10.Good practices

An awareness-raising project, targeting the educational community at large, on refugees and human rights using experiential learning, theatre and educational drama techniques

The project “it could be me – it could be you” is an awareness raising project, targeting the educational community at large, on refugees and human rights using experiential learning, theatre and educational drama techniques.

The project is organised and implemented in Greece since 2015 by the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-Gr) in association with and the support of UNHCR Greece (UN Agency for Refugees)

The project and its educational material is approved by the Greek Institute of Educational Policy & the Greek Ministry of Education and is accredited by IDEA-International Drama/Theatre & Education Association and approved as an "IDEA Land and Home" project.

It primarily addresses members of the educational community, namely teachers and students of primary and secondary education, education officials, parents as well as youth trainers and local community members that are interested in the human rights movement.

The "It Could Be Me – It Could Be You" project seeks to provide resources and tools for the promotion of tolerance, solidarity and peaceful co-existence between the local community and refugees, and respect for human rights.

Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-Gr)
Published in partnership with UNHCR Representation in Greece

Read the entire book... here!

VITC founder Mark McKergow's TEDx talk about how he came to start the project and what it's about.

In our work concerning “counselling at prevention”, we usually associate groups with specific population targets. For each population group, there is a particular framework for training, according to their needs and their role in society. However, these population targets coexist in real life, in the community, at school, and in the family. Based on this simple remark, we wanted to discover common points, where people trained by the prevention centre (parents, educators, adolescents) could coexist in a mixed group of volunteers, a mixed theatrical group. The mixed theatrical group has written a script through a drama therapy approach and process work, for a possible theatrical play. The title of the play is “The Slap” and it talks about a case of conflict at school and the involvement of the family. The theatrical group went on, and presented “The Slap” at the Apollon Theatre of Syros in April 2005 and at the 18th European Festival of New Theatrical Groups in Grenoble, in France.

Through these four years that the theatrical group “Thiseas” exists, certain processes functioned within it, creating a new relationship among parents, educators and adolescents. New principles, values and dreams emerged, so that human relationships can be more functional, especially when they are based on communication and cooperation, through mutual expression and creativity of a theatrical group. By bringing people together to act for the good of the community, voluntary action creates bonds of trust and encourages cooperation; in other words, it creates social capital. In case the people who volunteer have different nationalities, religions, financial standings and ages, the fact of their acting together can contribute to an increase of social harmony.

More : http://ferekidiscyclades.blogspot.com/