NEWSLETTER N. 4 September Theatre. Theatre as empowerment methodology for IVET

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1 September 2015 Lifelong Learning Programme Leonardo da Vinci Transfer Of Innovation Theatre Theatre as empowerment methodology for IVET DEAR READER, Welcome to the last THEATRE project newsletter! In this forth edition we are delighted to update you about the project ending and the future development of our good practice! You can consult the main project outcomes and results by visiting the THEATRE project on our website If you want to know more, please do not hesitate to contact us via or telephone. We are happy to keep you informed about THEATRE's activities and future steps. We would appreciate your feedback and wish you an informative read! Your THEATRE Team This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The author is solely responsible for this publication and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Ref. num: IT1-LEO Cup: G33D

2 THE PILOT EXPERIENCES AND THE FINAL VALIDATION OF THE GOOD PRACTICE Pilot experiences The theatrical methodology had been tested in partners territories involving different kind of educational centers and schools. Pilot experiences ended in May The THEATRE partners organised and carried out the pilot experiences with their beneficiaries. The way in which the pilot experiences were carried out differed from partner to partner, as the related target groups and consequent operational contexts were quite heterogeneous, even if all the beneficiaries for different reasons shared the same problem of being at risk of early school leaving. Centro Studi Opera Don Calabria Italy (P0) Pilot experiences involved three groups of students attending IVET courses and special educational programme, for a total number of 35 youngsters aged from 15 to 17 years. The groups consisted respectively of at-risk-students sent by compulsory schools in order to support them in obtaining the compulsory qualification, students already attending the centre experiencing learning and social difficulties Boğaziçi University Turkey (P2) Learners involved were those coming from mainstream schools who were attending them with a risk of dropping out (high absence and low success rates). There were 15 students (9 boys and 6 girls) with an average age of 15,5 and problems ranging from social to familiar, psychological, academic and economic ones. Grodzki Theatre Association Poland (P3) Target groups were in the majority young people coming from IVET courses and those who were about to choose their career path but experienced various difficulties (e.g. addiction, difficult family situation, poverty). They also included disabled people experiencing various education difficulties. Two groups consisted of young people who were not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET), including mentally impaired people. Beneficiaries had an average age of 19, but they also included one group of people around and over 30 years of age and one group characterised by a broader age range. Evangelische Akademie Bad Boll Germany (P4) Pilot experiences were carried out in different contexts and with different beneficiaries, including: students of vocational schools, students of mainstream schools (medium and high school), people with impairments working and living in an institution for welfare and social work, teachers of all kinds of schools (from primary school to high school and gymnasium) and teachers for religious education in vocational training schools. The Cedar Foundation Northern Ireland (P5) A total of 44 beneficiaries were involved in the pilot experiences The majority of beneficiaries involved in the pilot experiences were aged between 16 and 30 years of age and all were involved in some form of VET. They were divided into two large and four smaller groups. The first large group consisted of young people with learning and communication difficulties who have been excluded from main school education and often struggle to communicate and interact with their peers and tutors; the second large group was made up of beneficiaries with acquired brain injuries and all were under-taking cognitive rehabilitation as part of their re-training for education and employment following brain injury or a stroke; the four smaller groups involved beneficiaries with a range of physical disabilities and learning difficulties participating in inclusion training. 2

