mould Dan said, \"I'm gonna' give mine a mohawk.\" Later Dan t r i e d to get Bradley's attention, \"Bradley, \"Bradley! BRADLEY! I'm gonna give mine a huge nose. Aaaah Choooo!\" He made a sneezing sound as he caused his plasticene nose to fl o p o f f the mould. Having found out that boogers were unacceptable, Bradley t r i e d a \"sneeze.\" Ron, who had t r i e d dangling a plasticene \"booger\" from his nose e a r l i e r , t r i e d to see i f \"boogers\" for masks were acceptable. He s t u f f e d several plasticene b a l l s just below the nose on his mask. \"Look! My guy has boogers.\" This time Ms. Ainsley did not react. The l i m i t s , i t seems, could therefore be redrawn t h i s time around the r u l e : People cannot have boogers, but masks can. \"Play\" and Factors of C r e a t i v i t y The \"off-task,\" spontaneous, non-purposeful behaviours discussed above, p a r a l l e l the \"broad, unfocused attention\" that Tarver et. a l . claimed to be an aspect of the c r e a t i v i t y of learning disabled students (1980). The authors found that i n comparison to non-learning disabled groups of students, learning disabled students r e c a l l e d more information i n c i d e n t a l to tasks and less information central to the task. This unfocused attention was r e l a t e d to the \" o r i g i n a l i t y 1 1 or \"uniqueness\" factors of c r e a t i v i t y . In the 96 case of the students i n t h i s present study, t h e i r play was, at times, unrelated to the task as defined by the adults i n the s i t u a t i o n . In the following excerpt from my f i e l d notes recorded on May 15, 1989, eleven days before the f i n a l performance, one might see how \"unfocused attention\" might lead to \" o r i g i n a l i t y . \" The students were divided into four groups... I gave each group of students an assignment and a corner of the room . Linda, Anita, and George were to work on Majeawea sneaking up on Pelala, who was out p i c k i n g ber r i e s (from the \"Water Beings\"). Sean, Jay, and Bradley were to f i n d ways to make the t h i e f ' s t a l e of his arrest more i n t e r e s t i n g . I reminded them that according to our s c r i p t we had to see how the r i c h man was involved i n the arrest as a secretary for the emperor. I moved from group to group... I came back to Linda, Anita, and George. Linda and Anita were discussing a program for the show. Anita wanted the \"cast\" l i s t e d a l p h a b e t i c a l l y . Linda believed i t should be decided on the importance of the character to the story. \"Heroes and heroines should be f i r s t , then the bad guys.\" George sat q u i e t l y . . . I t o l d them I did not know what we would do about the program, but we should r e a l l y get to work. I asked them to show me what they had accomplished, b e l i e v i n g i t would not be much. I watched Linda make two grabs for imaginary 97 b e r r i e s . George s m i l e d and s t a l k e d L i n d a from b e h i n d an imaginary t r e e . On the other s i d e of the room, Sean, Jay, and B r a d l e y screamed and g i g g l e d . I was d i s t r a c t e d . B r a d l e y g a l l o p e d around w i t h Jay on h i s back, bumped i n t o some desks, and stumbled between Ralph and Dan. I approached Bradley, who t o l d me, \"the t h i e f i s e s c a p i n g . \" ( T h e i r o r i g i n a l s c r i p t c a l l e d f o r the t h i e f t o be thrown i n j a i l without a t r i a l . ) I brought the groups t o g e t h e r t o share t h e i r d i s c o v e r i e s . . . L i n d a p i c k e d b e r r i e s as George moved from t r e e t o t r e e . He peered between branches. The o t h e r s applauded. Ron's grouped wanted t o go l a s t . Sean and B r a d l e y l i f t e d Jay from under the armpits and t o s s e d him i n p r i s o n . Jay made a c o n v i n c i n g grab at imaginary b a r s . There was n o t h i n g i n t h i s p o r t r a y a l , which resembled t h e i r e a r l i e r escape scene. The above d e s c r i p t i o n i s t y p i c a l of many i n s t a n c e s , i n which the p a r t i c i p a n t s , w h i l e attempting t o work w i t h i n a group, would d r i f t o f f an a s s i g n e d t a s k . However, when I asked them t o perform f o r each other, they demonstrated an u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the t a s k and f i t t i n g s o l u t i o n s t o performance problems. On the i n d i v i d u a l t a s k of mask making, many students ] I worked w i t h i n the l i m i t a t i o n s of the t a s k as d e f i n e d by the a d u l t s . We can see t h a t i n the work of George, A n i t a , I 98 Molly, and Anne Marie. In addition, these students a l l demonstrated unique work processes. George motioned to his plasticene shape, \"Ms. Ainsley, I'm making•fire eyes.\" In one of the neutral mask exercises, George had expressed the energy of f i r e i n an improvisation e a r l i e r that day and brought the image of f i r e into his mask. As he looked up at Ms. Ainsley, his own eyes were bulging out i n a convincing mime of his plasticene creation. George \"made faces\", pursing his mouth to the side, bulging his eyes, and then t r i e d to imitate i t i n his mask. With each student working on t h e i r own mask, the p l a y f u l atmosphere encouraged a wide v a r i e t y of shapes and forms. The objective of t h i s afternoon of work was to produce a mould for the mask. Most of the students t r i e d several solutions. This experimentation with the plasticene p a r a l l e l s \"divergent thinking,\" (Torrance, 1962) and involves v i s u a l and kinesthetic modes of expression besides the cognitive. The previous discussion h i g h l i g h t s the strong focus and spontaneity of the students' play. At other times, adult expectations about f i n i s h i n g the show or learning technique r e s t r i c t e d spontaneity, as can be seen i n the following i ! discussion. 99 S o c i a l i z a t i o n of the Participants and the Adult Conception of Rehearsal In the examples of play described i n the previous sections, students were t r y i n g to f i n d out what the l i m i t s to t h e i r behaviour might be. The adults objected to \"boogers,\" but ignored the \"sneeze.\" \"Sneezes\" were acceptable. During the mask making sessions, i t was easier to accept these \"off-task\" behaviours. However, i n a rehearsal, competing d e f i n i t i o n s of behaviour would be di s r u p t i v e . This i s evident i n the following f i e l d notes entry describing an instance from the \" c i r c l e story.\" As noted previously, during early attempts at a \" c i r c l e story\", the students exchanged i n s u l t s and interrupted each other. I had been tempted to stop them. Their expressions did not s u i t my d e f i n i t i o n of a story. Their treatment of one another would prevent any c r e a t i v i t y . Ms. Ainsley stopped them and reminded them of the rul e s . Their i n s u l t s were t e s t i n g the l i m i t s , and Ms. Ainsley made i t clear that they were stepping over the boundaries. On other occasions i n rehearsal, student behaviours, according to the \"adult\" d e f i n i t i o n of play i n a rehearsal, blocked progress. Wearing the f i s h costume, Bradley was t r y i n g to perform a transformation from the \"sturgeon\" to the \"merman\". He was'hanging out the mouth of the f i s h . 100 Dan p u l l e d h i s t a i l . S c o l d i n g , I t o l d the students t h a t an audience would be v i e w i n g \"our\" legend, and \"what you do now i s what the audience w i l l see.\" In a d u l t t h e a t r e the g o a l of p r e p a r i n g the show f o r the audience d e f i n e s our a c t i o n s d u r i n g r e h e a r s a l . As we s o c i a l i z e c h i l d r e n t o accept a d u l t b e h a v i o u r a l norms and e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r the r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n , we are a l s o d e f i n i n g l i m i t s of p l a y . Evidence f o r t h i s can be seen i n the student behaviours observed d u r i n g t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n two n e u t r a l mask e x e r c i s e s . A c h i e v i n g the o b j e c t i v e of embodying the elements of water and f i r e , (see Chapter I I I , n e u t r a l mask), demands an i n t e r n a l focus ( c o n c e n t r a t i o n on b r e a t h i n g ) . I i n s t r u c t e d the students t o \"become l i k e water... a l l o w every p a r t of your body t o move l i k e water, i n c l u d i n g h i p s , f e e t , f a c e , eyes.