The‘third space’of the workshop provided opportunity for rehearsal and feedback
as well as more generic advice.
The reflection on the role-play was also really very useful. After thefirst feedback, they said
I had a lot to work on and then we had a second go, and second feedback and this was so
valuable! To have two‘goes’at practicing it; I was really able to improve. (Pre-service
teacher 1, male)The participants valued theirpositioningas equals, the function of theparticipatory
methodology in orchestrating the exchange, and the use ofembodied performative
tasks to assist them to enquire deeply into the discourses and presumptions that
inform their interactions. They believed that they had gained a greater confidence in
the possibility of honest and helpful communication between students and teachers.
Data collected across the waves of this program show that the workshop pro-
vides a beneficial alternative space in which participants can work beyond the usual
binaries and limiting discourses of teacher–student. This space enables a more
honest and humanising exchange. As a result the participants seem to be able to
conceptualiseeach other differently. They understand each other not just from a
different angle, butwithin a different story. Inside of the layered stories constructed
via the Hidden Thoughts device, inside of theiraffectiveengagement generated by
learningwitheach other, and in the face ofcrediblenature of the co-created and
embodied data, the participants can see things they did not see before. Students can
see that the teachercaresabout them. Teachers can see that the studentscareabout
their learning. In this way the process assists participants to‘stretch’the categories
which confine their understandings of each other and their resultant interactions.
This rethinking is important as from a post-structuralist perspective, the process of
re-classification, reimagining or re-storying is necessary if we are to create change.
Here change is held to not only require a shift in a skillset—with the teachersable
to communicate effectively with students, but also a shift inmindset—whereby they
imagine it to bepossibleto speak differently with their students.
14.9 Conclusion
This chapter provides an example of the way in which post-structuralist theory can
be used to help explain the way in which individuals are shaped by the stories and
discourses that precede them. It demonstrates that this theoretical frame can be
harnessed to inform the design of a pedagogy for change. It suggests the use of
learning activities which engage players in detecting patterns, categories and dis-
courses. It calls for strategies which help participants to notice the way in which
these patterns influence what is held to be possible or desirable in teacher–student
relations. It emphasises the importance of collective engagement in reconstruction
or the creation of a new imaginary, in which change is held to be possible.
220 H. Cahill and J. Coffey