Besides sports, one of the most well known after-school activities is Drama Class. Many think of this class as an easy class; however, theater and arts education may be one of the most productive ways of keeping minors safe and out of trouble. Frank Hosdoll, a Chairman for the National Endowment for the Arts, once said "Serious arts education will help them--to understand civilization... to develop creativity, to learn the tools of communication...and to make wiser choices among the products of the arts." Arts education can help prepare the next generation for the future as well. By watching and being involved in visual and performing arts, people may learn how to manage their lives better. From time management to articulate communication skills and even problem solving with new ways of thinking, arts education is a foundation often forgotten. This is why arts education would benefit minors, especially those who are considered to be "at risk."
These "at risk" youths now have a place to go for help, The Geese Theatre Company. Located in Birmingham, England, they have opened their doors to the Criminal Justice system to help youths who are in prison, on probation, or those who have mental health issues. By using arts education to stimulate self-awareness, they are able to "consider the connections between personal behavior, choice and responsibility and broader social, economic and political factors." They encourage their students to look into their behaviors to help them become better citizens in their community. They may then be able to teach others how to do the same. Their approach to this is quite simple.
By choosing fictitious stories, the students and instructors delve into various situations and
behaviors. They discuss alternatives to these actions in a discussion and debate setting, then "rehearse" these choices for future reference. Another approach they use involves using theater masks (see photo on right). These masks allow the students to understand they can still express what they feel without having to show the world their insecurities. By using this technique, the students understand that everyone wears a mask of some sort, "some habitually, some self-consciously." The masks allow the students to look into their destructive and coping mechanisms, and how those strategies can be changed.In a movement course last year, my class and I were to use similar masks during many of our exercises. Even though we were using the masks to learn about our bodies and how movement and body positions can express many types of emotion, it is understandable how mask work is an important part of this rehabilitation process. Each of us learned not only what our body looks like and expresses on an everyday basis, we were taught how to change and improve upon it. This is why the Geese Theatre Company's approach to helping these youths is so innovative and interesting. One of the most captivating, yet simple ideas I took away from that class was that any habit could be broken; it is just a matter of time and dedication.
It appears that is what this group believes and by diving into their "stories," these students relearn how to
live their lives and become a great addition to society. Some of these performance stories include: Inside/Outside-an interactive performance for lifers and their families preparing for release, Journey Woman-a performance and residency for women prisoners, Open Your Eyes-a play about the dangers of trafficking recruitment, So Far-a sex offender treatment, and so on. These open-ended stories allow for audience members to question and influence the actors who are bound by a story they must continue to live in. As strange as it may seem, this method appears to work. A prisoner said about the performances, "That was spot-on. You hit the nail on the head. Some of the scenarios you presented today brought tears to my eyes."The actors are all convicted offenders and yet, these performances give them a chance to feel free--even if only on the stage.The Geese Theatre Company's performances and groupwork interventions address many different offender issues. They have even started to expand internationally, helping with the Azerbaijan Women's Prison in Baku, Azerbaijan, as well as the issue of trafficking in Bulgaria. Because of their unique mask theater work, the company's approach is welcomed internationally and continues to find advocates for what they do. We can only hope that soon the Geese Theatre Company finds it way to America, to continue serious arts education and help fight for the future of the convicted and at-risk youth population.
5 comments:
Reading your last blog post, “Arts Education: How to End After School Crimes”; I remembered how after school programs in my middle school and high school were able to help the majority of the students stay out of trouble. Those students that were not involved in any after school programs tended to join gangs and do nothing but cause problems in the neighborhoods surrounding the schools. It is interesting to see the statistical figures that you included, I would have never known that 1,400 murders are committed a year by minors. By reading those facts regarding crimes committed by minors, I can see why you believe it is a good idea to establish after school programs. The only problem I see with offering drama classes as to minors, especially among certain ethnicities, drama classes or acting is seen as an unpopular activity. This negative connotation might prevent these students from joining or having an interest to be involved in such art programs. Although I do see the positive outcomes that doing such as activities as acting would produce, I do not believe that students of those ages will be able to comprehend the true value and meaning of freeing oneself from ones identity to be able to communicate more effectively and freely with others. I believe that most people that age will look at these activities as a joke and not really submerse themselves in the situation. Another issue of offering such programs will be the question of who finances them, will it become the responsibility of society as a whole and come from tax dollars or will it privately funded and by whom. Most people get excited and are for creating these after school programs, but once it comes to giving money, they tend to back off their support.
As far as the actual structure of your blog goes, I like how you broke up your paragraphs into stating the problem, offering a solution, and providing evidence of how others have succeeded and grown as a person by using such programs. The use of the pictures, the masks, gives a vivid image of how someone wearing it during an exercise would feel as if they were a different person. It is good use of visuals that help further increase the value of your evidence. The labels were also used very well; each label hits and summarizes each of the points that your blog covers. The one suggestion I have as far as the writing is to try not to use contractions and state your position more clearly, I know you are interested in art as an option for after school programs, but I was not able to figure out if you strongly believe in art as being the only option or if you believe that there should be after school programs in general.
My favourite story in this vein is the student who told his teacher that he keeps trying to drop out of school, but can't because he wants to stay in drama class...
It constantly baffles me when the arts in schools are dismissed as frivolous and without value.
Administrators see improv games and consider the whole thing a waste of time. More math! More science! More tests! More numbers!
How will math and science classes teach communication? Or team work? Or the self-confidence to give a presentation?
I know, I'm just ranting....sigh.
And Dorian: teenagers know exactly what it means to free themselves. And when they realize what they can accomplish through drama, nothing stops them in life.
Keep up the good work on your site, I'm enjoying it!
Geese Theatre Company actually started in America back in 1980 and toured to prisons across the States for 10 Years before concentrating more on dramatherapy based programmes. John Bergman, the company's original founder is still working in the field doing ground-breaking work with offenders with learning disabilities and researching the impact that dramatherapy has on neurological processing.
The art they make it possible to use personal strengths in meaningful ways and to bridge into understanding sometimes difficult abstractions through these strengths.
Arts and Education
Nice blog for sure a lot of blogger really love this too.
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