\" The f i r s t time the s tudents t r i e d t h i s , they mimed f l o a t i n g motions w i t h t h e i r arms, w h i l e t h e i r eyes wandered the room i n a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s manner as i f s e a r c h i n g f o r a f f i r m a t i o n . T r a i n e d a c t o r s l e a r n t o c o n c e n t r a t e on t h e i r own b e i n g and shut out o t h e r s . Many of the p a r t i c i p a n t s had not adopted t h i s b e haviour. I n i t i a l l y I i n t e r p r e t e d t h e i r eye r o v i n g , g r i n n i n g and s n i c k e r i n g as an o f f - t a s k or d i s r u p t i v e b ehaviour. A f t e r \" r e f l e c t i n g on the r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s , I was a b l e to r e - i n t e r p r e t these p e r c e i v e d o f f - t a s k behaviours as analogous t o b r i n g i n g a new c u l t u r e to the p a r t i c i p a n t s . 101 Teaching a r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s i s b r i n g i n g students i n t o an a l i e n c u l t u r e . Unspoken e x p e c t a t i o n s and norms surround the e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s . The s t r u c t u r i n g of the r e h e a r s a l a c t i v i t i e s , space and time g i v e s students the o p p o r t u n i t y t o l e a r n movement technique and t o use t h i s t e c h n i q u e i n t h e i r own e x p r e s s i o n s . As I began t o r e f l e c t on student understandings of the b e h a v i o u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s s u r r o u n d i n g the r e h e a r s a l s , I found t h a t the p r e l i m i n a r y a c t i v i t i e s and i m p r o v i s a t i o n s c o u l d become more e f f e c t i v e . For example, the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s were observed t o enhance the c o n t i n u e d flow of movement i n the \" C y c l e o f the Sea\" when the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' flowed from the r e l a x a t i o n warm-up i n t o the choreography. The s t r u c t u r i n g of the r e h e a r s a l s c o u l d e v o l v e i n r e l a t i o n t o the s t u d e n t s ' u n d e r s t a n d i n g of my e x p e c t a t i o n s of them. Summary At times, the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' • s o c i a l involvement w i t h t h e i r peers competed wi t h t h e i r focus on e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s . The p a r t i c i p a t i n g c h i l d r e n and a d u l t s had d i f f e r i n g and o f t e n competing d e f i n i t i o n s of a p p r o p r i a t e r e h e a r s a l behaviour. These d i f f e r i n g e x p e c t a t i o n s r e v o l v e d , f i r s t l y , around co n c e p t i o n s of p l a y . In t h e a t r e , a d u l t a c t o r s look at p l a y as a f e a t u r e of i m p r o v i s a t i o n , (which a c t o r s use t o the end of e x p l o r i n g performance images). For the student p a r t i c i p a n t s , p l a y was spontaneous, i n t r i n s i c a l l y v a l u a b l e , and n o n - p u r p o s e f u l . 102 For the students, r u l e s and b e h a v i o u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s had a b s o l u t e v a l u e , as d i d the c h o i c e s they made. The a d u l t s (Ms A i n s l e y and myself) saw the r u l e s and e x p e c t a t i o n s s u r r o u n d i n g the r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n i n r e l a t i o n t o the g o a l of p e r f o r m i n g the show. As seen i n the events d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s chapter, a d u l t s and c h i l d r e n had competing e x p e c t a t i o n s about the use of time i n r e h e a r s a l s . The p a r t i c i p a n t a d u l t s and c h i l d r e n had d i f f e r e n t u nderstandings about the nature of a e s t h e t i c c h o i c e s . Ms. A i n s l e y ' s students saw c h o i c e s i n terms of \" r i g h t \" and \"wrong\" and looked t o a d u l t s f o r a p p r o v a l . In a d d i t i o n t o s e e k i n g a p p r o v a l , a d u l t a c t o r s weigh s p e c i f i c c h o i c e s a c c o r d i n g t o c r i t e r i a which are chosen f o r the genre or p a r t i c u l a r work. C r i t e r i a e v o l v e i n the p r o c e s s o f the work. T h i s p r o p o s i t i o n has i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the comparisons of the d e f i n i t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y d i s c u s s e d i n Chapter I I . For the p a r t i c i p a t i n g students, c r e a t i v i t y was fun, spontaneous and i n v o l v e d the unsuspected. In the next s e c t i o n , the p a r t i c i p a n t s share t h e i r c o n c e p t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y and t h e i r e v a l u a t i o n s of the performance. Teachers' E v a l u a t i o n s o f the Performance The t e a c h e r s ' e v a l u a t i o n of the students' performance i s r e l e v a n t t o t h i s case study f o r two reasons. F i r s t , they p o i n t out i s s u e s and concerns r e l a t e d t o the outcomes of c r e a t i v i t y . Second, t h e i r p o s i t i v e e v a l u a t i o n has an impact on the s i g n i f i c a n c e of the performance f o r the p a r t i c i p a n t s . 103 T h e i r e v a l u a t i o n s can be arranged a c c o r d i n g t o f o u r themes: 1) p a r t i c i p a t i o n , 2) c o o p e r a t i o n , 3) esteem 4) hidden t a l e n t s . P a r t i c i p a t i o n Teachers remarked t h a t they were s u r p r i s e d t h a t some o f the students were ab l e t o perform on the stage i n f r o n t of the whole s c h o o l . Ms. A i n s l e y ' s l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students had been mainstreamed f o r s e v e r a l years i n a r t , music and p h y s i c a l e d u c a t i o n . The a r t t e a c h e r observed t h a t d e s p i t e mainstreaming, the l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students segregated themselves i n her c l a s s . Her remarks a l s o b e l i e d a f r u s t r a t i o n w i t h Ms A i n s l e y ' s c l a s s : \"I d e f i n i t e l y ( r e f e r r i n g t o the performance) was s u r p r i s e d by A n i t a , L i n d a and M o l l y , and Robin. Robin i s a n i c e boy, not l i k e some i n t h a t bunch. Very p o l i t e . They s t a y t o g e t h e r i n t h e i r l i t t l e groups and do not l i k e t o mix w i t h students from the other c l a s s e s . \" During many of the i n i t i a l r e h e a r s a l and i m p r o v i s a t i o n a l s e s s i o n s I found s i m i l a r p a r t i c i p a t i o n p a t t e r n s f o r A n i t a , Robin, and M o l l y . These students r a r e l y v o l u n t e e r e d . However, once p a r t s were assigned, M o l l y and Robin were happy t o have r o l e s i n the p r o d u c t i o n . A n i t a took a s m a l l p a r t and performed w e l l , s p u r r e d on by many of the oth e r s t u d e n t s ' prompts. No student ever r e f u s e d t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n any group e x e r c i s e . L i n d a , c o n t r a r y t o the a r t t e a c h e r ' s 104 o b s e r v a t i o n , f r e q u e n t l y v o l u n t e e r e d through a l l stages of the work. The a r t t e a c h e r emphasized the s i g n i f i c a n c e of the s t u d e n t s ' p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the f i n a l performance: \"Anne Marie has been coming t o my c l a s s f o r two years w i t h the r e g u l a r grade f i v e and s i x c l a s s e s . She seemed t o fade i n t o the w a l l . She always seemed so shy. You wouldn't t h i n k she'd be the type t o jump up i n f r o n t of the c l a s s , much l e s s the whole s c h o o l . \" For t e a c h e r s , g r e a t e r p a r t i c i p a t i o n was an important outcome of the s t u d e n t s ' involvement i n the performance. C o o p e r a t i o n The c l e a r e s t evidence of c o o p e r a t i o n ( d e s p i t e many f r u s t r a t i n g and seemingly c h a o t i c moments) came d u r i n g the f i n a l performance, when the students were ab l e t o complete the show without an a d u l t \"stage manager.\" The f a c t t h a t the students had the o p p o r t u n i t y t o do t h e i r own stage managing r e s u l t e d from an omission of my p a r t . (I never c o n s i d e r e d the n e c e s s i t y of having an a d u l t back stage.) For the f i n a l performance, I i n t r o d u c e d the two performance p i e c e s and promptly took my p l a c e behind the v i d e o camera at the r e a r of the gymnasium. On t h e i r own, the students were abl e t o make a l l t h e i r entrances and e x i t s on time. The t e a c h e r s , b e i n g f a m i l i a r w i t h the s t u d e n t s , were s u r p r i s e d at the s t u d e n t s ' a b i l i t y ( i n one t e a c h e r ' s words) \" t o c a r r y i o f f the performance without omni-present a d u l t s u p e r v i s i o n . \" 105 The a r t t e a c h e r d e s c r i b e d the degree of c o o p e r a t i o n she had observed i n one of the s t u d e n t s . \"I thought George d i d ver y w e l l i n the performance. The e v i l c h a r a c t e r s u i t e d him. He's an a g g r e s s i v e l i t t l e t h i n g . You know, I have t o send him out of my c l a s s every s i n g l e time. I don't know how many times he's been suspended (from school) f o r f i g h t i n g . They have no b u s i n e s s sending him t o my c l a s s . He's extremely d i s r u p t i v e . I don't go f o r t h i s mainstreaming. These ( l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d ) students, most of them, can't handle the p r e s s u r e o f mainstreaming. I don't have the time t o c o n s t a n t l y p o l i c e them.