drama a way to social inclusion

DRAMA - a WAY to social inclusion Practical process descriptions for drama workers | 1 | DRAMA - a Way to Social Inclusion Practical process descriptions for drama workers Jouni Piekkari (ed.) University of Turku, Centre for Extension Studies | 2 | This handbook is one of the outputs of DramaWay project (107247 - JA - 1 2002 1 FI JOINT CALL-SITG, http://www.tkk.uty.fi/dramaway). The handbook has been done with European support. Publications of the Centre for Extension Studies in Turku University A: 88 Cover Keijo Viljakainen Coverphotos Ulla Halkola and Titi Lillqvist Layout Rivico Oy, Jouni Vilhonen Publisher Centre for Extension Studies, University of Turku Print Dark Oy Printing year 2005 ISBN 951-29-2882-5 ISSN 0788-7906 Sales Centre for Extension Studies Tel. +358 2 3336280 Fax. +358 2 333 6220 kirjamyynti@utu.fi | 3 | Contents Drama – a Second Chance to Learn 5 1. Introduction 9 What is Drama Way? 9 2. Aims and Methods 12 Why to use drama as an alternative tool for learning? 12 Some Genres of Participatory and Interactive Drama 14 3. Projects in the Co-operation Countries 21 Estonia 22 Social Theatre Festival “Spartacus” (VAT Forum group) 23 Visits at Tallinn’s Centre of Children at Risk (VAT Forum group) 27 Forum Theatre in TV Youth Program “The Fist” (VAT Forum group) 31 Using Improvisational Technique in Forum Theatre (VAT Forum group) 35 Forum Theatre Workshops in Estonia (Jouni Piekkari) 39 Spain (Catalonia) 44 Clowns for Clean Clothes -Campaign (David Martínez) 45 Uncovering the Conflict. Exploring Our Decisions Through Drama (David Martínez) 51 School for Parents (Jordi Forcadas) 61 | 4 | Theatre Project with Immigrant Children of Raval (Anna Caubet & Jordi Forcadas) 64 Session of Interactive Theatre (Anna Caubet) 69 Invisible Theatre with Immigrant Youth (Jordi Forcadas) 71 Portugal 74 Interactive Class. Learning about Drama Literature (Marco Ferreira) 75 Youth & Job – Equality of Rights (Marco Ferreira) 80 Sonho de Amanda - Amanda´s Dream (Baal 17) 89 Finland 100 Free fall – Project in Lohja (Titi Lillqvist) 101 Photo as a Step to Drama (Ulla Halkola & Tarja Koffert) 115 Arts, Educators, Communities – a Participatory Approach (Jouni Piekkari) 119 Kullervo. Social Exclusion of Youth in Mythology (Titi Lillqvist & Jouni Piekkari) 130 New York, New York. Parents Making Choices Concerning Their Careers and Children (Jouni Piekkari) 142 Aleksi. How do I know someone is using drugs? (Jouni Piekkari) 148 4. Literature on Different Genres of Drama 155 Information of the writers of the articles 164 Appendix: Drama a Way to Social Inclusion CD 166 | 5 | Drama – a Second Chance to Learn It is common to experience discomfort at Finnish schools and work places. Several surveys and public discussions show that such aspects as bullying, burn-outs, psychological violence and sexual harassment have become a significant issue in Finland. These phenomena seem to be common also in other European countries. The society is evidently increasingly emphasising competition, specialisation, technical knowledge, know-how and consumption. In such a society it is more and more difficult for human beings to interact in positive, human ways. And the same challenges are met in family life as well. It is visible in public discussions that parents, people working with youngsters and educators often try to search for forums and methods to learn social skills needed to tackle these problems. However, where are these kind of forums in which people with various backgrounds could learn together through play: observe their lives with open eyes; experience moments of sharing? Where could we strengthen our communities and learn the social skills needed in that process? Drama a Way to Social Inclusion (Drama Way) was a project by the European Union Socrates Joint actions program. The project was started in 2002 and concluded in the end of February 2005. It was coordinated by the University of Turku, Centre for Extension Studies from Finland. The project has studied and explored the use of drama as forum-based tool in four countries in Europe; Spain, Portugal, Estonia and Finland. The basic idea of the project was to connect participatory drama and informal learning. Participatory drama methods were seen in project as a way to social inclusion. The utmost intention was to promote the equality of values and active citizenship among different minority groups of young people. We, the active participants of the project, have explored especially the use of drama in social exclusion of youngsters. We want to believe that drama could be the “second chance to learn” for those who have lost their first chance in the mainstream school system. In Catalonia (Spain), young prisoners try to understand their decisions in life through Shakespeare’s story of Hamlet. In Estonia, youngsters at a drug rehabilitation centre create constructive conflicts with their parents, relatives and drug dealers – in an imaginary drama. In Finland, 7 th grade school children learn critical awareness in drug questions - through an interactive forum theatre. In Portugal, children from isolated schools in the countryside are learning social skills through allegoric drama stories and self-expression exercises. In Finland, the secrets of sexuality are revealed and shared through world-famous fairy tales; the pre-Christian Finnish myth of Kullervo has been a tool for social work students for approaching and discussing cultural history concerning young people’s marginalisation and suicides. In the city of Barcelona, second