Evaluation and feedback on final workshop

Analysis of your own practice as a facilitator in the workshop (final workshop) 
As a facilitator one aspect of the workshop I enjoyed was generally observing the participants and listening to all the great ideas they had of the seasons. For example, in the sculpting exercise one member of the group I worked with sculpted me and another group member into an angel and a halo. When one of my peers asked the group member (the sculptor) what the images was, that participant said what the images were and explained that he was Catholic so he drew on that experience to create the sculpture.

One part of the workshop that went well for us as a group was that we established a code linked to the seasons to bring back the focus in the session. The Misfits and us made an agreement that when we say tweet tweet, the participants make a thundering sound. This code worked well throughout the workshop, especially when the participants played the collage game because at one point in the game they were getting over excited and noisy so we had to bring back the focus. From my own observations one aspect of the workshop that went well for me as a facilitator was when speaking to participants, I bent down and spoke at their level if they were shorter then me. I made the decision to do this because I did not want the participants to feel that I was over-powering and intimidating them. An example when I done this was in the activity where the participants had to create four moving images of what happens in the season and the environment. I sat down on a chair and had a discussion with my small group on this activity which made the atmosphere feel friendly, welcoming and safe for the participants.

However, one part of the workshop that did not go so well was near the beginning when I guided the whole group through a series of warm up exercises. When i asked the participants to make a loud sound from high to low sounds with our voices I was unaware that some members of the group does not like loud sounds. This dilemma was quickly resolved in the moment as one of my peers said to the participants that if they don't like loud sounds then they could cover their ears in this part of the exercise. In future as a facilitator if I am working with those with disabilities and/or mental health conditions I need to make sure that I communicate with the main person that works with this group on a regular basis and ask that person if there is anything I need to know about the group and take note of. This way I will not unintentionally get participants to do an activity that is either inappropriate or uncomfortable for the participants. Another part of the workshop that did not go well was just the fact that it ran overtime which meant that there was not much time for the participants to give us feedback on how they found the session. This may of been because at the beginning of the workshop we spent a very long time playing the name game with the participants, creating the contract with them and establishing a code of behaviour. It was very difficult to manage the time at the beginning of the workshop as we did not want to rush the participants and put any pressure on them. Also another reason why the workshop may of run overtime is because we may of took long with the participants to complete each activity. For example, in the sculpting exercise I personally found it difficult to explain the activity in way that my small group would understand. I had to explain the sculpting exercise twice which took up a lot of time. In the future my group and I need to be more strict with timing of each activity so then we do not run overtime. This can be achieved through giving clear instructions for each activity and having a clear objective for each activity and the overall workshop,  

If I had the opportunity to do the workshop again I would make sure that I done more research before hand on the needs of the Misfits. I would then be able to guide them through activities and games that are accessible and appropriate for them. I would also make sure that the workshop has a clear aim. By having an aim, I would be able to ask the participants questions which would get them to think further in the activity they participate in.

Generally in this workshop I thought that I played more of the role of a teacher rather than a facilitator as I constantly gave instructions for each activity in my individual group. I felt that my group needed these instructions though because for them it acts as a reassurance so then they know what they need to do.   

Seasons Workshop- Rehearsal Diary

The client group and research

As mentioned in one of my earlier post, my group and I decided to work with and present our workshop to adults with learning differences and multiple disabilities. However, in order to make sure that our activities and approaches were appropriate and accessible to them, we all had to research into the target group.

 

Here is some information below that I had found out about our target audience:

When a person has a learning disability, it effects how they process and understand information and communicate (NHS choices, 2015). Other things they may have difficulty in is to learn new skills and to cope independently. However each person is unique in their own way and they have different capabilities and skills so the learning disability they have could be mild, moderate or severe (NHS choices, 2015). For example, there may be some people that struggle to learn new skills but they can communicate with people and look after themselves whereas another person could struggle to communicate at all and they may have multiple disabilities. When a person has multiple learning disabilities, this is known as Profound and multiple learning disability (PMLD) (NHS choices, 2015).   

 

There are multiple reasons why some people have a learning disability. For example, the learning disability may be inherited, meningitis, problems during birth which means that not enough oxygen got into the brain and many other factors (NHS choices, 2015).

Here is a list of some different types of learning disabilities and disorders:

• Dyslexia (LDA, 2017)
• Dyspraxia (LDA, 2017) 
• Auditory Processing Disorder (LDA, 2017)
• Dyscalculia (LDA, 2017)
• Dysgraphia (LDA, 2017)
• Non-Verbal Learning Disabilities (LDA, 2017)
• Language Processing Disorder (LDA, 2017)
• ADHD (LDA, 2017)
• Visual Perceptual/Visual Motor Deficit (LDA, 2017)

The specific group you're working with (ideally through meeting with them)

Some members of my group went out to visit the Misfits to find out what they would like to see in a workshop. From this visit they found out that the Misfits likes to participate in a workshop that involves movement based activities, imagination and a lot of fun. The Misfits also likes to work towards a performance at the end as they like to show their ideas. From this information I found out, I realised that we needed to think a lot of movement based activities but at the same time had to take into consideration on those with limited mobility.  

The main issue that you will be engaging with in the workshop

The main issue that I will be personally engaging with in the workshop is to try to make sure that the activities we've thought of are accessible to adults with learning disabilities and multiple disabilities. This will be quite difficult to do as I have not met the Misfits in person so I do not know fully what they are capable of and what skills they have.

The space where the workshop will be held

The workshop will be held in a big performance space so there will be plenty of space for the target audience to take part in different activities and exercises. From what I have found out, the space we will do the workshop in has plenty of chairs so some of the participants can sit down and take a break from the workshop if they get a bit tired.

Different games/exercises/approaches to workshops beyond what has been covered in class

Near the beginning of our rehearsal process my group and I had decided the activities we could get our target audience to take part in are one of Augusto Boal's sculpting exercise, the a b c game, creating 4 moving images, the collage game and tickle murder (adapted from wink murder). However, during our discussions we decided to get rid of some of the moving around the room exercises we first thought of as we thought that there may be members of the target audience that may have limited mobility so we did not want to exclude them. Also for this same reason, on the actual day before the workshop we decided that I was not going to get the group to do three star jumps or to jog on the spot. Instead, I would get them to pat their arms shoulders and legs in their sitting or standing position.  

In our rehearsal we also decided that we wanted to give the Misfits the opportunity to come up with a contract when it came to the workshop as we want them to feel that they have some ownership of the workshop and what they should and should not do in it. To also give them some ownership and responsibility of the workshop we made the decision to let them come up with a sound or movement related to the seasons that can be used to bring back focus in the session if it gets a little bit noisy.

Rehearsal preparations before facilitating the workshop for real

In our rehearsals we had to think about how to create an effective workshop of the seasons that was going to be accessible for the Misfits. In order to do this, we thought about some of Boal's stages on creating a effective workshop and how this could fit into our seasons workshop.

The first stage of creating an effective workshop is to get participants to know their body. This means that participants do exercises to explore this. Through these exercises the participants identify their habitual behaviours and their strengths and limitations with their body. For the seasons workshop my group and I have partly included this stage (Boal, 2008). This is more evident for the beginning of the workshop when I will ask the group to pat their bodies up and down. This is also evident at the beginning when I will ask the group to make high and low noises with their voices.

The second stage is to make the body expressive. We have partly included this stage for the workshop. This is evident when we will get the group to do the sculpting exercise where they have to in groups sculpt each other into the traditions they participate in in their chosen season. Even though the sculpture is not expressing themselves through their bodies ,in this exercise they will be expressing their views and experiences of traditions in a season by moulding others in their group in an image. Also this stage is more evident in the exercise where we will get individual groups to create four moving images of the things they do in a season and the environment, so this is a very expressive exercise as each member of the group will be expressing themselves through their bodies.  

The third stage is theatre as language. It has three degrees which are simultaneous dramaturgy, image theatre and forum theatre (Boal, 2008). We have not included this stage in the workshop because the aim of the workshop is for the Misfits to explore the seasons, not to create a story and a dilemma for audience members to solve. We have decided to stay away from the idea of forum theatre and the other elements as our aim is to not to help the Misfits to rehearse for life, nor is it our aim to directly try and change audiences perspectives on social and political issues. However, throughout the seasons workshop we will be taking the Misfits through a series of games and exercises so then they can create a final piece near the end of the workshop. The final piece will have a element of a narrative as their will be a beginning, a middle and the end so we will be supporting individual group with this structure.  

  
The fourth and final stage is theatre as discourse. This stage is to do with theatre that is finished, so its a performance that is finished and presents a spectacle. It is said that the oppressed groups do not know what their world will be like and what it will reveal, so the oppressed groups rehearse in preparation for life instead of a spectacle (Boal, 2008). We have not included this stage in our seasons workshop as our aim is to not prepare the Misfits for life or to create a spectacle,  instead our aim is promote what the Misfits already knows about the seasons and to help them enhance on their life skills.  

