This thesis looks at the following questions: (a) Why use a popular theatre method (Legislative T... more This thesis looks at the following questions: (a) Why use a popular theatre method (Legislative Theatre) rather than hold a town hall meeting? and (b) How can the co-optation of popular theatre and civic engagement be avoided? Using a variety of methodologies including narrative inquiry, autoethnography, arts-based inquiry, and popular culture theory and methodology the converging points of democracy, civic engagement, and popular theatre are explored. This research provides the basis for a comparative analysis of four Legislative Theatre experiments and the exploration of the democratic facilitator, an idea for revitalizing local governance.
This article discusses findings from two case studies examining the impact of neoliberal educatio... more This article discusses findings from two case studies examining the impact of neoliberal education reform on the classroom practice of teachers and adult educators in Ontario, Canada. We asked educators to comment on the impacts of 20 years of policy shifts in their classrooms. Teachers in public schools and adult literacy programmes echoed each other on issues of managerialism, privatisation and punitive accountability mechanisms. Both schoolteachers and adult educators made references to a reduction in autonomy and to an emerging ‘culture of fear’ in educational institutions and programmes. The experience of teachers highlights contradictions between the promises of neoliberalism and the ground-level impact of policy.
This paper looks at the changing nature of international development non-governmental organizatio... more This paper looks at the changing nature of international development non-governmental organizations’ development education programming in England and Canada. A documentary analysis of the changes in Save the Children Canada and Save the Children UK’s development education materials illuminates the shift in international development agencies’ education programmes since the late 1990s. A review of a selection of materials produced by Save the Children UK and Save the Children Canada between 1999 and 2007 illustrates the trend of international development agencies moving away from programming that is longer-term, participatory, and dialogical with an emphasis on collective social change towards programming that is shorter-term, individualistic, and didactic, and which reinforces the status quo.
This thesis looks at the following questions: (a) Why use a popular theatre method (Legislative T... more This thesis looks at the following questions: (a) Why use a popular theatre method (Legislative Theatre) rather than hold a town hall meeting? and (b) How can the co-optation of popular theatre and civic engagement be avoided? Using a variety of methodologies including narrative inquiry, autoethnography, arts-based inquiry, and popular culture theory and methodology the converging points of democracy, civic engagement, and popular theatre are explored. This research provides the basis for a comparative analysis of four Legislative Theatre experiments and the exploration of the democratic facilitator, an idea for revitalizing local governance.
This article discusses findings from two case studies examining the impact of neoliberal educatio... more This article discusses findings from two case studies examining the impact of neoliberal education reform on the classroom practice of teachers and adult educators in Ontario, Canada. We asked educators to comment on the impacts of 20 years of policy shifts in their classrooms. Teachers in public schools and adult literacy programmes echoed each other on issues of managerialism, privatisation and punitive accountability mechanisms. Both schoolteachers and adult educators made references to a reduction in autonomy and to an emerging ‘culture of fear’ in educational institutions and programmes. The experience of teachers highlights contradictions between the promises of neoliberalism and the ground-level impact of policy.
This paper looks at the changing nature of international development non-governmental organizatio... more This paper looks at the changing nature of international development non-governmental organizations’ development education programming in England and Canada. A documentary analysis of the changes in Save the Children Canada and Save the Children UK’s development education materials illuminates the shift in international development agencies’ education programmes since the late 1990s. A review of a selection of materials produced by Save the Children UK and Save the Children Canada between 1999 and 2007 illustrates the trend of international development agencies moving away from programming that is longer-term, participatory, and dialogical with an emphasis on collective social change towards programming that is shorter-term, individualistic, and didactic, and which reinforces the status quo.
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Papers by Nadya Weber