Empowering students to handle conflicts through the use of drama

DRACON (DRAma for CONflict management) is an interdisciplinary and comparative action research project aimed at improving conflict handling among adolescent schoolchildren through the use of educational drama. The main purpose of our research has been to develop an integrated programme using conflict management as the theory and practice, and drama as the pedagogy, in order to empower students through an integrated, school-based programme to manage their own conflict experiences in all aspects of their lives. In our studies we have used different forms of self-reported data, such as questionnaires, diaries and questions requiring problem solving. Interviews with students and their teachers as well as observations have been used; drama exercises have also been video-recorded for further analysis. While students found it difficult to articulate their understanding of conflicts verbally, their engagement in the reconstruction of conflicts disclosed their grasp of the components of a conflict clearly enough. Peer teaching was found to be an effective method of teaching about conflict management. Results within DRACON have shown promising results with regard to empowering students to manage their own conflicts.