\" Ms. A i n s l e y had a d i f f e r e n t e x p l a n a t i o n f o r George's d i f f i c u l t y i n the a r t c l a s s : \"George i s a very s e n s i t i v e c h i l d . Whenever he's thr e a t e n e d , he l a s h e s out at the world....Mrs. Jones (the a r t teacher) i s p l a y i n g p o l i t i c s w i t h George. She j u s t doesn't want t o be bothered w i t h my s t u d e n t s . \" During the course of the r e h e a r s a l s George was extremely committed t o the work. In many of the e x e r c i s e s , he demonstrated exemplary c o n c e n t r a t i o n and produced d e t a i l e d movements. L i k e Ms. A i n s l e y , I observed George's s e n s i t i v e n a t u r e . During a r e h e a r s a l , George began t o c r y a f t e r I asked him t o repeat the same mime sequence s e v e r a l times. Even though he began t o cr y , he d i d not r e s i s t the a c t i v i t y . E vidence of George's c o o p e r a t i o n can be seen i n h i s c o n t i n u i n g as l o n g as he d i d . 1 0 6 The s t u d e n t s ' l e v e l o f c o o p e r a t i o n d u r i n g the f i n a l performance was not t y p i c a l . On one o c c a s i o n , Ms. A i n s l e y had been absent and a s u b s t i t u t e t e a c h e r had been w i t h the students a l l day. I a r r i v e d and s t r u g g l e d twenty minutes i n t r o d u c i n g the f i r s t a c t i v i t y . As I remark i n my f i e l d notes, \"while I was g i v i n g i n s t r u c t i o n s , many students would not stop t a l k i n g . I c a l l e d a meeting. I t h r e a t e n e d them. I f t h e i r behaviour d i d not change we would not be abl e t o do a performance. Anne Marie, who had been c o o p e r a t i v e anyway, prompted the ot h e r s t o p u l l together...Most of them c o n c e n t r a t e d on the r e h e a r s a l f o r t h i r t y minutes and then f o r g o t we ever had t h a t meeting\" and became d i s r u p t i v e a g a i n . T h e i r l e v e l o f c o o p e r a t i o n v a r i e d from h i g h on the day of the performance t o low the day Ms. A i n s l e y was absent. For t e a c h e r s , c o o p e r a t i o n among p a r t i c i p a n t s was an important outcome of the c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y , and I was made a c u t e l y aware of i t at times l i k e these, when i t was l a c k i n g . Esteem Teachers b e l i e v e d t h a t the s u c c e s s f u l performance w i t n e s s e d by the e n t i r e s c h o o l r a i s e d the esteem of the s p e c i a l needs students i n the eyes of t h e i r peers from other c l a s s e s . Teachers r e p o r t e d t h a t a stigma i s a t t a c h e d t o b e i n g a member of the s p e c i a l needs c l a s s e s . On the 107 playground they are r e f e r r e d t o as \" r e t a r d s \" , \"dummies\", and other derogatory names. The p a r t i c i p a n t s ' improved r e a d i n g , demonstrated by the c h i l d r e n who a c t e d as n a r r a t o r s demonstrated, h e l p e d overcome some of the stigma a t t a c h e d t o b e i n g a member of the l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d c l a s s . The p a r t i c i p a n t s ' s e l f esteem was r a i s e d by f e e l i n g t h a t others admired t h e i r r e a d i n g . The t e a c h e r s comments i n d i c a t e t h a t they were impressed by many stu d e n t s ' r e a d i n g . The n a r r a t i o n s , which the students wrote c o l l e c t i v e l y , were ty p e d and read d u r i n g r e h e a r s a l s and the f i n a l performance. During the e a r l i e r r e h e a r s a l s , the students read i n a monotone, stumbling through the t e x t d e s p i t e t h e i r h a v i n g c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h a t v e r y same t e x t i n the s t o r y c i r c l e . To h e l p them w i t h the r e a d i n g of the n a r r a t i o n s , I would choose one key phrase such as a l i n e from the \"Water Beings\" i n which one of the c h a r a c t e r s became e x c i t e d , \"Look, I see a f i s h , on the bottom, near the r o c k s . \" We would s t a r t by s a y i n g \"a f i s h , \" r e p e a t e d l y , becoming more and more e x c i t e d each time. Once the student had mastered t h a t phrase, I would move t o another. E v e n t u a l l y they began t o f i n d t h e i r own ways to c o l o u r the n a r r a t i o n s . For the f i n a l performance many of the students d i d c h a r a c t e r v o i c e s which c o n t r i b u t e d t o the suspense. What t e a c h e r s i n t e r p r e t e d as i improved r e a d i n g r e s u l t e d from i m p r o v i s a t i o n s and v o c a l 108 e x e r c i s e s . The performance a s p e c t s o f the n a r r a t i o n c o n t r i b u t e d t o the im p r e s s i o n t h a t these students were good r e a d e r s . Teachers b e l i e v e d t h a t the h i g h e r r e g a r d o f oth e r students towards the s p e c i a l needs students would have an impact on the s p e c i a l needs s t u d e n t s ' own s e l f concepts, (as would the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' view of t h e i r own achievements i n t h e i r performance work). T h i s can be seen i n the f o l l o w i n g i n c i d e n t s r e f l e c t i n g changed playground i n t e r a c t i o n a f t e r the performance. At l u n c h and at r e c e s s the s p e c i a l needs students n o r m a l l y s t a y e d t o g e t h e r i n groups w i t h t h e i r own classmates o n l y . Often when I a r r i v e d at the s c h o o l at the end o f the lunch hour or d u r i n g r e c e s s , I observed these groupings each time. I d i d not observe any of the s p e c i a l needs students mixing w i t h o t h e r students i n games or playground a c t i v i t i e s . I q u e s t i o n e d Ms. A i n s l e y about t h i s o b s e r v a t i o n . She b e l i e v e d the a t t i t u d e s o f the other students kept her s p e c i a l needs students from b e i n g accepted. T h i s was a l s o observed by Dan, one of Ms. A i n s l e y ' s s t u d e n t s . He n o t i c e d t h a t students from other c l a s s e s w i t h whom he p r e v i o u s l y had l i t t l e c o n t a c t , t a l k e d t o him about, the performance. By v i r t u e o f t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the performance, t e a c h e r s b e l i e v e d the esteem other students h e l d towards the performers was i n c r e a s e d . Mrs. Brown, a g e n e r a l grade f i v e 109 classroom t e a c h e r , t o l d me her s t u d e n t s ' v i e w i n g of the f i n a l performance sparked a d i s c u s s i o n about the s p e c i a l needs c l a s s ; they wanted t o know how s p e c i a l needs students were a s s i g n e d t o t h a t c l a s s and why they had the chance t o work on the performance. Mrs. Brown r e p o r t e d t h a t her students wanted the o p p o r t u n i t y t o produce a show. S e v e r a l students argued t h a t t h e r e was no d i f f e r e n c e between s p e c i a l needs students and o t h e r s t u d e n t s , and t h e r e f o r e , they a l l s h o u l d have equal o p p o r t u n i t i e s . Mrs. Smith, the a r t t e a c h e r , s a i d t h a t the s p e c i a l needs performers were \"bombarded by q u e s t i o n s from some r e g u l a r s t u d e n t s \" i n one of her c l a s s e s i n which s i x of Ms A i n s l e y ' s students had been mainstreamed. For the f i r s t time, a c c o r d i n g t o Mrs. Smith, the s p e c i a l students \" r e a l l y opened up i n a classroom d i s c u s s i o n . \" Hidden T a l e n t s Teachers commented t h a t the e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s i n c l u d e d i n our program h e l p e d them uncover t h e i r s t u d e n t s ' hidden t a l e n t s . Ms. A i n s l e y ' s u n d e r s t a n d i n g of c r e a t i v i t y changed i n the course of t h i s case study. During our f i r s t meeting Ms. A i n s l e y s t a t e d : \"I don't t h i n k my ( l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d ) students are c r e a t i v e . . . Maybe by p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n t h i s p r o j e c t I can see how they might become more c r e a t i v e . \" A f t e r the performance she t o l d me a l l the t e a c h