Shakespeare with Learning Difficulties - "Special" magazine article

 

This is a transcript of the article that appeared in Nasen's "Special" magazine during the Summer. 

Making a difference - using drama and theatre arts

Christopher Davies is one of the artistic directors of Bamboozle, a company that specialises in working with students who have a variety of learning difficulties.  Here he describes a residency with four special schools in Northampton and the difference it made to student involvement and behaviour.

The studio is dimly lit as the students enter one by one and sit on mats.  A grove of magical trees, which the students had made from willow and multi-coloured cellophane the previous day, cast a chiaroscuro of shadows across the leaf strewn forest floor.   Electric guitar music builds the tension.  A figure hides in the shadows, crouching amongst the trees.  It is Lysander, who the students had met the day before when they had agreed to help him find Hermia.  The problem is that half-hidden beyond the trees is an eye.  The eye is big.  Back projected onto a screen and several feet across – closed at the moment but able to open at any time.  It represents Oberon, who has Hermia as a captive and is keeping watch over the forest.  Lysander gestures to the students.  A few at a time they come forward – staying alert to the possibility that the eye may open at any moment.  The guitar becomes louder, more strident.  They have to find a place of hiding without being seen by the open eye.  For some it is a commando style dive for cover.  For others, not so physically dextrous, it is more measured – a kind of grandmother’s footsteps but with menace.  For everyone there is a sense of urgency and secrecy. Whenever the eye opens with a clash of guitar, everyone freezes – until eventually all are gathered to help Lysander find his Hermia.

This was a scene from day 3 of Bamboozle’s week-long A Midsummer Night’s Dream residency at Northampton Theatres in February.  This session is evidence that all have bought into the story.  Their interest is well and truly hooked and they are beginning to gel as a group.

The residency was commissioned by four Northampton special schools.  Raeburn and Kings Meadow are for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties [EBD], Fairfields and Greenfields have students with severe or profound & multiple learning difficulties [SLD & PMLD].  Very different students with very different needs. 

There were two questions at the start for all of us, head teachers, staff and the Bamboozle team: “How will it work with students with such differing needs in a single group” and “What difference, if any, will this residency make to the lives of the students and the working practice of the staff?” 

It is all very well having an interesting time and lots of fun – and we certainly had that - but head teachers need to know that it will make a difference – that there will be a lasting benefit.  They had committed significant funds to enable this residency to take place. 

Lisa Atack - the teacher accompanying SLD/PMLD students from Greenfields School - said: “At the beginning of the week I was really sceptical.  I thought that our students have difficulty understanding; they won’t get as much out of it as the EBD students.  But they did.  The way Bamboozle led the workshops gave the students space which paid dividends – we witnessed communication, friendship and teamwork between the students from different schools that I would not have thought possible.

“This week I have learnt never to underestimate the potential of our students.  We, the staff, were asked by Bamboozle to sit back more than we would normally do and see what happened when our students were given time and space to respond without help or encouragement.  This was a massive challenge for me, and my colleagues, as we are used to supporting our students very closely.  But the results were amazing.” 

Giving students the time and space that Ms Atack refers to is a key feature of Bamboozle’s approach.  I think it is one of the two most important factors of our methodology that enables students to express themselves. 

The other one is to create a non-judgemental working environment.  For example we are careful not to ask questions to which we already have the answers.  So instead of:
“What is Lysander thinking?”  we might ask:
 “Let’s wonder what Lysander is thinking”
The former has judgement built into it.  The message it gives is ‘He is thinking something and I, the facilitator [or teacher], know what it is.  Can you, the student, guess?’  In our experience students pick up very quickly if they are being asked to guess what an answer is – and many of them remain silent rather than risk being caught out and found wanting.  The second sentence: “I wonder what Lysander is thinking” gives two messages.  One – we are in this together “Let us …” and Two: anyone is free to wonder anything without fear of being wrong. 

When students then come up with ideas it is our job to weave their responses into the developing story.  For example at the beginning of this residency we showed a 5 minute piece of theatre where a character seemed to be lost in an alien world.  We had in mind that this was Puck and he was being controlled by Oberon.  However one of the things the students wondered after watching it was “Did he have a wife?”  In order to make use of this contribution we decided that the character was Lysander looking for Hermia.  Taking students’ ideas in this way enables them to see that their suggestions are taken seriously and can influence the story.  It values them.   As Dorothy Smart, a teacher from King’s Meadow on an extended INSET with the company during the residency observed “Bamboozle’s forte is to stimulate and capture ideas and expressions from children, really hear their meaning and turn these into an event beyond their wildest dreams. Most important of all is that all children have their success reflected back to them.”

David Lloyd, head teacher of EBD Raeburn School feels that there were definite benefits for his students in working with the SLD and PMLD students.  He says: “The opportunity that the residency provided for our students was just massive – huge.  It enabled them to feel useful and valued which is a big contrast to what much of their experience of life has been.  They are used to being marginalised, berated and seen as a problem - to being punished, kept in or thrown out.

“This was an amazing experience - emotionally very rich – it gave our students a positive regard for who they are - and that is rare.  During this project they worked with students who had a different level of dependency and this was a huge benefit to them.  They had a positive input into the group and were able to help some of the other students from which they got an instant and real reward for their contribution.

“The boys had nothing but positive things to say about the week.  That is significant as they normally have very little positive to say about anything.   When asked which bit he liked best Callum said ‘All of it’ which is remarkable for him.”

