Creativity in Education

[HV Psychodrama]

Regina Moreno in Berkeley and Miriam Zachariah in Toronto are using all sorts of psychodrama, sociodrama and sociometry to address social issues as well as educational issues in elementary schools. They have been doing this for years. They present at the ASGPP national conferences most years.
Rebecca Walters
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: SaphiraL at aol.com 
  To: budweiss at verizon.net ; adam at blatner.com ; list at grouptalkweb.org 
  Cc: SaphiraL at aol.com 
  Sent: Friday, January 18, 2008 4:13 PM
  Subject: Re: Creativity in Education


    
  Yes, Bud. I have been following.  I worked with theater, many arts modalities and psychodrama in some of the worst schools in Boston in the 1970s and 1980s (was a terrible school system--see Jonathan Kozol). As a Teaching Company who were also an Acting Company, we told special needs teachers to give us the students who were failing for whatever reason, emotional disturbance, learning disabilities, lack of motivation because of socio-economic situation etc. and we played theater games with cognitive and social goals integrated into them. We did mini psychodramas and sociodramas on the level that the young people could respond.. We worked toward making school fun and creative. It was a wonderful few years that we did this. It was so gratifying to see how responsive these "worst students" were. I believe we need to train the powers that be in education systems about how to teach their mandated curriulum using the arts, and that means the creative arts therapies from my perspective. We did a television series teaching Language Arts for grades 1-6 that became a national series, in which theater modalities were used to teach Language arts skills. We then trained teachers in many school systems in Mass. to use these modalities. 
  My vision: That all educational systems through out the country become aware of the power of using the embodied arts as more effective ways to teach anything, because students are learning with all of their senses. This means that they recall what they have learned more effectively, besides inspiring and motivating students to want to learn because it is creative and fun. 
  I appreciate this discussion.

  Best, Saphira Linden


  For more information contact:
  Omega Theater at 617-522-8300 or email: info at omegatheater.org
  Omega Transpersonal Drama Therapy Certificate Program
  On the web: http://www.omegatheater.org/
  41 Greenough Ave,
  Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 (In Boston)







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