e r s were r e a l l y impressed w i t h the performance. She a l s o admitted, \"at f i r s t I was a b i t dubious, even a week ago, I d i d n ' t 110 t h i n k we'd be able t o p u l l i t o f f . . . The k i d s r e a l l y came through i n the end... Next year I'm going t o t r y something l i k e t h i s on my own. I t g i v e s the k i d s a chance t o express themselves and i t b r i n g s out hidden t a l e n t s . \" Student Evaluations of the Performance C r e a t i v i t y i s Fun. In response t o my q u e s t i o n - \"What t o you t h i n k c r e a t i v i t y i s ? \" - the s t u d e n t s ' most common answer was \" f u n . \" When I asked them t o name some t h i n g s they d i d or o t h e r s d i d t h a t were c r e a t i v e , they t a l k e d about some of the masks or movements they had done. As d e t a i l e d below, the students b e l i e v e d t h a t something done w e l l , something they l i k e d , was c r e a t i v e . Dan and Jay both thought the way B r a d l e y moved as the A f i s h ' was c r e a t i v e : Jay exclaimed, \"you wouldn't t h i n k B r a d l e y c o u l d dance l i k e t h a t . \" Anne Marie l i k e d A n i t a ' s p o r t r a y a l of the xmonk'. L i n d a thought Anne Marie's mask was c r e a t i v e . None of the students made \" c r e a t i v i t y \" c l a i m s about t h e i r own masks. When I asked the students what they thought was t h e i r most important c r e a t i o n , s e v e r a l students answered r e t i c e n t l y . (Robin, George, Linda, and A n i t a d i d not know.) Other students mentioned i d e a s or n a r r a t i o n they c o n t r i b u t e d t o the performance. Sue, Ron, and B r a d l e y made b o l d e r c l a i m s : Sue s a i d t h a t her s t o r y about how the farmer became a t h i e f was her most important achievement. Ron l i k e d h i s i d e a about the f i s h I l l s a v i n g the c a p t u r e d g i r l i n the N a t i v e Indian legend t i t l e d the \"Water Bein g s . \" B r a d l e y thought h i s i d e a about the f i s h b i t i n g o f f the head of the e v i l s o r c e r e r \"made t h a t p l a y awesome.\" C o n t r i b u t i o n s t o the n a r r a t i v e and \" i d e a s \" were v a l u e d most. Commitment Throughout the r e h e a r s a l s e s s i o n s , a g r e a t d e a l o f time was spent o r g a n i z i n g the s t u d e n t s . While I coached s m a l l groups of students or i n d i v i d u a l s about s p e c i f i c performance q u a l i t i e s or elements, I observed t h a t o t h e r students d i d not s t a y on t h e i r a s s i g n e d t a s k s . O c c a s i o n a l l y , I had t o i n t e r r u p t coachings t o speak t o students about \"our r i g h t \" t o c o n c e n t r a t e on our own work. As the performance date approached, the stu d e n t s ' m o t i v a t i o n t o s t a y on t a s k i n c r e a s e d and was o f t e n supported by peer prompting. Anne Marie and, at times, other students d i r e c t e d t h e i r p e e r s : \"Bradley, don't f o o l around.\" She o f t e n paraphrased my own words: \"Come on everyone, l e t ' s c o n c e n t r a t e . \" \"You're f o r g e t t i n g the audience...Audience! Audience!\" S e v e r a l students such as Jay, Sean, Br a d l e y , and George v o l u n t e e r e d f o r n e a r l y every e x e r c i s e or t a s k . Often, they waved t h e i r hands i n my face and jumped up and down t o be chosen f i r s t . To choose o t h e r students, who had d i f f e r e n t t a c t i c s f o r g e t t i n g my a t t e n t i o n , l i k e r a i s i n g t h e i r hands, I would t e l l them, \"I w i l l c a l l on those people who s i t q u i e t l y and r a i s e t h e i r hand.\" 112 Performance A s p i r a t i o n s In t h i s i n v e s t i g a t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y I was i n t e r e s t e d i n changes i n the p a r t i c i p a n t s through the *peak e x p e r i e n c e ' of e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t y . The s t u d e n t s ' own comments r e f l e c t t h i s c o n c e p t i o n about t h e i r performance a s p i r a t i o n s . D u r i n g i n t e r v i e w s , B r a d l e y , Dan, and Ron a l l s a i d they would l i k e t o t r y doing shows when they got o l d e r . I asked them i f they had ever thought of i t b e f o r e . They had not. F i v e days a f t e r the performance had been shown t o the e n t i r e s c h o o l p o p u l a t i o n , Dan r e l a t e d h i s doubts about the performance: \"I d i d n ' t t h i n k i t would get done. A few days b e f o r e we d i d i t , i t stunk. I d i d n ' t t h i n k i t would be any good. I thought everyone would hate i t . But they l i k e d i t . \" I asked Dan: \"Do students from o t h e r c l a s s e s ask you any q u e s t i o n s about i t ? \" \"Yeah... \" l i k e how come we got t o do i t and who made the masks and... and how long d i d i t t a k e ? \" I asked Dan: \"Do you o f t e n t a l k t o these s t u d e n t s ? \" \"No. Not even a l o n g time ago. But now they t h i n k the show was p r e t t y c o o l . \" I asked Sue: what her f a v o r i t e t h i n g s about the p r o j e c t were? \"Hearing my s t o r y . \" \"Your s t o r y ? \" 113 \"The s t o r y the t h i e f t e l l s . . . I f I w r i t e another s t o r y can we do i t ? \" Sean, l i k e Sue, was a l s o eager t o b e g i n t o c r e a t e another show. A f t e r he responded t o my q u e s t i o n s , he asked me i f we c o u l d do another and when would we s t a r t . Sean was q u i t e d e f i n i t e about doing t h i s , when he got o l d e r . Sean a l s o asked i f he c o u l d j o i n my own company (Theatre of G i a n t s ) . I suggested he might when he was a l i t t l e o l d e r . \"How o l d do you have t o be?\" he asked. Anne Marie and B r a d l e y expressed an i n t e r e s t i n becoming pe r f o r m e r s . When I q u e s t i o n e d them about what they would need t o do t o accomplish t h i s , t o become a c t o r s , they d e s c r i b e d the r e h e a r s a l s and t r a i n i n g they would have t o undertake. Sue wanted t o w r i t e p l a y s l i k e the one they had performed. A f t e r the performance and d u r i n g one of the i n t e r v i e w s e s s i o n s , she showed me some w r i t i n g she was working on and wanted t o perform f o r her s c h o o l and other s c h o o l s . The s t u d e n t s ' new a s p i r a t i o n s and c o n f i d e n c e evidence a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of t h e i r \" l i f e - w o r l d \" . That these a s p i r a t i o n s were expressed as a d e s i r e t o c o n t i n u e p e r f o r m i n g demonstrates the s i g n i f i c a n c e of e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s f o r those s t u d e n t s . Three themes r e f l e c t i n g changes i n t h e i r l i v e s were rep e a t e d i n the s t u d e n t s ' remarks d u r i n g the i n t e r v i e w s . They t a l k e d of performance a s p i r a t i o n s f o r the f u t u r e . Some wanted t o know where they c o u l d take more c l a s s e s i n 114 t h e a t r e . Secondly, they i n d i c a t e d a change i n a t t i t u d e they had towards themselves. They r e f e r r e d t o t h e i r improving as performers, as w e l l as t h e i r overcoming f e a r s . T h i r d l y , the students r e f e r r e d t o changes i n the ways students from o t h e r c l a s s e s t r e a t e d them. Other students began t o t a l k t o them d u r i n g r e c e s s and at l u n c h . Summary In t h i s c h apter examples taken from the data were reviewed i n r e l a t i o n t o f o u r q u e s t i o n s : How and t o what extent d i d the program of a c t i v i t i e s ( o u t l i n e d i n Chapter II) support and i n s p i r e the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c r e a t i v i t y ? How d i d the p a r t i c i p a n t s v i s u a l i z e and understand t h e i r k i n e s t h e t i c (movement) e x p r e s s i o n s ? What were the i n t e r a c t i o n a l i s s u e s t h a t made an impact on the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c r e a t i v i t y and how do these s o c i a l a s p e c t s of the performance s i t u a t i o n a f f e c t the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' behaviour? And f i n a l l y , how d i d the p a r t i c i p a n t s and t e a c h e r s e v a l u a t e the program and the c r e a t i v e outcomes of the program? The program of a c t i v i t i e s , i n c o r p o r a t i n g mime, movement, and dance, supported the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' p r o d u c t i o n of two performance p i e c e s . R e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s p r e p a r e d the students f o r i n c r e a s i n g l y complex choreography and movement ! e x p r