Theatre in Education ________________________________________ ` PRESENTED BY: EUNICE S NDLOVU L008 221A It is an umbrella term describing the use of scripted, live piece of theatre which is linked to an interactive workshop designed to explore issues further. Theatre in Education (TIE) basically refers to use of theatre within a formal school or out –of school context, Epskamp 2006:11. According to Jackson(19974:49-50) TIE began in Britain during the mid -1960s and spread rapidly as theatres sought to extend their outreach programmes and developed a variety of ways of speaking to the communities they served.

TIE refers to the use of theatre for explicit educational purposes, closely allied to school curriculum and mostly in educational contexts:schools,colleges and youth clubs or sometimes museums and historical sites. Theatre in Education aims to educate audiences through the powers of entertainment and imagination whilst, at the same time, encouraging children to question and think for themselves. It teaches, train and inspire.

Theatre in education is designed to enable young people to raise questions and discuss sensitive issues that they may otherwise avoid, to practise communication, negotiation and decision-making skills, and to consider issues relating to self-esteem, peer pressure, stereo types and sexuality. Drama –base teaching methods including role playing, forum theatre and hot seating may be used within the performance and workshops. 1)Forum Theatre This is a popular type of performance and is a sequencing technique with stop- start action.

The play is performed once without interruption, with the characters facing a number of dilemmas and choices. The young people are encouraged to step into the characters shoes and think about how they might handle things differently. Scenes from the play are repeated and the young people are invited to stop the action and intervene. They can improvise with the actors, or direct them, trying out alternatives and examining consequences. The forum is facilitated by someone who questions, encourages and summaries ensuring that everyone‘s voice can be heard. 2)Monologues

The most effective, thus monologues should be based on clear, strong messages. Monologues are usually followed by hot seating, which allows the actor to answer questions in role. As in all types of TIE this requires skilled facilitation. 3)Truth-seating and hot seating Hot seating and truth seating use similar techniques of questioning actors in role. When in the truth seat, the character must speak the truth, this particularly effective when dealing with feelings. At any time the audience can tap the character on the shoulder and freeze- frame the action.

The character must then tell the truth about what they are feeling at that moment. In hot seating, the actor/actress stays in character and answers questions in role which include responding according to the situation they are in, but not necessarily telling the “truth”. 4)Freeze framing The action is stopped at any given point by a facilitator or audience in order to ask question, for discussion, or to explore alternatives. Theatre in education works on a fundamental level because it is interactive.

All the shows Act On Info produce, even the ones to larger groups, involve audience participation on some level and this encourages an emotional connection to the work, making it more memorable. As well as learning about subjects and issues through drama by participating the pupils are also developing other social and interactive skills such as communication, public speaking, negotiation, awareness of themselves and others, teamwork, improved concentration, and self confidence. “One of the most memorable workshops we ever did was an anti-bullying workshop with a Yr 5 class.

One small boy stayed silent at first but during the hot seating he joined in heartily. He even got up and played one of the roles, brilliantly defending the ‘victim’. His teacher was amazed and afterwards we learned the pupil had not spoken in class since his mum had passed away six weeks earlier. It was fantastic knowing that the workshop had not only taught about the subject of bullying, but that it had brought about such a powerful change in one individual’s life. ” Alison – Act On Info Facilitator

The real driving force behind dramatic arts is what it does for emotional, physical and cognitive abilities of the student. The success of any theatre arts course depends on the competence of the teacher assigned to that course. Games are incredible useful in a theatre classroom, not just acting or warm up games can be played to increase performance or creative skills, these games have no winners or losers. Augusto Boal used theatre in creating a revolutionary consciousness particularly within the class struggle.

Boal used a series of physical exercises to make participants aware of their bodies and the deformations produced by the oppressive working conditions. There is overwhelming agreement that students find TIE to be an engaging, interesting and enjoyable medium for learning (Evans et al,1998. Also studies have shown that students appreciate the participatory nature of work, Denman et al ,1995,and that is an effective medium for generating discussion about sensitive issues ,Blakery and Pullen,1991.

The value of TIE Research shows that it effective in meeting young people’s interest involvement. Among the benefits of active learning methods are 1)They can be successfully used with groups of all ages and abilities. 2)Children, young people and adults find them enjoyable. 3)Pupils have to respond to content as well as to the values, feelings and opinions of others. 4)Different life experiences are acknowledged and explored. 5)Empower children and young people. )Offer a positive and open view of sex and sexuality, and support sexual self acceptance. 7)Reinforce value. 8)Focus on risk reduction. Results of TIE 1)Increasing knowledge 2)Influencing attitudes 3)Influencing behaviour 4)Cost effectiveness TIE and drama provide a “safe “environment in which the de-persolisation of issues and situations may allow for greater depth of discussion by the young people. Indeed teacher often comment after performance on quality of discussion and the level of contribution made by those normally hard to engage.

The difficulty lies in assessing how much of that thinking is transferred back to their own attitudes and behaviour. REFERENCES EPSKAMP K ,THEATRE FOR DEVELOPMENT. AN INTRODUCTION ,APPLICATIONS AND TRAINING,ZED BOOKS LONDON 2006. WHAT IS THEATRE IN EDUCATION? Theatre- education . co. uk/what –is-theatre-in –education THEATRE IN EDUCATION-ACTS ON INFO THEATRE COMPANY theatre-education. co. uk THEATRE IN EDUCATION BY CHRIS HASTINGS www. fortunecity. com/millenium/garston/49/hrhl/html THEATRE IN EDUCATION(TIE) ACTING POSITION www. acle. org/index. php/theatrino. html