Callum began the week reluctant to speak, to respond to invitations or to take part at all.  He spent much of the first day sitting out with a member of staff.  By the end of the week he was enthusiastically participating – going up to actors in role offering help, assisting Oliver one of the SLD students in an extremely sensitive manner.  On the final day when Oliver was asked what he had liked best he pointed towards Callum.  This was a huge boost in self-esteem for Callum and a measure of how important meeting other students had been for Oliver.

Corallie Murray, head teacher of Oliver’s school, Fairfields [SLD/PMLD] said: “One of the big benefits was to see the boys labelled EBD working together with our students.”

How the students from the four schools worked together was a feature of the week.  On the first morning Jason [name changed] one of the Greenfields students, who has a high degree of autism, threw himself noisily onto the floor and several students from other schools, not used to this behaviour, looked at him and sniggered.  By the end of the week they had become supportive and were working as a team.  Jason too had modified his behaviour to the extent that he was able to take direction from other students in a way that would normally have caused him to react in a strongly negative manner.

When asked what she attributed the success of the week to Ms Murray said:  “I think that this is down to four factors:
1. The way Bamboozle present opportunities and how the company creates a safe and secure environment enables our students to feel that they can confidently experiment in ways that they haven’t been able to before.
2. To take part in an intensive week like this provides opportunities that do not come along very often.
3. The skills of the facilitators – Bamboozle has a very special way of facilitating the whole process that achieves remarkable results.
4. Working with groups of EBD students who are more advanced academically gave our students other models of achievement to aspire to.  It also enabled them to see different behaviours and how they were dealt with by other school staff and Bamboozle’s artists.  This broadens their social education and helps them to learn how to deal with situations that they do not often come across in school.

“I cannot begin to describe how incredibly well spent the money has been.  It was a completely empowering week for our students.  They came back into school with heads held high.  It was well worth every single penny.” 

There are a number of contributing factors to how this project made a difference to the lives of the students.  It is too early to say what the long term the benefits will be but it is clear from the perspective of the staff and head teachers that a considerable difference was made.  Student levels of confidence grew as recognised by Em Shaw a class teacher at King’s Meadow: “The Bamboozle experience gave our children the opportunity to explore ideas and feelings within the safe forum provided by the drama. All contributions were valued which helped boost their self esteem and build confidence.”
Their behaviour and commitment to the activities changed significantly during the week; as Jane Bispham, a teacher from Raeburn* said: “I brought in one group of students at the beginning of the week and I am taking home a different one.” 
Lisa also recognised a growth in confidence in her students: “By day three our students confidently entered the theatre ahead of us and said hello to students and staff from other schools.  This level of confidence and independence was a revelation to us.”
The level of teamwork was also evident.  Corallie Murray again: – “Everyone in the room during the sharing at the end of the week saw how remarkably well they worked together.”

So what contributed to the success of this residency?  It seems to have been a combination of several factors:
 
• Being in a theatre and therefore out of the school environment
• Being with students from other schools
• Creating a non-judgemental structured space to work in
• Giving space and time for each individual to contribute
• Continuing to excite and intrigue the students with questions and problems to solve
• Working with highly skilled artists – musicians, actors, designers, technicians etc
• Creating short high energy pieces of theatre to give students and staff the message that we are involved in something exciting here
• Giving the message very early on day one that the students can influence how the work develops – which is key to engaging all students and especially potentially disaffected ones
• Giving value to student input by developing their ideas and using them in the story – writing a song, creating the tree environment, deciding on the next step in the action, making sound-scapes with percussion
• Opened staff up to a different way of working – For Ms Atack this was significant:  “As a result of being part of this residency my classroom practice has changed dramatically.  Last week, for example, we set up an environment and then allowed the students simply to explore it.  We kept our hands off and witnessed some magical moments which we would never have seen had we intervened as much as we used to.”

* Raeburn school has since moved to a new building in Tiffield and changed its name to The Gateway School.

The Bamboozle Residency Process
It may be that as you read this you are thinking that a residency might have similar benefits for your school.  So we include below the step by step process that Bamboozle, the 4 schools and Northampton Theatres went through to set up this residency.
1. Bamboozle commissioned by a school or group of schools.
2. Discussions with a suitable venue.  Most of our residencies take place in theatres.  It is possible to use a large school drama studio – or even to convert a school hall into a theatre space.
3. Dates agreed with schools, venue and company.
4. Funding secured.  In this case funding provided by schools, Northampton Theatre Trust and Bamboozle [using Arts Council funds]   
5. Bamboozle recruits artistic team,
6. Head teachers and artistic director meet to discuss the range of opportunities that Bamboozle can offer, the needs of students, INSET opportunities for staff and anything else that the schools want to achieve during the week.
7. INSET training for all teachers.
8. Preliminary workshop for students and staff with the Bamboozle team. 
9.  The planning process. Day one.  This takes place about a month before the residency to explore ideas and decide upon setting.
10. The designer then comes up with an initial setting and commissions any making and organises buying and hiring of necessary equipment.
11. Get in.  This is the setting up of the initial set in the venue. 
12. The 5 day residency.  A series of related workshops and explorations on a theme – in this case “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.  Students would typically experience a wide range of activities including: interacting with actors in role, problem solving, making music, writing songs, singing, percussion, making props or settings, using puppets and mask, making up or acting out a story.
13. Recording.  This is done by a variety of means including: photographs, video, written word, making of props, recording of songs, staff and student opinions.
14. Evaluation.  Collection of evidence through interviews, feedback forms from staff and artists, telephone interviews with head teachers. 

 

Posted Sep 15, 02:33 PM in category Drama-ideas News

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