e s s i o n s . During the i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , the students responded t o my m e t a p h o r i c a l s u g g e s t i o n s w i t h t h e i r own mime 115 or dance e x p r e s s i o n s , which were l a t e r i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o the performance p i e c e s . The l e a r n i n g of a choreography i s l i k e the drawing of a d e t a i l e d map on the stage, a map w i t h mountains and v a l l e y s t h a t change and move as we p r o g r e s s through the performance p i e c e . The o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t the p a r t i c i p a n t s c o u l d move through segments of the choreography w i t h t h e i r eyes c l o s e d i s evidence of t h e i r l e a r n i n g of these complex maps. Obs e r v a t i o n s were made of the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' behaviour i n l e a r n i n g and a p p l y i n g t h e a t r e conventions r e l a t e d t o the use o f the stage and masks. Often, the a b s t r a c t conventions of t h e a t r e competed wi t h the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' h a b i t u a l ways of moving and r e l a t i n g s o c i a l l y . The a n a l y t i c t e c h n i q u e of c o g n i t i v e mapping enabled me t o d e p i c t not only the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' c o n c e p t i o n of the movement and choreography on the stage, but a l s o the emotional or a e s t h e t i c q u a l i t i e s t h a t they a t t a c h e d t o t h e i r movement e x p r e s s i o n s . The c r e a t i v i t y of the p a r t i c i p a n t s can be seen i n t h e i r c o l o r i n g and s c u l p t i n g of the masks, i n t h e i r a d a p t i n g of \"everyday\" movements t o develop an image from the s c r i p t , and i n t h e i r t r a n s f o r m i n g metaphors i n t o movement e x p r e s s i o n s . For the p a r t i c i p a n t s , the l e a r n i n g of the r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s , p r e s c r i b e d by the program of a c t i v i t i e s , i n v o l v e d j I s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n t o another system of behaving w i t h d i f f e r e n t e x p e c t a t i o n s and p a t t e r n s of i n t e r a c t i o n . At times, the s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n of the r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s c o n f l i c t e d w i t h t h e i r h a b i t u a l ways of i n t e r a c t i n g . T h i s c o n f l i c t was d i s c u s s e d i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e i r u n d e r s t a n d i n g of \" p l a y \" and o r g a n i z a t i o n of r e h e a r s a l time and i n t h e i r s e a r c h f o r a b s o l u t e r u l e s i n a e s t h e t i c c h o i c e s and b e h a v i o u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s . The o b s e r v a t i o n s of s e v e r a l t e a c h e r s about the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' p e r f o r m a n c e i s s i g n i f i c a n t because i t i s evidence of the t e a c h e r s ' heightened awareness of the l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s ' p o t e n t i a l . The p a r t i c i p a n t s ' own statements about t h e i r changed a s p i r a t i o n s and t h e i r r e p o r t s about the p r a i s e from students on the p l a y g r o u n d r e f l e c t changes i n t h e i r s e l f concept and s e l f esteem. 117 CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS Research Questions Observing and p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n the p r o d u c t i o n o f a performance w i t h a c l a s s o f s p e c i a l needs students p r o v i d e d a r i c h s e t t i n g f o r a d d r e s s i n g pragmatic and t h e o r e t i c a l i s s u e s r e l a t e d t o the c r e a t i v i t y of the p a r t i c i p a n t s . The pragmatic q u e s t i o n s asked were: What are some of the ways t h a t c r e a t i v i t y might be encouraged through dance and movement, and how can k i n e s t h e t i c s support the v e r b a l p r o d u c t i o n s and c r e a t i v i t y o f l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students? The t h e o r e t i c a l q u e s t i o n asked was: In l i g h t o f the f i n d i n g s , what are the i m p l i c a t i o n s f o r the d e f i n i t i o n s o f c r e a t i v i t y I b r i n g t o t h i s case study? F i n d i n g s The p r a c t i c a l , p e r s o n a l s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h i s study can be seen i n the development and a d a p t a t i o n o f ways t h a t I used t o encourage k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s among l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s , p a r t i c u l a r l y through the sequencing of r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s b e f o r e i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , and through a program of mime and dance a c t i v i t i e s . F or the studen t s , a c r e a t i v e outcome of the program can be seen i n t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n s o f n a r r a t i v e t e x t s . T h i s supports the c o n c l u s i o n t h a t k i n e s t h e t i c a c t i v i t i e s can encourage s t u d e n t s ' v e r b a l achievements. I 118 The t h e o r e t i c a l s i g n i f i c a n c e stems from the i m p l i c a t i o n s t h a t the f i n d i n g s have on the two d i s t i n c t c o n c e p t i o n s of c r e a t i v i t y d i s c u s s e d i n Chapter II (the q u a n t i t a t i v e and the phenomenological). The f i n d i n g s r e l a t e t o the p a t t e r n s of i n t e r a c t i o n and the e x p e c t a t i o n s f o r behaviour t h a t encompass the r e h e a r s a l s i t u a t i o n . For the students, e n t e r i n g the world of t h e a t r e was l e a r n i n g a new c u l t u r e . My involvement i n the d u a l r o l e s o f r e s e a r c h e r and p a r t i c i p a n t , brought my s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n t o t h e i r world; i n these r o l e s , I was seen as someone to be p l e a s e d . Much of the r i c h e s t data came through those c h a o t i c , c o n f u s i n g , and ambiguous moments as the p a r t i c i p a n t s attempted t o perform e x e r c i s e s which they found most b e w i l d e r i n g . In t h i s study I have i l l u s t r a t e d the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the b e h a v i o u r a l e x p e c t a t i o n s s u r r o u n d i n g r e h e a r s a l and performance s i t u a t i o n s , and more i m p o r t a n t l y , how t h e i r mastery of these r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s r e s u l t e d i n a s u c c e s s f u l p r o d u c t i o n . The c o n c l u s i o n s t o t h i s study are d i v i d e d i n t o two s e c t i o n s : p r a c t i c a l and t h e o r e t i c a l . P r a c t i c a l C o n c l u s i o n s In implementing a program t h a t enabled l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d students t o produce and p r e s e n t two movement based i l performance p i e c e s , I uncovered s e v e r a l u s e f u l and p r a c t i c a l ways of d e s i g n i n g and implementing programs. These focus on ways t o encourage the k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s of dance, 119 mime, and movement, as w e l l as how these non-verbal forms of e x p r e s s i o n might be used t o i n s p i r e s t u d e n t s ' v e r b a l p r o d u c t i o n s . R e l a x a t i o n : Ways of Being The r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s improved the students awareness and c o n t r o l o f t h e i r b o d ies and p r e p a r e d them f o r oth e r a c t i v i t i e s . T h i s program of a c t i v i t i e s s h o u l d be p r e s e n t e d i n l i g h t o f the c h i l d r e n ' s concern about f i t t i n g i n w i t h t h e i r peers and t h e i r u n c e r t a i n t y about some of the language of dance and movement, which may i n t e r f e r e w i t h t h e i r r e l a x i n g . The r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s focused the st u d e n t s ' a t t e n t i o n on the workings of t h e i r bodies and h e l p e d make them more aware of the c o n t r o l they might e x e r t on t h e i r c o n c e n t r a t i o n , moods, and energy s t a t e s . The r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s , i n g e t t i n g everyone t o focus on the same movements, brought s t u d e n t s ' energy l e v e l s c l o s e r t o g e t h e r and enabled them t o develop i n t o a working ensemble. The r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s d i r e c t e d students t o take note o f t e n s i o n and the d e t a i l e d p o s i t i o n i n g o f the p a r t s o f t h e i r b o d i