Citizenship has added a fresh texture to school studies and theatre companies can help, say Paul Morrall and Suzi Clark-Britton. Current academic provision slants towards rewarding academic achievement, rather than being geared to help children develop their social, mental and ethical understanding and skills – the skills that will make them better citizens. Prior to the adoption of citizenship into the curriculum, you could just about complete the entire National Curriculum without acquiring those vital skills and values.
Citizenship in the curriculum has three main themes: social and moral responsibility, community involvement and political literacy. Chicken Shed delivers these in two main ways. Firstly, it involves students in drama, dance and music projects which, by their very subject matter, explore the 60% component of the citizenship curriculum which concentrates on facts and issues. Secondly, the 40% of the current GCSE which requires some sort of active involvement within the school community or outside it – can be delivered through the special “mentoring” relationships that are an integral part of Chicken Shed’s methodology.
Chicken Shed is an “inclusive theatre company.” It works by encouraging even the youngest of its members to take responsibility not only for their own participation, but for the participation of others. Participation in inclusive theatre encourages self-confidence and self-esteem and also deepens understanding of individuals towards those who may be seen as different. Our method encourages children to respect one another and to encourage others’ achievements, as well as their own.
Chicken Shed recently delivered a three school partnership project in Haringey, London, which brought together eleven year-olds from a primary school with fifteen year-olds from a secondary school and children of all ages from a local special needs school. The focus of the project was to overcome a general feeling of disaffection within the secondary group and to combat truancy. It was also hoped that the project would allay the fears of some primary schoolchildren about the move to secondary school. ‘Paula’s Story’, an autobiographical play by Chicken Shed’s writer in residence, Paula Rees, provided an ideal vehicle to engage the older children. The play tackled Paula’s almost total exclusion from education and issues of bullying.
Another workshop activity, ‘Odd One Out’, looked at why children get left out by others. In the workshop, children devised their own characters, often based on superheroes. They were left out because of their differences, perhaps because they look different, or have different powers. Through exploring what even superheroes could do to win acceptance, the children on the project came to have a better understanding of why difference is not a rationale for exclusion.
Chicken Shed’s initial work in Haringey eventually led to the establishment of Haringey Shed – where inclusive theatre has been adopted and developed by the local community. It is one of eleven existing projects, with new projects planned for Lambeth, Islington and Southwark, as part of The London Challenge initiative. We believe that inclusive theatre can deepen an individual’s understanding of what it is to be a good citizen, and empower them with the skills that will encourage active participation from the earliest age, in defence of democracy, in defence of their own rights and the human rights of others, and in recognition of their individual responsibility towards their fellow human beings and their planet.
Suzi Clark-Britton is Head of Marketing and Development for Education and Paul Morrall is Director of Education at Chicken Shed Theatre Company. t: 020 8351 6161.