Youth Participatory Action Research and Applied Theatre Engagement: Supporting Indigenous Youth Survivance and Resurgence

Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR)
Applied theatre methods
Forum theater
Image theater

This project involves Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) and applied theatre with Indigenous youth in three case studies in diverse settings—a rural school, a youth detention center, and a community organization for street-involved youth. The research highlights how applied theatre methods provide a platform for Indigenous youth to reclaim agency, express identity, and engage in cultural resurgence. By focusing on survivance and avoiding damage-centered narratives, the study emphasizes empowerment, fostering resilience, and challenging colonial structures. This approach allows youth to critically analyze their lived experiences, share insights, and envision hopeful futures through creative, participatory processes.

The projects sought to avoid perpetuating colonial narratives or harm by rejecting damage-centered research in favor of celebrating survivance and resilience. This included critically reflecting on the power dynamics between the researcher (a white settler) and Indigenous participants.

The project critiques carceral systems by highlighting their restrictive and dehumanizing nature, especially for marginalized groups like Indigenous youth. It sheds light on how these systems perpetuate colonial legacies and fail to address the root causes of incarceration, such as systemic inequality, poverty, and intergenerational trauma. By focusing on the use of applied theatre and participatory action research, the project underscores the importance of creating spaces for empowerment, self-expression, and critical dialogue within these environments.

Forum Theatre Productions
Digital storytelling and collaborative videos

Youth-created performances that depicted their lived experiences and invited audience interaction to explore solutions to challenges such as marginalization, systemic injustices, and interpersonal conflicts.

"The context of this study severely restricted the extent to which youth could participate as
co-researchers, so the goals of YPAR were only minimally achieved. All plans for the research were vetted by administration prior to my entrance into the facility and were under scrutiny throughout. All youths’ movements in and out of jail and around the facility were completely under the control of the system and what they could say or do was heavily curtailed. Youths’ participation was at their choosing, and although the study continued for three years, participation was inconsistent because youth turnover at our sessions was constant, and they could be denied participation at any time for any number of reasons" (p. 266)

"YPAR using applied theatre methods offers opportunities for youth to tell their stories about the systemic struggles they face, their understandings of their life experiences, and their desires for the future. These are small steps forward in our collective efforts at dismantling colonial structures" (p. 272)

Theatre and Performance Studies
Youth studies