In mid January 2018, the Educational Research and Development Programme (ERDP) of the A. M. Qattan Foundation organised two workshops in Gaza. Supervised by Ula Badawi, Manager of the ERDP Office in Gaza, both workshops brought together male and female teachers of the Beit Lahiya Elementary School and Al-Nuseirat Elementary Mixed School (D).
In the context of the Professional Development through Art programme, the workshops were part of the winter break activities, which targeted both pupils and teachers. Based on The Boy and the Frog story, both workshops facilitated the development of meaningful contexts for children.
In the first workshop, teachers explored the story as well as the meanings of its events and descriptions through imagined roles, which faced particular challenges. Teachers also used drama to understand how drama techniques help to explore others’ needs and to develop a responsible attitude towards these needs.
In the second workshop, proceeding from the story itself, participants engaged in an imagined context, in which they worked as experts at an animal welfare society. The latter was requested to help a group of mothers in the imagined area of the “swamp”, from which the frog escaped and sought refuge with the boy, his little friend. Teachers tried to track down the opportunities drama furnishes to find out safe playgrounds for children, These spaces would be full of learning opportunities in both the curriculum and in real life situations.
To use the drama techniques introduced above, participants suggested topics and activities in the curricula they teach. Activities of the Research with Teachers project will be completed in upcoming encounters. These will allow teachers to develop their understanding of drama in a learning context and plan to use drama techniques in their own classes.