Description
Spontaneity is the ultimate self-expression of a child’s true nature. However, with age, children partially renounce it, as the social environment values control more than expression.
This might be necessary to some extent; however, it might also push the child to hide their fears and anxiety, as well as to repress their feelings, emotions, desires, and thoughts because perceived as negative or dysfunctional.
Shall we try recovering the notion of the original personality, concealed under the layers of our public facade? In this course, participants will learn a variety of self-expression techniques to do this by practicing the art of improvisation.
Improvisation helps children and adults alike to recover the spontaneity hidden by social masks. Thus, it constitutes an important tool to start a promising journey toward self-discovery.
The course will offer hands-on self-expression practices that will help participants promote spontaneity in themselves and in their pupils. The practices will help participants to:
- Build a community within the classroom as an environment nurturing healthy self-expression;
- Emphasize active listening for highly interactive improvisation;
- Exploit effective detonators for improvisation;
- Employ the PROL (character, relationship, objective, place) scheme as an improvisation technique;
- Experiment with improvisation with fun in different contexts.
The practices will actively involve the body, as well as the mind, so it is recommended for participants to show up in comfortable clothing, ready to move and use their bodies!
By the end of the course, participants will know how to use improvisation in their classes in order to transform them into more a productive environment promoting personal and social growth.
They will also possess significant tools for developing perception, as well as expressive and communication skills, in order to nurture creativity and imagination, and strengthen interpersonal relations within the classroom.
Learning outcomes
Course participants will learn to:
- Conceive the concept of improvisation as an expressive tool that enhances spontaneous creativity;
- Use improvisation to stimulate pupils’ capacity of self-expression and self-awareness;
- Resolve conflicts and encourage cooperation within the classroom;
- Manage and reduce inequalities through improvisation;
- Promote social and intercultural exchange among pupils.
Tentative schedule
Day 1 – Introduction to self-expression
- Introduction to the course, the school, and the external week activities;
- Icebreaker activities and warm-up activities;
- Presentations of the participants’ schools.
Welcome to improvisation!
- Improvisation activities to present and introduce oneself;
- Improvisation activities for team building.
Day 2 – Active listening in improvisation
- Warm-up games;
- Activities to foster the capacity to listen to and contest external stimuli;
- Activities to foster a positive attitude towards external stimuli (adaptation and saying “yes!”).
Day 3 – Starting improvisation
- Warm-up games;
- Starting an improvisation using a detonator;
- Developing improvisation using the PROL (character, relationship, objective, place).
Day 4 – Varieties of improvisations
- Warm-up games;
- Playing improvisation in different contests;
- What’s sound looping? An intro to improvisation using the voice.
Day 5 – Improvising at school
- Warm-up games;
- The theory of improvisation.
Day 6 – Course closure and cultural activities
- Course evaluation: round-up of acquired competencies, feedback, and discussion;
- Awarding of the course Certificate of Attendance;
- Excursion and other external cultural activities.