During our rehearsal process once we all decided on the activities we wanted to facilitate, we then created a lesson plan and also a rough script to prompt us on what to do on the day of the workshop. A couple of times my group and I met up to go through the script and the lesson plan and we questioned whether each activity had a purpose for the workshop and whether they were suitable for the Misfits. For example, on the actual day moments before the workshop my group and I decided to get rid of the a b c game as we thought that it would be too complicated to explain to the Misfits and we also thought that they may struggle to grasp the instructions on how to play this game.

  

Reference List

Boal, A. (2008) Theatre of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.

LDA (2017) Types of learning disabilities [Online] Available from: https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/ [Accessed 25 February 2017]

NHS choices (2015) What is a learning disability? [Online] Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Childrenwithalearningdisability/Pages/Whatislearningdisability.aspx [Accessed 25 February 2017]

Workshops I participated in and observed

Workshop- Bullying

On 9th January 2017 the workshop myself and the group took part in was about bullying. There was good parts of the workshop which myself and my group will take on board. However there was areas of the workshop that needed to be worked on further. For example, overall the facilitators in the workshop gave us all plenty of opportunities to feedback on what we learnt and found interesting in the activities we participated in. It was very good to have those opportunities for reflection so this will be something that my group and I will put into our final workshop. Another good part of the workshop was the activity where we all wrote down good and bad names people can be called. This was really good to do as it got everyone thinking what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour in a school environment and in life generally. What was good about this activity was the fact that the facilitators linked it back to the theme of bullying and explained to us all that calling people negative names seriously or as part of banter can have a negative effect on other people.

However at times the instructions the facilitators gave was not clear enough which meant that members of the group misunderstood the activity set out to them. This was especially evident in the activity where we all had to move to a part of the room if we agreed or disagreed with a statement. There was a lot of confusion on which part of the room was the 'agree' and which part of the room was the 'disagree'. It is very important for facilitators to give clear and concise instructions because if they don't, the participants will not be focused on what they need to do and they will not get a lot out of the workshop. Also, it is not good if a facilitator does not give clear and concise instructions because this will tell participants that the facilitator does not know what they are doing, so this will result in the participants not trusting the facilitator.  

On 16th January 2017 I participated in two workshops. One of the workshops was about why reading is good for us. The other workshop was about identity and stereotypes. I will again talk about what went well in each workshop and what could be improved on.

Workshop- Why reading is good?

One good part of this workshop was the activity where we had to run around and do a freeze frame, I was unable to run in this activity as I was worried that I would bump into someone. The facilitators adapted the activity and said to me that I can stand still and do a freeze frame when Iv been asked to. It was very good that they tried to adapt the activity for me. In my group adapting activities for the Misfits is something that we would like to do as some of them are limited in their mobility. For example, if my group and I still want to keep some of the activities that involves walking around the space, we could let the participants know that they can sit down if they needed to and take part in the activity in the sitting position. 

Another good part of this workshop was when the general theme of why reading is good for us. At one point in the workshop the facilitators gave us participants the opportunity to feedback on what we learnt on the session or anything else we had to say. Also overall the facilitators were really enthusiastic and kept the energy going throughout the workshop.

However, in future the facilitators need to address each person by their name as this is more polite. Also as a visually impaired person, I was unable to tell if I was addressed or not. In addition to this,

if us participants need to be somewhere in an activity then the facilitators should give clear instructions on where we need to be instead of saying ‘go there’ as that is unclear to me where there is (This actually applied to everyone’s workshop I took part- not just this group) (this would benefit the likes of myself who is visually impaired).

Things to think about

Perhaps the facilitators could have explored with the participants the different forms of reading i.e. through audio, text, email etc as there are some readers that are unable to read just text.

Workshop- Identity and stereotypes

One good part of the workshop was when the facilitators gave out clear instructions to the participants i.e. asking us to create a scene of a stereotype and a counter-stereotype of a character. When the participants were stuck, the facilitator in each group gave us some ideas on the kinds of words to put down for each character. Also throughout the workshop, the facilitators always made sure that we all understood the activity before we got into the activity. This is something that my group and I want to include in our Seasons workshop. Another good part of the workshop was when the facilitators gave us time to reflect on our own experiences of being stereotyped. They also gave us the opportunity to feedback on what we felt went well in the workshop and what we felt needed to be improved on.

 

However t one point in the workshop it seemed as if  one of the facilitators did not know what to say before an activity. This definitely showed, even though one of the facilitators came in with what to say.  

