Interactive Workshop on Community Engagement Utilizing Theatre with At-Risk Youth
Presentation Format
Interactive Workshop
Intended Audience
All Audiences
Presentation Description
Living through the recession in an impoverished rural community with most students in the high school on free lunch, it is clear that a mutually beneficial relationship between the college and the community can only add to the value of the education of both the college students and the students from the community. In utilizing the techniques of theatre for social change developed by the late Brazilian theorist Augusto Boal, Georgia College Theatre created a civic engagement class that included primarily non-theatre students. In this general education class entitled Theatre for Social Change, the students learn the techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed and worked on statistical and factual content. The trained students then utilize these techniques in sessions with Early College community teens. The scenes are improvised by the college students who then include the Early College teens in direct participation to assist in solving the issues discussed in the scenes. Through these techniques the Early College teens develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Through this service learning class the college students develop a better understanding of these issues as well as the ability to use theatre techniques to promote social change. The college students also develop strong bonds with the community students who are often from a very different environment than the communities of the college students to increase their appreciation of diversity.
Research has shown the value of the arts to raise SAT scores. It is amazing how this engaged learning class makes the Early College teens realize the power of their own ideas as they interact in the theatre scenes to address the important problems they must confront in their lives. The class develops their own skills through the fun and interactive use of theatre.
The workshop style of the session will demonstrate these techniques through the active presentation by both faculty and students from the class. With the active participation of the audience, the problem-solving techniques of theatre for social change will be demonstrated during the workshop. The workshop will be presented in a fun and interactive style to best demonstrate theatre for social change in which the audience will role-play in the scenes to find answers to teen social and health issues.
Finally, we will discuss ways of assessing the learning through portfolio and AAC&U Values Rubrics.
Goals for this session are:
-
The audience will develop a basic understanding of the collaborative projects developed with the community.
-
The audience will develop an understanding of how theatre can collaborate with other disciplines in enriching courses throughout the university’s curriculum.
-
The audience will increase their knowledge of community engagement by participating in a performance pedagogy that directly confronts and helps solve key issues in the community.
-
The audience will learn methods of assessing projects using portfolios and the LEAP Values Rubrics.
Location
Room - 1002
Start Date
4-14-2016 10:45 AM
End Date
4-14-2016 12:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Berman, Karen J. and Papailler, Kristi, "Interactive Workshop on Community Engagement Utilizing Theatre with At-Risk Youth" (2016). Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning 2016. 5.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gss/2016/2016/5
Interactive Workshop on Community Engagement Utilizing Theatre with At-Risk Youth
Room - 1002
Living through the recession in an impoverished rural community with most students in the high school on free lunch, it is clear that a mutually beneficial relationship between the college and the community can only add to the value of the education of both the college students and the students from the community. In utilizing the techniques of theatre for social change developed by the late Brazilian theorist Augusto Boal, Georgia College Theatre created a civic engagement class that included primarily non-theatre students. In this general education class entitled Theatre for Social Change, the students learn the techniques of Theatre of the Oppressed and worked on statistical and factual content. The trained students then utilize these techniques in sessions with Early College community teens. The scenes are improvised by the college students who then include the Early College teens in direct participation to assist in solving the issues discussed in the scenes. Through these techniques the Early College teens develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Through this service learning class the college students develop a better understanding of these issues as well as the ability to use theatre techniques to promote social change. The college students also develop strong bonds with the community students who are often from a very different environment than the communities of the college students to increase their appreciation of diversity.
Research has shown the value of the arts to raise SAT scores. It is amazing how this engaged learning class makes the Early College teens realize the power of their own ideas as they interact in the theatre scenes to address the important problems they must confront in their lives. The class develops their own skills through the fun and interactive use of theatre.
The workshop style of the session will demonstrate these techniques through the active presentation by both faculty and students from the class. With the active participation of the audience, the problem-solving techniques of theatre for social change will be demonstrated during the workshop. The workshop will be presented in a fun and interactive style to best demonstrate theatre for social change in which the audience will role-play in the scenes to find answers to teen social and health issues.
Finally, we will discuss ways of assessing the learning through portfolio and AAC&U Values Rubrics.
Goals for this session are:
-
The audience will develop a basic understanding of the collaborative projects developed with the community.
-
The audience will develop an understanding of how theatre can collaborate with other disciplines in enriching courses throughout the university’s curriculum.
-
The audience will increase their knowledge of community engagement by participating in a performance pedagogy that directly confronts and helps solve key issues in the community.
-
The audience will learn methods of assessing projects using portfolios and the LEAP Values Rubrics.
Program Abstract
Georgia College Theatre will involve participants in a fun and interactive workshop demonstrating the techniques of theatre for social change in an innovative undergraduate model of community engagement utilizing a high impact interdisciplinary general education course collaborating with at-risk high school students in Early College to create scenes on health issues from anti-bullying to suicide prevention. Faculty, staff and students wishing to be inspired by collaborative models of engaged service learning will enjoy this session.