understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning

RESPONDING

The current state of public school education is a topic full of weight, especially in NYC. In 2021, I find myself at a critical moment in which I notice growing inequities, complexities, and health crises that span all aspects of my life-- how should I respond? I want to focus on how to make progress toward a more just and equitable world—starting with the system of public schools. I believe that all students should have access to a meaningful, high-quality education, and that oppressive systems are dismantled and structural inequities are redressed.

I am aware of the bias that I may bring into a public school setting after living a sheltered experience (white, middle class) as a young person. As Crystal Bell states in What is Social Justice Anyway, “be honest about who you are and your biases.” If I acknowledge my biases and use them in a productive way, I will be a better social justice educator (Bell, 2019). I know that being a white, female teacher in an NYC public school can be challenge in some respects. How do I know how to offer specific care for students of color and expect them to trust me? Often, teachers are unable to meet students where they are and push and push until a student breaks. I have found that one way in is through the theatre. Choosing plays in my classroom that represented the students—where they come from, how they look, how they feel—made all the difference in how they began to trust me and enjoy their time in drama. I have brought to the classroom material in changing harmful systems and policies. I have done devising work with my students around the school to prison pipeline, police brutality, sexual abuse, and racism within the school walls. Using the theatre to respond to real-world issues is paramount to what I believe. I hope to use art to make space for and promote, change.

Here, I offer two specific examples of how I’ve responded to inequities in the public school setting by using art. First, I have uploaded a critical review that I wrote in 2020 from Dominique Morisseau's play, Pipeline, which tells the story of Omari as he navigates through the challenges of being a black student in a white space (See PDF below).

Second, I’d like to tell the story of directing Burt Royal’s, Dog Sees God, in 2018. The play heartbreakingly told the story of a teenager who was bullied for being gay and ultimately committed suicide. This play was an extremely intense topic and one that I was a bit nervous to tackle. I wanted to study and perform this play for a purpose. In addition to rehearsals, I embedded into the run workshops and focus groups to discuss suicide prevention and to create outreach throughout the student body. That same year, a ninth grader took his own life and the school community was devastated. We tried to use the play as a therapeutic outlet for students confused on how to express their grief and sadness. I set up a fundraiser where a portion of ticket sales went to The Hendrick-Martin Institute (The Hendrick-Martin Institute believes all young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. https://www.hmi.org/ ). Through this production, teenagers were able to respond to and accept their grief. They had each other as support and used the theatre as a safe space.

We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else.

— President Barack Obama

Examples

Review of Pipeline. Gorelov, 2020.

Video clip of Gorelov's production of Dog Sees God.

The power which comes from names and naming is related directly to the power to define others—individuals, races, sexes, ethnic groups. Our identities… are greatly affected by the names we are called and the words with which we are labeled.

— Haig Bosmajian, The Language of Oppression

Another problem that I was aware of while teaching in a NYC Public School was bullying. According to stompoutbullying.org, one in six students reported that they’ve either been the victim of some form of bullying or witnessed others being bullied. And one in eight have experienced bigotry and name-calling. Also, certain vulnerable groups are at even higher risk, including students with disabilities and LGBTQ youth. This aggressive behavior, which may be physical, verbal, or social—and may occur in person or online—can have long-term harmful effects. In addition to the risk of physical injury, victims of bullying are at risk for depression, anxiety, low academic achievement, suicidal behavior, substance abuse into adulthood, and poor social and school adjustment (National Academies of Sciences, 2016).

Responding to these statistics and using art to combat bullying was a task I was ready to accomplish. In 2017, I was commissioned by the Dean of Students and the guidance counselors at School of the Future to lead a workshop on drama techniques as they pertain to restorative justice and anti-bullying. I worked with a focus group of students and led them though activities and Boal-type games. By incorporating dramatic activities into this setting, we are giving students an opportunity and a forum to speak out and up against bullying and to resolve conflict in a controlled and safe setting. Forum Theatre falls under the umbrella category of Applied Theatre – theatre with an educative purpose with the intention to bring about some type of beneficial change within a defined community. Embedded within this practice of Applied Theatre is the “explicit aim of education, the intentionality of using the power of theatre to address something beyond the form itself” (Ackroyd, 2000).