Part 2: Seasons Workshop overview and final Evaluation in preperation for the real workshop with the Misfits

Workshop Overview
Introduction

For the second half of the Applied Theatre module, I will document and evaluate my own and my groups progress in creating and adapting our Seasons Workshop for the Misfits. I will also discuss what went well in the other groups workshops and how we can take into consideration those good points and put it into the Seasons Workshop.
 

Description of the workshop's client group, structure and intended journey- What is the Seasons Workshop?

My group and I came up with the idea of creating a 2 hour workshop which explores all the seasons throughout the year. We wanted to cater it to the Misfits, who has learning and additional disabilities. They are a lively bunch who likes to express themselves and perform, so we wanted to put these qualities into good use. In order to do this our initial ideas was to include a lot of games such as tickle murder (adapted from wink murder), walking around the room and represent the seasons through movement, create movement pieces of each season, the opposite game, soundscapes and a final performance to show to the rest of the group. We thought of these games as we would like each participant from the Misfits to enjoy themselves, think about different traditions and events that happens in each season, the environment and weather of each season and generally to go on their own personal journey of discovery.

 

Where this workshop fits within the wider world of applied theatre practice
Applied theatre is a broad term for different kinds of theatre that is performed in non traditional settings. Applied theatre challenges and questions social and political issues through performances and workshops in order to hopefully promote some form of positive change to the world. Our Seasons workshop fits within the wider world of applied theatre practice as we are going to work with the Misfits and help them to express their ideas of the seasons in different ways through speech, sounds and movements which will then hopefully empower them to create and participate in more performances. This will then hopefully challenge societies views on people with learning and multiple disabilities and make them think about this more differently. Drama in general is a great tool in helping people to gain and increase their confidence, communication and other life skills. It is also a gateway to different subject areas and information so my group and I will be promoting these areas in the Seasons workshop   

Key theories that informed the development of your workshop (e.g. Freire, Boal, Mantle of the Expert etc) Explain the theory, with references, and how it specifically connects with your workshop
The key theory that partly informed the development of our workshop was Boal's 'Theatre of the Oppressed' because our target audience which is adults with learning and multiple disabilities are classed as the minority of people who are oppressed from society. For the workshop my group and I want to facilitate, we want to give this target audience the opportunity to discuss and perform their ideas in a safe space where they feel they are listened to. We as a group are not planning to guide the target audience to rehearse their skills and ideas to directly change societies views, instead we want to promote and enhance their confidence, communication, team building and other essential life skills so then they can go out into the world and no longer be those that are oppressed as people will not view them as this.

It is not just societies responsibility to change their views and make active decision to ensure those minorities are not oppressed, it is also the responsibility for those minorities to make changes so they no longer be the oppressed.  

This theory will be discussed in my later post on the rehearsal diary as it makes more sense to be discussed there.

Analysis of your own practice as a facilitator in the workshop (final practise with peers) 
Personal Evaluation of Workshop- Peer and personal observations

Overall I was very enthusiastic and bouncy as a facilitator. This was evident when I facilitated the patting up and down warm up. I used different words like 'clapping' to show everyone what to do. Another good part of this workshop was that when it came to the exercise of creating movements of our chosen season, I reminded the group I worked with to not be inappropriate in the workshop as one participant used inappropriate language. During this exercise I also reminded my small group that everyone has different views and experiences of different seasons and that this is okay.

However, at times the group I was working with on this particular activity was not focused on the task of creating 4 images of the season. In the future I need to be able to identify when participants are going off focus and then quickly bring back the focus and remind them to keep focused on the task and the workshop. To achieve this I need to use my sense of hearing more as I am unable to identify the visual side of things due to my visual impairment. Also I need to pay attention on when my group and I move on to the next activity and I need to be clear in myself what the activity involves, as I was unclear on what the movement of the seasons exercise involved, so I was not professional as a facilitator at this point. In future, this situation can be prevented if my group and I had more rehearsal time and meetings. Also this situation can be prevented if I use my hearing more and concentrate on what I can hear around me.

As I have a visual impairment, my job as a facilitator is more challenging than everyone else as I do not have enough sight to be able to pick up on visual cues. I have to work harder than everyone else as I have to use my listening skills more. If I use my listening skills more, I will know instantly when my group and I move on to the next activity, if participants are struggling with a particular task, if participants are not focused on a task or if anyone requires my help. As a partially sighted person, I have the tendency to try and use the sight I have to try and see what is going on around me. However, by doing this, I make myself and my eyes get tired as I try to concentrate on the visual side of things constantly. instead of focusing on the hearing side of things. I need to put all of my concentration and energy into what I can hear around me. I will be a better facilitator if I use the senses I have, rather than the senses I don't have.

