A Youth Performing Arts Experience: The Active Ingredients of a Natural High

Abstract

Although much research attention has been given to the outcomes of participation in positive youth activities, there have been very few investigations into the processes which occur within these settings. Stage Challenge is a dance, drama and design competition experienced annually by 16,000 New Zealand (NZ) youth (aged 9–19 years) across 14 locations nationwide. Each year, this event continues to gain momentum, attesting to its popularity with young people and its established role as a positive youth activity within NZ. To explore students’ experiential processes during Stage Challenge, I employed a multiple case study design and ethnographic research methods to track five demographically diverse teams as they prepared for, and competed in separate Stage Challenge competitions (N = 423). Participant observation was used for all teams and additional data was collected through questionnaires (three teams), focus groups (one team), and semi-structured interviews (one team). The thesis proposes seven psychological concepts that encapsulated students’ Stage Challenge experience: autonomy, integrity, belonging, accomplishment, identity, emotions and flow. These are presented as a conceptual framework, derived from a literature review, my previous research of a single Stage Challenge team, and the current five case studies. The two most critical factors impacting on participants’ experience of the seven concepts during the practice period were choice of theme and style of choreography, which were (not always successfully) driven by teachers or student leaders. Lack of positive feedback from teachers and leaders was also a feature of practice periods. Conversely, all seven concepts were intensely and positively experienced and celebrated at the performance day, which was consistently the highlight for students and the lens through which they evaluated the overall experience. Contrary to current motivational theory, students particularly embraced Stage Challenge’s competitive orientation and the lure of external rewards. Because of the dearth of process research in youth activities, this thesis also trials and evaluates a range of methods to capture students’ lived experiences, using a variety of a observational techniques and data collection measures to investigate if, and how participants were growing, learning and developing as a result of Stage Challenge.