Below is an example of the one of the lessons used in these bullying and Restorative Justice workshops.

Lesson Name: Bullying and Conflict Resolution through Drama

Goal (overall): To develop ownership over various facets of human interaction and socialization. To address bullying and student conflict using Forum Theatre.

Lesson Objectives:

Students will be able to create and perform characters based on real life situations.
Students will be able to create a theatrical performance that explores issues of bullying and human rights.
Students will actively participate in “forum theatre.”
Students will be able to identify factual information about bullying and collaboratively create their own definition.
Connect to ideals of Restorative Justice and foster the meaning of circles.

Grade Level: 8th / Age: 13

Functioning Level: On level

Special Needs: ADD

Art Standards addressed: Creating characters, functioning as ensemble, participating, decision making, responding.

Blueprint Strands addressed: Creating confidence and community in the classroom, reflecting, listening, talking, responding, and articulating personal meaning of their original work.

Instructional Outline:

Introduction:

Several students will share their “cover” for Time or Newsweek on “Bullying and Stereotypes.” Short discussion on what they created and hear opinions of their classmates.

Question & Answer (information gathering):

Hot Corners—Teacher will ask questions related to bullying and being “different” and studentswill physically move to separate corners of the room signifying “strongly agree", “somewhat agree", or “disagree”.

(Examples: I have watched a classmate get made fun of this year. I like to wear clothes that make me different from others. I have made fun of a classmate and felt guilty about it later, etc…)

Warm-up Activity:

Class will be broken up into small groups (4 students in each group- ADD students will be grouped with typical learners). They will each be given a scenario with no specific ending and will be asked to create a short scene based on the scenario they were given.

Examples:

It is your first week at summer camp and there is one older kid who keeps making fun of you and getting on your case. You tell the counselor, call your parents, but nothing seems to work.
You are at school and one group of girls keeps telling you that you can’t sit with them at lunch without any reason. You try to fit in by dressing like them and talking like them, but nothing seems to work.

Prep Activity:

Students will rehearse their scenes and be ready to perform.

Main Activity:

Present the scenes in a “forum.” Students will be able to freeze the scene and enter with a different possible solution. (Students can only take the place of the “victim” to try to end the scenario in a more successful way. Other students in the scene will improv and go along with the new actor.)

*ADD students will be kept focused because they will not simply be watching scenes—they will be active participants, ready to jump in.

Question & Answer (thinking & feeling):

Question students and discover along the way during main activity. In between each scene, ask the class what new actor did differently. Did it work? What would you do?

Closure:

After the scenes have been presented, students will sit in circle and we will have short discussion. What does it mean to be bullied? What happens if you have a conflict with a friend? How does it feel?

Teacher will write definition on board and ask class what they want to add. Class will then make their own definition of bullying to be referred to during the unit.

The National School Safety Center defines bullying as “a form of violence that hurts others.” Bullies use negative actions intentionally and repeatedly to hurt others, either physically or emotionally, and to exert power over them.

Follow-up Assignment: Now that students have understood some effects and solutions of bullying, have them turn to the internet and cyber-bullying. They should research and find one example or article of a situation when cyber-bullying occurred. They can use the internet or magazine/newspaper.

Assessment & Reflections: Do the students actively respond to discussion about bullying? Do students create believable characters?

Lesson Extenders: Scenes could be presented to a large school audience and have the viewers jump in to change the endings/solutions. This could raise more awareness towards bullying in a larger level than simply the drama classroom.

Works cited:
Ackroyd, J., & O'Toole, J. (2010). Performing research: tensions, triumphs and trade-offs of ethnodrama. Trentham Books
Bell, Chrystal. What is Social Justice anyway?
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2016). Preventing bullying through science, policy, and practice. National Academies Press.