e s . R e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s h a b i t u a t e d students t o un o r d i n a r y ways of moving and a c t i n g and thus opened avenues f o r c r e a t i v e movement e x p r e s s i o n s . R e l a x a t i o n i s a s t a t e o f mind and body. Students can remember the calmness they achieve through the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s . The r e l a x e d s t a t e can be r e c a l l e d , a p p l i e d t o 120 performance work, and welded i n t o s p e c i f i c e x p r e s s i o n s or c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n s . There can be something a l i e n about an e x e r c i s e t h a t c a l l s f o r you t o l i s t e n t o your h e a r t beat and your b r e a t h . C h i l d r e n ' s acceptance of r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s can be encouraged through examples of e x p r e s s i v e movements i n which the calm r e s u l t i n g s t a t e of the r e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s i s e v i d e n t i n suggested movement e x p r e s s i o n s . The language of t h e a t r e and dance borrows words from everyday speech, yet these terms have d i f f e r e n t and sometimes unspoken meanings. Techniques s h o u l d be conveyed i n l i g h t o f c h i l d r e n ' s understandings o f terms such as \" r e l a x a t i o n \" or \" c o n c e n t r a t i o n . \" L e a r n i n g the s p e c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e of these terms i n the p e r f o r m i n g a r t s i s a p a r t of the s t u d e n t s ' s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n t o the r e h e a r s a l p r o c e s s . Sequencing: R e l a x a t i o n E x e r c i s e s as a Warm-up f o r V e r b a l A c t i v i t i e s As students move from one a c t i v i t y t o another, they take w i t h them t h e i r moods, s e n s i t i v i t i e s , and f e e l i n g s . R e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s can h e l p the students c l e a r t h e i r minds and prepare f o r the next e x e r c i s e . R e l a x a t i o n e x e r c i s e s b e f o r e s e v e r a l of the s t o r y t e l l i n g s e s s i o n s were observed t o have improved student c o n c e n t r a t i o n and t h e i r w i l l i n g n e s s t o l i s t e n t o each other, absorb the ide a s and images from each other, and imagine images, i d e a s , and n a r r a t i v e t e x t b u i l t upon another's c o n t r i b u t i o n s . ' 1 2 1 K i n e s t h e t i c A c t i v i t y Encourages V e r b a l P r o d u c t i o n s Students' v e r b a l p r o d u c t i o n s were encouraged by k i n e s t h e t i c a c t i v i t i e s o f mime and dance. Metaphoric l a b e l s were used t o t a l k about the q u a l i t i e s o f movement. Students expres s e d these metaphors through movement. The movement q u a l i t i e s were then e v a l u a t e d d u r i n g d i s c u s s i o n s . Images from the stu d e n t s ' movement i m p r o v i s a t i o n s and mime e x e r c i s e s were i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o t h e i r s t o r i e s . K i n e s t h e t i c imagery had an impact on t h e i r v e r b a l e x p r e s s i o n s , as seen through the n a r r a t i o n s they produced f o r the performance. V i s u a l i z a t i o n of S p a t i a l R e l a t i o n s h i p s Choreography and stage movement are non-verbal forms of e x p r e s s i o n and are an a l t e r n a t e avenue of e x p r e s s i o n from the l a r g e l y v e r b a l world of s c h o o l . In t h i s study, the choreography and stage movement prompted the p a r t i c i p a n t s t o manipulate and t r a n s f o r m complex images and s p a t i a l arrangements. I m p r o v i s a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s not only e n r i c h dance and movement sequences, but they support the l e a r n i n g o f them. The s t u d e n t s ' d i s c o v e r y o f e x p r e s s i v e q u a l i t i e s i n a dance or movement sequence a i d e d the r e c o l l e c t i o n o f t h a t sequence. Performing a choreography w i t h c l o s e d eyes encouraged them t o v i s u a l i z e t r a n s f o r m i n g t h r e e d i m e n s i o n a l spaces. I t pre p a r e d them f o r the mask work i n which v i s i o n was l i m i t e d . 1 2 2 B a l a n c i n g \" P l a y \" w i t h Goals and O b j e c t i v e s \" P l a y \" has been i d e n t i f i e d as an aspect of the c r e a t i v i t y of l e a r n i n g d i s a b l e d s t u d e n t s . The p a r t i c i p a t i n g s t udents and a d u l t s demonstrated competing d e f i n i t i o n s of \" p l a y \" . To s t r u c t u r e c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t i e s which encourage s p o n t a n e i t y and e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n , p r e s e r v e s the p l a y f u l n e s s t h a t i s the e s s e n t i a l i n g r e d i e n t i n the c h i l d ' s c o n c e p t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y . The a r t of i m p r o v i s a t i o n and \" p l a y \" were observed t o share many common f e a t u r e s . I m p r o v i s a t i o n was most e f f e c t i v e when immediate and i n s t i n c t i v e a c t i o n s , movements, or t e x t s were encouraged and produced. The a r t of i m p r o v i s a t i o n shares w i t h \" p l a y \" t h i s immediacy. I m p r o v i s a t i o n and \" p l a y \" d i f f e r i n t h a t i m p r o v i s a t i o n o f t e n i n v o l v e s the d e f i n i t i o n of s p e c i f i c o b j e c t i v e s and outcomes. Students can develop understandings t h a t t h e r e are d i f f e r e n t approaches and e x p e c t a t i o n s of behaviour f o r d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t i e s . Long range g o a l s such as p e r f e c t i n g the f i n a l performance demand d i s c i p l i n e and c o n s i s t e n c y . Students can understand t h a t t h e r e are d i f f e r e n t ways of behaving and \"being\" f o r d i f f e r e n t a c t i v i t i e s ; they can d i f f e r e n t i a t e spontaneous \" p l a y \" from outcome-oriented t h e a t r e games. The i m p r o v i s a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s i n v o l v e d i n the program supported student c r e a t i v i t y when t h e i r spontaneous p l a y c o u l d be f o c u s e d on an o b j e c t i v e . 123 Theoretical Significance D e f i n i t i o n s of C r e a t i v i t y I have c o n s i d e r e d two approaches t o c r e a t i v i t y i n l i g h t of the f i n d i n g s of t h i s case study. The f i r s t i s a r e f o r m u l a t i o n of Weisberg's d e f i n i t i o n . The second borrows from Maslow's study of people who demonstrated \" c r e a t i v e n e s s . \" My r e f o r m u l a t i o n of Weisberg's d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y s t i p u l a t e d t h a t the outcomes of e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t i e s s h o u l d be both n o v e l and s i g n i f i c a n t to the person i n v o l v e d i n the e x p r e s s i v e a c t i v i t y . In l i g h t of my o b s e r v a t i o n s of the p a r t i c i p a n t s and t h e i r comments about t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the performance, I concluded t h a t t h i s d e f i n i t i o n r e f l e c t s the s i g n i f i c a n c e and the n o v e l t y of the e x p e r i e n c e . The s t u d e n t s ' e x p r e s s i v e work, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e i r movement and s t o r y t e l l i n g i m p r o v i s a t i o n s , i s evidence of t h e i r c r e a t i v i t y . The second d e f i n i t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y used i n t h i s study assumes t h a t the whole person, i n s e p a r a b l e from c o g n i t i v e , emotional, k i n e s t h e t i c , and e v a l u a t i v e f a c u l t i e s , i s drawn i n t o the c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y . C r e a t i v e work o f t e n produces a peak or e x t r a o r d i n a r y e x p e r i e n c e f o r t h a t i n d i v i d u a l . P e r c e p t u a l f a c u l t i e s are heightened. V i s u a l , a u d i t o r y and k i n e s t h e t i c s e n s a t i o n s are r e a d i l y absorbed. The e x p e r i e n c e of the c r e a t i v e a c t i v i t y produces a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the \" l i f e world\" of the i n d i v i d u a l , so t h a t subsequent 124 p e r c e p t i o n s , s e n s i t i v i t i e s , e v a l u a t i o n s and a e s t h e t i c e x p e r i e n c e s are e n r i c h e d and e n l i g h t e n e d . In o b s e r v i n g the work of the students and i n l i s t e n i n g t o t h e i r remarks about f u t u r e performances, changed a s p i r a t i o n s , improved s e l f esteem,, i n c r e a s e d p a r t i c i p a t i o n and s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h i n d i v i d u a l s from o t h e r c l a s s e s -the t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of t h e i r \" l i f e - w o r l d \" was e v i d e n t . In g e n e r a l , the ways they viewed themselves and the world were tra n s f o r m e d through the p r o c e s s of t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the performance. T h i s concept of c r e a t i v i t y was not a b s t r a c t e d from the l i f e and w o r l d of the p a r t i c i p a n t s i n the a c t of b e i n g c r e a t i v e , but i n c l u d e d t h e i r e x p e r i e n c e s and understandings of s i g n i f i c a n t c r e a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n s . As phenomenology assumes, the emotional, p e r c e p t u a l , s o c i a l , and p h y s i c a l e x p e r i e n c e s of the i n d i v i d u a l are interwoven i n e x p e r i e n c e of c r e a t i v i t y . The o b s e r v a t i o n s of the r e h e a r s a l s and performance support t h i s assumption. T h i s c o n c e p t i o n of c r e a t i v i t y can be expanded t o i n c l u d e the s t u d e n t s ' o b s e r v a t i o n s of t h e i r own c r e a t i v i t y . \" P l a y \" and \"having fun\" are the most prominent themes i n the s t u d e n t s ' d i s c u s s i o n s of t h e i r own c r e a t i v i t y . Maslow (1968) observed t h i s i n those a d u l t c l i e n t s whom he c o n s i d e r e d the most c r e a t i v e . From the s t u d e n t s ' own remarks, the \"peak e x p e r i e n c e \" of the p r o j e c t was the performance p r e s e n t e d t o t h e i r s c h o o l p o p u l a t i o n . D u r i n g the i m p r o v i s a t i o n s and c i r c l e s t o r y 1 2 5 e x e r c i s e , where students produced i m a g i n a t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n s , the c o n c e n t r a t i o n never reached t h a t i n t e n s e s t a t e which the performance i n s p i r e d . The concept of the \"peak e x p e r i e n c e \" r e f l e c t s the c r e a t i v i t y of these students mainly i n the f i n a l performance. During the r o u t i n e r e h e a r s a l s , the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' focus on s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n s p r e c l u d e d the h e i g h t e n e d awareness and the i n t e n s i t y of the \"peak e x p e r i e n c e . \" Implications f o r the F i e l d of Teaching I m p l i c a t i o n s f o r S e l f Concept and Mainstreaming Through d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h t e a c h e r s and w i t h the p a r t i c i p a t i n g students, I concluded t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the performance changed the way the students saw themselves. Through the performance they r a i s e d t h e i r a s p i r a t i o n s . Many students r e p o r t e d p r i d e i n t h e i r performance work. The t e a c h e r s b e l i e v e d t h a t p a r t i c i p a n t s g a ined c o n f i d e n c e i n t h e i r a b i l i t i e s . The performance gave the p a r t i c i p a n t s the chance t o demonstrate achievements t h a t they otherwise would not have accomplished. P a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the performances r a i s e d s e l f esteem. Teachers a l s o b e l i e v e d t h a t the h i g h e r r e g a r d of other students towards the s p e c i a l needs students had an impact on the s p e c i a l needs students' own s e l f concepts. Teachers were s e n s i t i z e d t o the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of the c r e a t i v i t y of k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s . School i s a v e r b a l world. For s p e c i a l needs students, who f i n d d i f f i c u l t y i n 126 many lessons that emphasize verbal s k i l l s , movement improvisations and choreography provide alternate, non-verbal avenues of expression. In addition, while producing k i n e s t h e t i c expressions, the p a r t i c i p a n t s were driven to pr a c t i c e verbal s k i l l s , both by t h e i r desire to communicate images and by the improvisational exercises. Recent Province of B r i t i s h Columbia documents s t i p u l a t e that the f i r s t goal of education i s to develop the capacity for creative thought and expression.\" At the same time, \"students are recognized as i n d i v i d u a l s with unique learning s t y l e s . . . \" (Graduation Program, 1990, p.8-15). The conception of c r e a t i v i t y which guided t h i s present study points out that creative \"outcomes\" should be novel and s i g n i f i c a n t to the learner and that they may involve cognitive, emotional, and kin e s t h e t i c f a c u l t i e s . This conception of c r e a t i v i t y may s e n s i t i z e teachers to the c r e a t i v i t y of sp e c i a l needs students. The program of a c t i v i t i e s and the f i n a l performance have had an impact on the l i v e s of the pa r t i c i p a n t s and the teachers. It i s reasonable to suggest that i n other s i t u a t i o n s , p a r t i c i p a n t s might be equally affected by s i m i l a r creative involvement. This study of the c r e a t i v i t y of s p e c i a l needs students focused on the changes i n the \" l i f e - w o r l d \" of the p a r t i c i p a n t s , on the s o c i a l i n t e r a c t i o n a l issues relevant to the rehearsal process, and aspects of the e x p r e s s i v e s i t u a t i o n which draw upon c r e a t i v i t y . 128 References Anooshian, L. (1984). Problem mapping before problem solving: Young children's cognitive maps and search strategies i n large-scale environments. C h i l d Development, 55, 1820-1834. Argulewicz, E., Mealor, D. & Richmond, B. (1979). Creative a b i l i t i e s of learning disabled c h i l d r e n . 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Because these n a r r a t i o n s are f u l l o f imagery, they are u s e f u l f o r i n s p i r i n g s t u d e n t s ' k i n e s t h e t i c e x p r e s s i o n s . The R i c h Man and the T h i e f NARRATOR: Once upon a time t h e r e was a r i c h o l d man who l o v e d a young woman. He had never m a r r i e d . He gave her p r e s e n t s of s i l k , g o l d and j e w e l s . He t r i e d t o impress her i n many ways. She always t u r n e d him down. One day he d e c i d e d t o v i s i t a wise o l d monk who would h e l p him f i n d l o v e . He h i r e d a man and a boat t o take him t o the h i l l s where the monk l i v e d . They t r a v e l e d many days on the r i v e r . One n i g h t w h i l e they camped b e s i d e t h e i r boat. A f u g i t i v e from the Emperor's p r i s o n c r e p t up. Both of the t i r e d t r a v e l e r s s l e p t . The t h i e f u n t i e d the boat. As he pushed the boat away from shore, he f e l l i n the water. He began t o drown. The r i c h man was awaked by the s p l a s h i n g and t h r a s h i n g . He h e l p e d p u l l the t h i e f ashore. The t h i e f begged to be f o r g i v e n . RICH MAN: I w i l l f o r g i v e you. You w i l l become my s e r v a n t . I know you are the one who escaped from the emperor's p r i s o n . 133 NARRATOR: The t h i e f bowed t o h i s new master and t o l d h i s s t o r y of how he was pushed i n t o a l i f e o f crime. THIEF: Long, l o n g ago, when I was young, I worked my own l a n d and I worked hard. The s o i l , my s o i l was good t o me. I t s r i c h e s were b e g i n n i n g t o become my r i c h e s . Once when I was p l a n t i n g my crop, a man came w i t h a paper from the emperor. I c o u l d not read i t . But the s o l d i e r s threw me i n j a i l . NARRATOR: For some unknown reason the r i c h man became v e r y nervous. RICH MAN: Very w e l l . Indeed. Yes. You have been t r e a t e d u n j u s t l y . There are s t i l l s e v e r a l hours t o s l e e p t h i s n i g h t . We w i l l t r a v e l i n the morning. You w i l l be a b l e t o escape i f you stay w i t h me. NARRATOR: The r e s t of the n i g h t the r i c h man thought of h i s years as the s e c r e t a r y f o r the emperor. He remembered w r i t i n g many pages f o r the k i n g t o take the l a n d from many honest farmers. And he remembered t h i s farmer and h i s l a n d . He had gone w i t h the s o l d i e r s when the paper had been used t o throw the farmer i n p r i s o n . The next morning they awoke and t r a v e l e d f u r t h e r up the r i v e r . A f t e r s e v e r a l more days they reached the f o o t h i l l s . The r i c h man and h i s new servant s a i d \"goodbye\" t o t h e i r boat man and began the climb t o the mountain of the h o l y monk, the monk who would h e l p the r i c h man f i n d l o v e . They reached the cave of the monk. They sat and waited. 