generation immigrant youngsters create invisible theatre dealing with the rights of teen age girls. In the town of Turku, youngsters escaping their family problems to youth shelters get new perspectives to their lives through cross-artistic methods, such as photographs, music and diaries. | 6 | Catalonian clowns fool people of all ages to think about the injustice of the global trade and how to live ethically in a more sound way. These projects and many others have been an unusual way of sharing. Young and old, prisoners and non-prisoners, immigrants and non-immigrants, rural and urban, artists and non-artists have encountered each other on equal level. Everyone has done something different from what they usually do; taken positive risks. On the contrary to what one might expect, Drama Way did not produce a large number of theatre performances. Instead of creating shows, the participatory drama that we explored is an art form of a moment; creating and sharing meanings, process leading one towards understanding. In our project we have explored and developed new combinations and adaptations of a wide range of applied and interactive drama, such as forum theatre, live action role play (LARP), process drama / Drama-in Education (DIE), clownery, photo drama, cite-specific theatre, and education on theatre art. The participants of Drama Way are mainly young professional, who want to broaden their scope of work, for example, from conventional theatre work to interactive prison drama. Drama Way project has produced results beyond expectations. Some of the ideas born in these projects have already received funding from local or international co-operation partners. The most delightful thing is to see how some lonely people working with youngsters have made friends with other inspired people in the field. Some of them have found completely new directions for their lives and for their work with youngsters. Drama Way is not meant to be walked alone, but together with other people, in a creative interaction. | 7 | In this handbook our purpose is to introduce our work in a practical way, so that anyone with some experience in applied drama can try to adapt these processes in one’s own work. Even better, we hope that you could improve and develop our work: experiments presented here are “works-in-progress”. Some of the processes that did not function in first attempt in the best possible way are also included in this handbook. We believe that we can learn a lot from our mistakes as well. The great creativity and mercifulness of drama work lies in its unpredictability: how we succeed depends on the methods, people, environment, expectations, mood, context – often even the lucky position of stars… Only some of the projects that were borne due to the Drama Way are presented in this handbook. Many of the project reports are to be found on the project’s web site, which is updated regularly www.tkk.utu.fi/dramaway/. Project reports are published in the internet as original versions and as English translations, when possible. Many of the stories are so multidimensional and fine, that they will never be written down anywhere else but in our hearts. You have to go and experience them by yourself. We hope that you can also contribute to this sharing of experiences in our Drama Way project in the future! Behalf of the DramaWay project team Jouni Piekkari Editor, drama trainer | 8 | | 9 | 1. Introduction What is Drama Way? There is a need for alternative and more adaptable ways and means of learning for the young people who are under a threat of social exclusion. This need has been recognised throughout Europe. The demand for this project has become evident through the results of various previous educational programmes and projects. Special ways of working, such as participatory and experiential methods, are often required to guide the groups in threat of exclusion towards social inclusion. Drama in its various forms is one example of these tools. The need for a new approach is perhaps most clearly recognised with those working with youngsters who have various kinds of problems, such as school drop- outs, young substance abusers and immigrants. For example, European Socrates Grundtvig project Social inclusion through APEL made a research, which summarised that the informal ways and methods of learning are of crucial importance in the efforts against marginalisation. The need for networks of drama groups and individual drama specialists with training institutions and various projects is clear. A continuous need to develop the practice has become evident though the previous projects and training programmes. Also drama as a tool has to be explored in new and applied ways to ensure its applicability for various target groups. General objectives of Drama Way • To share practical tools and insights between the young/ beginning professional or semi-professional drama workers who are interested in working with youngsters under a threat of social exclusion • to improve local and international networks of drama workers, funding instances and social workers – to improve the visibility of the work • to create practical, easily accessible material and project descriptions to help the development of practical and pedagogical drama work of young professionals in the field • to identify themes that are locally important • to initiate small-scale pilot drama projects with various youth groups in need for social inclusion e.g. drug addicts in each partner country (Estonia, Spain (Catalonia), Portugal and Finland) The main target