Case Study Evaluation Preperation: 'Cathy' Cardboard Citizens

1 . Who is the company and what is the particular project you would like to look at? (Please write a paragraph explaining who they are and what they are trying to do)

In my Case Study Evaluation I will be evaluating Cardboard Citizens aims and weather they had met those aims or not as a company in their recent performance called ‘Cathy’. Britain’s Cardboard Citizens is a company that makes theatre with and for homeless people. Their main aim is to “to change the lives of homeless people through the performing arts”. Also the company strives to spread awareness of homelessness and the misconceptions of this in society. To achieve their aim the companies objectives are:

• To tell stories through performances in public places such as the streets, hospitals, the stage and centres (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
• Provide a main place for those that are homeless or excluded (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
• Improve the confidence and skills of those people through workshops and support (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
• Reach out to theatre lovers all around the world (Cardboard Citizens, 2016).
 

2. Why have you chosen to look at this particular project/ event?

I have chosen to look at the company’s performance ‘Cathy’ because personally I had been homeless at a point in my life when I was little, so I thought this would be an appropriate event for me to evaluate. I feel that I will be able to give a more fair and accurate evaluation on a subject matter I know, rather than one I do not know. I will be solely evaluating the event by using the aims and objectives of the company as a criterion, and then seeing whether the company met those aims and objectives or not. What I will be looking into is whether the performance I watched was truthful, diverse in its own right, widely accessible to all audiences, the audiences experience of the performance and how well the joker and the performers performed. I will also be evaluating how well the company applied Augusto's theory of 'Theatre of the Oppressed' and weather they linked it back to their aims and objectives or not.

3. What resources will you be using to evaluate this event? ( eg. going to see a workshop, video of a production, reviews... ) please be specific.

So far the resource I have looked at and will use to evaluate this event are: the performance I watched, Cardboard Citizens main website, a YouTube clip of the trailer of ‘Cathy’, an article about the company by Nick Smurthwaite and a review by Jessie Thompson. To be specific here is the list of resources below:

Bibliography

Ancock, G. (2009) Cardboard Citizen’s promotional video [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0I7CZ7GbJ4 [Accessed 3 December 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Audience reactions to Cardboard Citizens’ Cathy [online video] Available from:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Cx9Pu0JJ1A [Accessed 3 December 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Cardboard Citizens ‘Cathy’ Trailer [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IoSgUIgfJA [Accessed 2 November 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Speak with impact [Online] Available from: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/events/speak-impact [Accessed 28 October 2016]Cardboard Citizens (2016) The work of Cardboard Citizens [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J8gKD-G_RE [Accessed 3 December 2016]
Cardboard Citizens (2016) Theatre of the oppressed [Online] Available from: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/theatre-oppressed [Accessed 28 October 2016]

Cardboard Citizens (2016) What we do [Online] Available from: https://cardboardcitizens.org.uk/what-we-do [Accessed 28 October 2016] CommunityChannelTV (2011) Untold stories- Cardboard Citizens [online video] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-69yuzCxKz8 [Accessed 3 December 2016]Smurthwaite, N. (2015) ‘Cardboard Citizens: refusing to put the homeless in a box’, The Stage, 6978: 36-37.

Thompson, J. (2016) Cardboard Citizens on responding to Ken Loach’s Cathy Come Home fifty years later: ‘homelessness can happen to anyone’ [Online] Available from:  http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre/ken-loach-cathy-come-home-cardboard-citizens-a3366341.html [Accessed 15 November 2016]  

As I write my Case Study Evaluation I will keep on looking and referring to these resources. I will also look at more resources and pieces of evidence outside this list so my Bibliography will be longer and more varied once I wrote the whole of my Case Study Evaluation. As I write my Case Study Evaluation and comment critically, I hope that I will learn more about Cardboard Citizens and the work they do. This Case Study Evaluation will be my very first one, however I hope to learn a lot from it and I hope to improve my critical thinking skills.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