134 MONK: You come t o f i n d l o v e . But l o v e comes onl y t o those who are pure of h e a r t . You, r i c h man have wronged many peopl e . When you a c t j u s t l y , you w i l l f i n d l o v e . NARRATION: The monk r e t u r n e d t o h i s cave. RICH MAN: My s e r v a n t . How can you f o r g i v e me? From now on a l l my r i c h e s w i l l be your r i c h e s , my lands your l a n d s , and I w i l l be your servant and you my master. NARRATION: For twenty years they t r a v e l e d t o g e t h e r , l e a r n i n g many t h i n g s . They grew t o be g r e a t f r i e n d s l i k e two o l d t r e e s whose r o o t s i n t e r t w i n e . They grew o l d t o g e t h e r . The Water Beings NARRATOR: The Ojibway Indians b e l i e v e t h a t t h e r e i s a huge green f i s h i n waters of Lake N i p i g o n . The eyes shine l i k e the sun. The green f i s h i s the keeper of a l l the s a c r e d rocks on the shore. One n i g h t two Indians were f i s h i n g . BUNGEY: I see a f i s h at the bottom, near the r o c k s . OGOSIS: Hold your t o r c h c l o s e r t o the water! I see him move! I see him! NARRATOR: Ogosis jabbed the f i s h w i t h h i s spear t r a p p i n g h i s huge prey a g a i n s t the bottom of the l a k e . Suddenly, the water began to churn and bubble. His hands were stuck t o the handle of the spear. He t r i e d t o f r e e h i m s e l f . From a sudden tu g he was p u l l e d i n t o the water. Ogosis d i d not 135 drown. He f e l t some strange power e n t e r h i s body l e t t i n g him b r e a t h e . When the sun came up, Ogosis c o u l d see t h a t he had not speared a f i s h at a l l , a Merman had grabbed h i s spear and p u l l e d him underwater. MERMAN: We want you to g i v e your people a message. We want you t o t e l l the your people t o put s a c r e d rocks above our h i d i n g p l a c e s . We w i l l b r i n g good l u c k t o a l l Indians t h a t t r a v e l on the l a k e s and r i v e r s . NARRATOR: Ogosis and Bungey r e t u r n e d t o t h e i r v i l l a g e and t o l d the s t o r y o f the Merman. Ogosis and h i s f a m i l y were happy. They caught many f i s h and when storms came, the l i g h t n i n g seemed t o pass over because they were p r o t e c t e d by the Merman. In a nearby v i l l a g e l i v e d an e v i l s o r c e r e r named Majeawea. Majeawea wanted t o s t e a l the w i f e o f Ogosis. Her name was P e l a l a . One day wh i l e P e l a l a was p i c k i n g b e r r i e s , Majeawea passed by. He saw what she was doing and where she was headed. Majeawea spread a p o t i o n on some ve r y l a r g e b e r r i e s i n a p l a c e where she would soon be p i c k i n g . Majeawea then w a i t e d behind a t r e e . As soon as P e l a l a touched the b e r r i e s where Majeawea had spread h i s p o t i o n , he stepped out from i b e h i n d the t r e e . MAJEAWEA: Is t h a t b e r r y sweeter than a l l the o t h e r s ? PELALA: Here, you t a s t e i t and t e l l me. 136 MAJEAWEA: Then only I w i l l know of i t s sweetness. PELALA: The we w i l l both t a s t e i t . NARRATOR: F i r s t P e l a l a took a b i t e o f the b e r r y , then Majeawea. Slowly, a strange l i g h t e n t e r e d the eyes of P e l a l a . She f e l l i n t o the arms of Majeawea. At the the same time, Ogosis and Bungey were f i s h i n g . The green f i s h appeared on the s u r f a c e of the water. GREEN FISH: P e l a l a i s i n danger. She has been imprisoned by Majeawea's magic. You must paddle t o ghost p o i n t t o f i n d Majeawea's h i d i n g p l a c e . NARRATOR: Ogosis and Bungey paddled q u i c k l y towards ghost p o i n t . The f i s h g athered a l l the water c r e a t u r e s . GREEN FISH: Majeaweaaaaaaaaah...Majeaweaaaaaaaaaa... Majeaweaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. NARRATOR: Majeawea c r e p t towards the shore. The Green F i s h rose t o the s u r f a c e . I have a wedding g i f t f o r you. Come c l o s e r so t h a t I can g i v e i t t o you. MAJEAWEA: What c o u l d you p o s s i b l y have f o r me? GREEN FISH: I t i s the most p r i z e d p o s s e s s i o n i n a l l the l a k e . NARRATOR: C u r i o u s l y , Majeawea k n e l t c l o s e t o the water. MAJEAWEA: I can only see 'my own r e f l e c t i o n . GREEN FISH: That i s the p r i z e ! NARRATOR: With h i s jaws open, the g i a n t f i s h b i t o f f Majeawea's head. As Majeawea took h i s l a s t d y i n g b r e a t h , 137 P e l a l a saw Ogosis. She f e l l out of the t r a n c e and r e t u r n e d t o her v i l l a g e again where they l i v e h a p p i l y ever a f t e r . 138 Appendix II K i n e s t h e t i c T r a n s f o r m a t i o n : F i n d i n g the P h y s i c a l C h a r a c t e r s f o r the Masks In t h i s s e c t i o n , I analyze a pr o c e s s t h a t I i n v e n t e d t o enable students t o c r e a t e a p h y s i c a l c h a r a c t e r f o r a p a r t i c u l a r mask. For the student, the c r e a t i v e element i s i n the c h o i c e o f c h a r a c t e r and how movements are chosen t o f i t the c h a r a c t e r . The p r o c e s s i s \" r i t u a l i z e d \" around the a c t o r ' s b i r t h o f the c h a r a c t e r . The c r e a t i v e element f o r the students can be see i n the p a r t i c u l a r q u a l i t i e s o f movement they d i s c o v e r and e x p l o r e . I d i v i d e d the c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n work i n t o t h r e e phases. In the f i r s t phase, the students e n t e r e d the sacks, and were gi v e n the o b j e c t i v e , \"to become f i r e . \" In subsequent attempts, the second o b j e c t i v e of embodying the element of water was added. The students were ab l e t o choose. Three students attempted t o become t h e i r element w h i l e the remainder watched. The o b j e c t i v e o f t h i s f i r s t phase was t o ac q u a i n t the students w i t h the technique o f u s i n g the sacks to express p a r t i c u l a r q u a l i t i e s u s i n g t h e i r e n t i r e b o d i e s . In the f i r s t stage t h e performers, who are encased i n the sacks, are se p a r a t e d from the audience by the f a b r i c of the sacks. The p r o t e c t i o n from the eyes of the viewers enables the students t o e x p l o r e the movement w i t h a f e e l i n g of s e c u r i t y . 139 In the second phase, the sacks were c o n s i d e r e d wombs. They were born from the sacks; and u s i n g o n l y movement and g e s t u r e s , they passed through the stages of l i f e from i n f a n c y through o l d age. The t h i r d stage was p r e s e n t e d as a c e l e b r a t i o n f o r completing the masks. The students e n t e r e d the sacks w i t h t h e i r masks. They chose a movement which t h e i r c h a r a c t e r would use. At f i r s t they d i d the movement only w i t h p a r t of t h e i r body, perhaps a hand or a l e g . G r a d u a l l y they a l l o w e d the movement t o grow u n t i l i t encompassed t h e i r e n t i r e body. When the movement had become exaggerated, and when they were ready, t h e i r c h a r a c t e r s were born from the sacks. The f i r s t b i r t h s were d i f f i c u l t f o r a l l the students except George. They l a c k e d the i n t e r n a l focus r e q u i r e d to m a i n t a i n c o n c e n t r a t i o n . T h e i r wandering eyes evidenced t h e i r l a c k of c o n c e n t r a t i o n d u r i n g the \" b i r t h . \" A few of the s t u d e n t s , i n c l u d i n g Sean, B r a d l e y and Anne Marie, a f t e r l o s i n g t h e i r c o n c e n t r a t i o n d u r i n g the b i r t h were ab l e t o complete the stages of l i f e . George gave an extremely c o n v i n c i n g performance. I d i s c u s s e d and demonstrated what George had done t o make h i s b i r t h and passage through the stages of l i f e seem so r e a l t o us. Jay and Sue showed a g r e a t d e a l more e f f o r t on t h e i r next attempt. Performed i n groups of t h r e e , t h e r e c h a r a c t e r s were born and i n t e r a c t e d on the f l o o r . The theme of the above e x e r c i s e , which has been c e n t r a l t o my own a r t i s t i c e x p e r i e n c e s , are r e f l e c t e d i n the p a r t i c i p a n t s ' work. I t shi n e s through many of the e x p r e s s i v e c h o i c e s they made. For example, the \"Rich Man and the T h i e f \" legend p o r t r a y s the \" t h i e f \" and the \"young woman\" aging. "@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0098185"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Art Education"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use."@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "Developing a performance with special needs students : a case study in creativity"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29481"@en .