of the project Drama – A Way to Social Inclusion (Drama Way) was to promote the opportunities of the young, especially 14-18 year old people; to adapt them to the larger society and to the community they are living in, as well as, to the possibility to get education and to learn from the methods tailored for them. The learning methods used for these youngsters must be different from the formal methods of education; the methods must provide a genuine second chance of learning in an informal way. The methods often include taking the youngsters away from the conventional school context: into the nature, youth centres or theatre schools. Many of the projects also integrate different age and social groups. For example, it has been important to bring “outsiders” to the prison environment in order to create a new kind of interaction in the drama. [...]... peers through an interactive drama. The topics are handled in a participatory way and consist of the topics that the young people themselves are concerned of Drama Way gathers people with various backgrounds and ways of working to work together.This has resulted in a tremendous range of working methods and creative ideas Different approaches are utilised in Drama Way: some emphasise celebratory aspects in... process drama also to suite more simple processes that can be easily used in classrooms and social or youth work training sessions aiming at focusing a discussions in the lecture on certain social topics The new EU member state Estonia is another good example how the local culture can be used in drama In the workshop, the Estonian actors and drama workers gave the other Drama Way partners a chance to explore... sociodrama are similar to many of the above mentioned techniques, emphasis being on the analytic understanding of social dynamics Sociodrama is commonly used method of training Sociodrama is also a non-therapeutic sibling of Moreno’s psychodrama and has strongly influenced the development of Play Back theatre Celebratory Drama Celebratory approach in theatre making often aims at identifying certain... project was realised locally in four countries: Finland, Spain (Catalonia), Estonia and Portugal.The local groups organised workshops and real life laboratories in each country.These experimental laboratories also produced material for internet based data-bank of experiences (see www.tkk.utu.fi/dramaway) and for national discussion forums debating the use of drama methods in local context The local workshops... dictated from above or through the formal education system Participatory drama (not just any drama) is considered as a democratic and critical device for learning, where both the ”teachers” and ”pupils” can learn from each other, and more precisely learn together A teacher/educator of participatory drama can never be a fully learnt specialist of the subcultures s/he is working with To give an example; only... kasvatustieteenlaitos, Helsinki Jauhiainen (1999): Ryhmäilmiö Koskela,Virpi (1999): Elämäntehtävä Legioonateatterin opetukset – Kokemuksia ja ajatuksia ohjaajan ja kouluttajan roolista Kuikka, Suvi (toim.): Friikki Nuorisoteatteritoiminnan opas Vapaan Sivitystyön liitto Owens, Allan and Barber, Keith (1997): Drama Works Rohd, Michael (1998): Theatre, Community and Conflict Resolution Hope is Vital Manual for educators... though the creators of this genre emphasise it as a form of sharing real life experiences in an entertaining way Sociodrama Sociodrama, based on the work of Jacob L Moreno, is one of the earliest genres of applied drama Sociodrama is not a simple drama technique; it is a complex theory and method of analysing, understanding and learning about the different social phenomena of people’s everyday lives.The... alternative arena for learning for several decades Effects of drama use have been researched, and the results showed that drama can promote qualitative learning, which considers the different individual learning styles Participatory drama seems, for example, to use and combine practically all the different learning channels and processes such as auditive, kinaesthetic, visual, tactile, multi-sensory, mathematical,... the formal learning system, especially in the case of youngsters with learning difficulties, which are often based on socio-cultural background (see also Goleman 1997) Blatner, Adam (1996): Acting-in Practical application of psycho dramatic methods Hannula, Aino (2000): Tiedostaminen ja muutos Paulo Freiren ajattelussa Systemaattinen analyysi sorrettujen pedagogiikasta Helsingin yliopiston kasvatustieteenlaitos,... Site-specific theatre refers to any kind of theatre that takes place in a nontheatre environment and uses the special features of different environments theatrically and symbolically For example, a theatrical event or performance can take place in a dumping area, old abandoned building or in nature Performances and their audiences may also wander from one place to another In many cases this kind of performance . DRAMA - a WAY to social inclusion Practical process descriptions for drama workers | 1 | DRAMA - a Way to Social Inclusion Practical process descriptions for drama workers Jouni Piekkari. is Vital Manual for educators and youth workers. | 14 | Some Genres of Participatory and Interactive Drama In the Drama Way project we use and mix various forms of participatory and applied drama. . (Marco Ferreira) 80 Sonho de Amanda - Amanda´s Dream (Baal 17) 89 Finland 100 Free fall – Project in Lohja (Titi Lillqvist) 101 Photo as a Step to Drama (Ulla Halkola & Tarja Koffert) 115 Arts,