Fiona Martin
/
Wesley College, Elsternwick, Victoria Australia
Student Voice (Applying Brechtian and Enchantment Methodologies, Facilitating Learning Wellness).
90 minutes
ONLY LIVE
I propose to present a workshop which demonstrates the effective use of Brechtian Theory, Enchantment methodology and the techniques of Augusto Boal in the enablement of student voice during unstable and (for young people), perceivably hopeless global times. My methods of Drama curriculum design allow for collaborative and flexible curriculum structuring, which tailors to a student’s subjective knowledge and passions and building on these interests to incite engagement to develop new learning; my teaching style builds in a fluidity of trajectory and seeks to walk alongside the student; ready to nuance and shift as a unit of work progresses.
The Brechtian technique of Verfremdungseffekt applied in theatre workshops allows an acceptance of artifice, a distancing from complete absorption, allowing for criticality in one’s own and other’s work. The use of Augusto Boal’s techniques used in his Theatre of the Oppressed encourages student voice. The addition of enchantment through magical realism incorporated into roleplay, and the facilitation of wonder and hope enables a participant to counteract a bleak outlook with the possibility to be an activator of meaningful change.
Fiona Martin is a vibrant, expert Drama Educator with over 20 years teaching experience. Her teaching is nuanced by her work as a theatre maker, performance artist, dance therapist, workshop facilitator, clinical hypnotherapist, Scout leader and fitness instructor. She strongly advocates for student voice and collaborative learning and believes that Drama in Education is an essential component in a student’s wellbeing, life-long learning and critical to the development of empathetic and whole humans. She lives in Melbourne (Naarm) with her husband and four children. She has been invited to be a 2024 cohort member in the Teacher Excellence Program with the Victorian Institute for Teaching and Leadership in Melbourne, Australia.
Widening drama education conversations