3 All partners pilot experiences were carried out very successfully. Even in particularly difficult contexts, where especially the beginning was quite hard, the outcomes turned out to be positive, with clear evidences of improvement throughout the process from the beginning phase to the end of the activities. Besides that by the different evaluation tools used by partners, this is also reflected by the many positive comments coming both from the participants, showing their positive feelings during and after the activities, and from the professionals involved (e.g. trainers, teachers, administrators), who were generally very satisfied with the improvements made by their students/clients, so much that they often expressed the need for further implementation of THEATRE. Some difficulties were encountered as well, but this should be regarded as something unavoidable considering that THEATRE was a completely new experience for the majority of the partners and considering the difficult contexts where activities took place. Nevertheless, such difficulties turned out to be useful too, as they offered an opportunity to reflect on ways of improving the good practice. The positive outcomes recorded by the whole partnership, in addition to comparative results coming from specific partners activities involving Cosquillas professionals, demonstrated that the methodology is effectively transferable, providing a common tool which can successfully be implemented into different contexts to tackle early school leaving. National report on testing At the end of the testing phase, each partner summaried the main outcomes and results in a Report on pilot experience, realised thanks to the direct and indirect beneficiaries. You can read the national report on testing here Comparative report on testing In order to finally validate the good practice, a comparative report was arranged to find out common and European guidelines. The comparative report merges all national testing reports, trying not only to sum up the different main organisational remarks and outcomes emerged from them, but also to provide suggestions on how to improve the good practice and revise it for the final THEATRE handbook. You can read the comparative report here 3

4 THE FINAL HANDBOOK : HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE GOOD PRACTICE On the basis of testing results and comparative analysis a final and validated version of the good practice has been arranged. The handbook is a practical guide for all those waiting to implement the good practice. The main aim of handbook is to describe the final version of the good practice and provide operational guidance and suggestions on how to transfer the good practice within different IVET systems or IVET related systems. The handbook is designed to be a flexible and scalable tool, useful to organisations that wish to test the methodology in their own territories. Therefore, the handbook is a comprehensive guide that defines, scopes and outlines possible activities, potential participants and supporting interventions that can be used to help transfer the good practice. All individuals and organisations interested in the good practice can use the handbook as a general reference guide to transfer the good practice in their territories. It contains the main topics the good practice relies on to support the implementation in each territory giving a reference and shared framework. Attached to the handbook a CD ROM contains a visual and video description of the theatrical methodology useful to better understand and apply the THEATRICAL APPROACH to avoid drop out in IVET. All video and images have been realised during the project activities. Both the handbook and the DVD have been printed in English, Italian, Turkish, Polish and German. You can consult the on line version of the handbook here 4

5 THE FINAL PARTNERSHIP MEETING On the 16 th and 17 th September 2015, partners met for the fifth and last time in Ferrara (Italy), where the project began 2 years ago. During the two meeting day, partners share and discuss about many topics and share the project conclusion. In detail, partners focused on the results of the comparative report on testing, described how the pilot experiences went and what is going to happen after the end of project. Each partner also showed to other the ICT/multimedia photos and videos realised during the testing. The Consortium also discussed about the administrative and quality and monitoring issues. The external evaluator realised individual interviews to partners to conclude the quality assessment process 5

6 THE FINAL CONFERENCE The final conference took place on the 16th September 2015 for the 2,30 pm to the 6 pm. The final conference has been realised, from an organizational point of view, thanks to some students involved in the pilot experiences that support the operators in the set up activities, welcome of participants and distribution of headphones for the simultaneous translations. Some also attended the conference too. Participants could also visited an exhibition showing the most significant photos realised during the pilot experiences. Young people were the protagonists. The final conference has been attended by many local and regional stakeholders. Each participant received a copy of the handbook and the DVD in Italian. 6

7 The staff of Centro Studi OdC presented the main project objectives, activities and deliverables realised. Workpackages, outcomes and partners activities were described and a specific focus on the improved methodology was particularly stressed. In turn, each partner described own experiences and how the methodology worked in their territories and with their target groups. Also photos and ICT tools (footages) have been showed to the stakeholders. After the partners interventions, the short film Sabrina had been played and showed to the stakeholders and project partner. This short film has been realised by the student of Centro Studi Opera Don Calabria participating to the theatrical workshop and it has been awarded within the Giffoni Film Festival, the most relevant prize for films and videos realised by students and schools. At the end of conference, some stakeholders asked questions and reported their own experiences. 7

8 Please consult all documents and report on our project webpage 8