Agreeing to be changed: Iterative theatremaking as decentralized pedagogy in English

Authors

  • EJ Kneifel University of British Columbia
  • Patrick Rizzotti University of British Columbia
  • Jack Mosher University of British Columbia

Keywords:

deconstruction, ethics of care, new pedagogy, theatre, research-creation, practice-based research

Abstract

Formatted as a conversation to reflect its collaborative nature, this article explores an iterative, symbiotic, and decentralized pedagogical paradigm developed at the University of British Columbia, preliminary data for which stemmed from a student-led, devised theatre project staged in July 2022. This article seeks to extrude and articulate the project’s continuous incorporation of its own components — from student anecdotal experience, to the co-construction of language and design, to the accumulation of sheer time — so that similar processes might be reimagined in other pedagogical contexts.

Author Biographies

EJ Kneifel, University of British Columbia

is a psycholinguist, poet-critic, and multidisciplinary facilitator. Through the concentric scaffolding inherent to collaboration, EJ hopes to tap into the teaching and healing inherent to gathering. ejkneifel@gmail.com 

Patrick Rizzotti, University of British Columbia

is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Film at UBC. He also maintains an active design practice. patrick.rizzotti@ubc.ca

Jack Mosher, University of British Columbia

is a theatre director, designer, and recent graduate from UBC’s Theatre Design and Production program. jackmosher4@gmail.com

References

Gladman, R. (2010). Event factory. Dorothy, a Publishing Project.

Shigematsu, T., Lea, G. W., Cook, C., & Belliveau, G. (2022). A spotlight on research-based theatre. LEARNing Landscapes, 15(1), 349–365. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v15i1.1081

Beck, J. L., Belliveau, G., Lea, G. W., & Wager, A. (2011). Delineating a spectrum of research-based theatre. Qualitative Inquiry, 17(8), 687–700. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800411415498

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Published

2025-05-31

How to Cite

Kneifel, E., Rizzotti, P., & Mosher, J. (2025). Agreeing to be changed: Iterative theatremaking as decentralized pedagogy in English. McGill Journal of Education / Revue Des Sciences De l’éducation De McGill, 59(1), 195–207. Retrieved from https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/10200

Issue

Vol. 59 No. 1 (2025): Research-based Theatre Special Issue

Section

Notes from the Field

License

Copyright (c) 2025 McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

License

Copyright (c) 202X McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.