[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-599615-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-599615-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","theatre-arts-pedagogy-for-social-justice-case-study-of-the-area-youth-foundation-in-jamaica","Theatre-Arts Pedagogy for Social Justice - Case Study of the Area Youth Foundation in Jamaica","","The study examines the socio-educational significance of a theatre-arts learning approach for young adults in Jamaica, implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF). Drawing on qualitative case-study methods following Robert Yin, it situates AYF within Jamaica’s socio-political context and analyzes themes from semi-structured interviews, conversations, and observation of workshops and rehearsals. The pedagogy is shaped by expressive arts and critical praxis from Paulo Freire and Augusto Boal, showing how “Youth Empowerment Through the Arts” becomes learner-driven creative practice. The findings highlight politically thoughtful creativity and practical skills for youths in less-privileged communities.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/theatre-arts-pedagogy-for-social-justice-case-study-of-the-area-youth-foundation-in-jamaica/599615/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/theatre-arts-pedagogy-for-social-justice-case-study-of-the-area-youth-foundation-in-jamaica/599615.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"jayni","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main focus of the theatre-arts pedagogy study in Jamaica?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The paper analyzes the socio-educational significance of a theatre-arts approach to learning for young adults implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF).","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does AYF structure its learning pedagogy?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"AYF workshops are shaped by expressive arts and by critical praxis informed by Paulo Freire in adult education and Augusto Boal in theatre. Activities are simultaneously learner-driven and teacher-guided.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What methods does the paper use to study AYF?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It uses qualitative case-study methods based on Robert Yin, drawing on semi-structured interviews, conversations, and observation of workshops and rehearsals, with themes derived from transcribed materials.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},599615,1792165127,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":117,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":103},3985747859343,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Theatre-Arts Pedagogy for Social Justice:  \nCase Study of the Area Youth Foundation in Jamaica  \nAnne Hickling-Hudson  \nQueensland University of Technology, Australia  \nIn this paper I describe and analyse the socio-educational significance of a theatre arts approach to learning for young adults in Jamaica, implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF). Briefly outlining the genesis and development of the AYF, I provide snapshots of the experiences and destinations of some of its young participants. The paper discusses AYF workshops to show how the pedagogy was shaped by the expressive arts and based on the critical praxis approach systematized by Paulo Freire in adult education and Augusto Boal in theatre. Based on interviews with AYF’s leader and some of the learners, I discuss how the foundation’s motto, “Youth Empowerment Through the Arts,” is played out in workshops and creative productions that are simultaneously learner-driven and teacher-guided, with the powerful impact of inspiring politically thoughtful creativity and skills in youths from less-privileged communities.  \nThis paper is a case study of a theatre-arts approach to learning for young adults in Jamaica, implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF), a non-profit, non-government organisation. The essay is based on qualitative methods that describe and reflect on the socio-educational significance of the pedagogy and learning practised in AYF. Following a case study approach proposed by Robert Yin (1984), I study the phenomenon within its real-life context, when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are fluid, using multiple sources of evidence. I first set the Jamaican context that frames the work and development of the AYF. The content of the case is drawn from information that I obtained from AYF participants—students and the executive director/leader—through semi-structured interviews, conversations, and observation of their workshops and rehearsals. Themes that arose from the transcribed material are described and analysed. I relate this to my theoretical understandings of literacies (Hickling-Hudson, 2007) and Freirean pedagogy (Hickling-Hudson, 1988), and I apply these to explore the significance of the work ofAYF.  \nStating my background, in the tradition of qualitative research, I start by indicating that I was introduced to the AYF by Sheila Lowe Graham, a Jamaican friend and colleague who established AYF and leads the implementation of its work. Over several visits to Jamaica between 2000 and 2012, I was excited to see more of the work of the group, for it seemed to be establishing the kind of alternative approach to education that I knew was desperately needed. My interest in this field stems from my Caribbean origins, upbringing, and experience as an educator working in the 1970s and 1980s in the less-privileged schools, teachers colleges, and adult education programs in Jamaica and Grenada (see Evans, 2009; Hickling-Hudson, 1995) . My commitment gradually became one of developing a postcolonial approach to curriculum  \ndesign and pedagogy (Hickling-Hudson, 2011), postcolonial in the sense of celebrating the culture and interests of my students and challenging the legacies of colonial oppression. [1]  \nContext: A Socio-Political Framework for Understanding the AYF  \nThe effects of economic and educational underdevelopment are clearly visible in Jamaica, a society that has been wrestling with complex decolonisation and development issues since gaining independence from Britain in 1962. On one level, the society of 2.7 million people seems to put forward a successful face of thriving modern sector enterprises and a prosperous standard of living for affluent groups. But below that surface, the majority is affected by a downward spiral of educational and economic ineffectiveness that contributes to a 20.1% illiteracy rate (Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning, 2008), a high unemployment rate of 14.2% in 2012 (Statistical Institute of J","cbCaiiOxGOiNx7QL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiOxGOiNx7QL","pdf",484415,"English","# Context: A Socio-Political Framework for Understanding the AYF","[{\"question\":\"What is the main focus of the theatre-arts pedagogy study in Jamaica?\",\"answer\":\"The paper analyzes the socio-educational significance of a theatre-arts approach to learning for young adults implemented by the Area Youth Foundation (AYF).\"},{\"question\":\"How does AYF structure its learning pedagogy?\",\"answer\":\"AYF workshops are shaped by expressive arts and by critical praxis informed by Paulo Freire in adult education and Augusto Boal in theatre. Activities are simultaneously learner-driven and teacher-guided.\"},{\"question\":\"What methods does the paper use to study AYF?\",\"answer\":\"It uses qualitative case-study methods based on Robert Yin, drawing on semi-structured interviews, conversations, and observation of workshops and rehearsals, with themes derived from transcribed materials.\"}]","Theatre-Arts Pedagogy for Social Justice - Case Study of the Area Youth Foundation in Jamaica | PDF",1792089120]