1. What does Friere mean by the Banking model of education? Please be specific.

The Banking model of education is to do with the relationship between teacher who is the subject and student which is the object. The teacher gives students information and facts which they feel is true and the students absorb this information, without questioning its relevance and how it may impact them on a day to day basis. The more of this knowledge the students absorb, the more likely they are to adapt to the world as it is. In the Banking concept, it is said that the teachers feel superior due to having vast range of knowledge and the students are inferior due to having no knowledge at all. In the Banking concept Friere explains that the more information teachers give to students, the better they are. Also the more information students retain, the better of a student they are (Freire, 1972). The attitudes and practices which keeps the Banking concept alive are: 

• The students are taught by the teacher (Freire, 1972).
• The students no nothing at all and the teacher knows everything (Freire, 1972). 
• The students are thought about by the teacher (Freire, 1972). 
• The students listens carefully when the teacher speaks (Freire, 1972). 
• The students get disciplined by the teacher (Freire, 1972).
• The students does as they are told by what the teacher says and their choices (Freire, 1972). 
• The students think they are acting but they are just part of when the teacher acts (Freire, 1972). 
• The students adapts to what is chosen for them to do by the teacher. They are not consulted in this process (Freire, 1972). 
• The teacher expresses their own knowledge to the students. They accidently mix up their knowledge with the knowledge the teacher gives (Freire, 1972). 
• The students are the objects of the banking model of education and the teacher is the subject (Freire, 1972).       

2. Have you had experience of this type of teaching, how do you feel about it? If you haven't how do you think you might feel about it?

PLEASE NOTE: I will not mention any names due to confidentiality reasons.

I have had a lot of experience of some elements of this type of teaching, especially in a non-school setting. For example, when I lived with my parent and step-parent over 5 years ago, they both told me what to do all the time. If I didn't do what they asked of me correctly then there was serious consequences for me. Some of the things I had to do for them was to clean the house every single day when I came back from school, walk the dog, organise the recycling weekly, take the trash out weekly, keep an eye on my younger step-sister all the time and many other things. I could never express my views or opinions on different subject matters to them because if I did then it would be classed as "back chatting" which was very rude in their eyes. I was never allowed to have a say in things, even if I was right. Due to my visual impairment, I was never aloud to go out on my own and learn about my surroundings. I was also not allowed to practise cooking. Life was very hard at this point in my life. My parent and step-parent were the oppressors and I was the oppressed. 

Looking back on the past, I did not like this way of teaching and how I was raised because I was not allowed to be my own person. I had to be the person that my parent expected of me. During this point in my life I felt completely worthless, a failure and I generally felt that I could never get the approval from my parent even though I tried my best in everything. I generally thought that I always made them both unhappy and that I was the worst daughter they ever had. 

This is just one of many experiences of how the Banking concept effected me. Due to being dictated to all the time by  teachers, specific family members and other people, I feel as if I have lost confidence and self-esteem overall in myself which now unfortunately is having a negative impact on my life.   

The Banking concept still happens today to a certain extent. It is wrong as everything is just one-sided and the oppressed are not given any freedom to flourish and thrive as individuals. Overall I believe that everyone in the world an in society will not progress and get the maximum out of life if they are either the dominant oppressor, the oppressed or are people that takes everything they learn or experience as at face value.

3. How do Friere's ideas chime with Augusto Boals theories of Theatre of the Oppressed?

As I briefly mentioned in the previous question, the oppressors are people that force their views and opinions on the oppressed. The oppressors force their views and opinions on the oppressed either through, violence, mental or emotional abuse, physically or a combination of most of these things. The oppressed people are people normally in either disadvantaged backgrounds, different ethnic groups, people with a range of disabilities and mental health conditions, the young and many more. These people are the ones that are dictated to and are forced to adapt to the world and take on the oppressors way of thinking (Boal, 2008).

This links with the Banking concept because the teachers or anyone else in some form of authority are the oppressors and the people who are not superior are the oppressed. However, there is a main difference between Friere's ideas and Augusto Boals Theories of the Oppressed. The main difference is that in Augusto's theory, the oppressors and the oppressed take action to either not be the oppressor or to rehearse solutions on how to solve a social or political issue through different art forms such as Forum Theatre.

From these two readings, the main thing to think about is to not fall into the trap of being the oppressor or the oppressed. In a workshop situation the facilitator must remember to not accidently apply some of the elements of the banking concept as they will either make some of the participants agree with everything they say, or some of the participants will rebel. I now fully understand why my lecturer made my class and I aware that as facilitators we cannot force our own views and opinions on the participants through what we say and how we use our language. I am a facilitator in the making and I must facilitate and guide a workshop, not teach a workshop.   

Reference List

Boal, A. (2008) Theatre of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.

Freire, P. (1972) Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Penguin Books Ltd.