St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Theses
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Pre-tertiary transitions in the performing arts : a qualitative study of the tensions and hierarchies in widening access to a conservatoire's cultural systems

Thumbnail
View/Open
GraemeSmilliePhDThesis.pdf (16.09Mb)
Date
28/06/2021
Author
Smillie, Graeme John
Supervisor
Broad, Stephen
Funder
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland
Scottish Funding Council
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Altmetrics DOI Statistics
Abstract
This study investigates the lived experiences of students on ‘Transitions 20/40’, a pre-tertiary widening access initiative at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Transitions 20/40 funded participants from statistically identified deprived areas in Scotland to attend ‘Junior’ conservatoire and short course programmes. This thesis aims to improve understanding of the implicit and explicit ways conservatoire cultures may exclude individuals from these under-represented backgrounds. The research explores the social and cultural conditions of conservatoire participation and asks if facilitating student participation in existing pre-tertiary structures is enough to meaningfully widen participation to the institution. The research also investigates how the Conservatoire can diversify its cultures, practices and priorities to include more diverse students, and if examples of good practice are already seen across different artistic disciplines. Semi-structured interviews were conducted over a four-year period with a sample of 47 student participants across the disciplines of music, drama, dance, production and screen. The tools of Pierre Bourdieu informed the data collection and are used to conceptualise learner trajectories from peripheral positions as they move towards full participation in the Conservatoire. Analysis shows that participants who continued into undergraduate study found legitimised institutional practices that reflect their prior learning, valued their existing social and cultural capital and allowed them to focus on their creative practice. Those who had learned their creative practice outside of specific conservatoire adherent cultural systems experienced a dissonance, and laboured to gain social and cultural legitimisation there, often undertaking a degree of expectation and identity reformulation as part of Transitions 20/40. This discussion challenges the institution to connect with more diverse communities of practice, build further on the bespoke learning opportunities extended to students in Transitions 20/40, and further embed the widening participation agenda as a core institutional priority, to better reflect the broader society in which the Conservatoire is situated.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.17630/sta/79
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Collections
  • Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Theses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/23438

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter