My responsibilities and roles during this project were never the same, and that's what I preferred. At the start of the project I wasn't as confident and as eager to lead and be seen as an example, and that frustrated me. I settled as more of a participant which suited me fine in the beginning before i realised that wasn't going to satisfy me during the whole project. As I began to find myself more in the coming weeks - and the Valence students too - I became much more open and actually lead an exercise single handedly in front of a large group of people.
I've learned that nothing is really as simple as you first believe when working with people with disabilities. The Friday workshop planning seemed easy to me in the beginning and I didn't really give it much thought. "Ok so I have to lead an exercise about a ball not touching the floor, ok cool, got it." Yet when I finally got around to it, I had to learn the hard way that leading an exercise to those who lack certain physical abilities need more than just words to be said. From this I learned I had to be patient, I had to give examples and objectives and I had to ensure everyone was on the same page. To be successful at facilitating a workshop for disabled people, it's vital that you make sure everyone is included and feels like an active participant despite any limited capabilities within the group. I also learned that you must create a safe and open environment for everyone in the group where each individual feels comfortable being themselves. With my exercise regarding the ball not allowed to touch the floor, during the workshop plan the ball was bouncing off of everyone's head and hitting people in the face. Although it didn't hurt, I had to make sure the Valence students were aware this could happen and that they knew the deal.
When taking on the full responsibility of leading an exercise, you need to be fully prepared for things to go wrong. When practicing and preparing a workshop at school, everything goes perfectly because you have full control over the situation, you're with your class mates at school and you're all aware of what and why this is being done. However when delivering a workshop at the Valence school, we needed to be aware that absolutely anything can happen and you need to be ready and be able to think on your feet. I feel like as an individual facilitator within a large group I contributed fully and succeeded in all of these areas.
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My emotions and actions have varied these past six weeks, but I think I have individually contributed:
Week 1 - Within our Brit School group at the workshop planning lesson, we had the take of researching summer and writing up some ideas. I happily wrote up 2 sheets of summer songs, movies, dances, books and task ideas and some of them were used in the final piece!
Week 2 - Although I didn't take on a leading facilitator exercise I did make every effort to speak to every student and introduce myself to them properly. I got over my rare confidence issue..
Week 3 - I both suggested and lead an exercise at the Valence/Brit meeting. Getting to know everyone better the previous week definitely helped me do this so I'm not annoyed I never lead in the previous week. I gained more confidence and the skills to talk to a large group and thinking on my feet when things went wrong.
Week 4 - within my small group for the car scenes, the roller coaster movement ect I took great joy in being BOSSY, haha. In a smaller group I felt less pressure than when leading group exercises, so I felt I excelled more here. I advanced my listening skills by taking on board what ideas both Brit/Valence students had to offer. I extended my organisation and direction skills as I realised that the Valence students relied on being told what to do.
Week 5 - the run through of the whole performance was where I took another back seat approach. I wanted the Valence students to try their hardest to remember the order and the scenes THEMSELVES before just giving them the answer straight away. I was on hand to encourage those during the performances and hoped that if I performed with the upmost energy and enthusiasm then they would copy.
Week 6 - In the final performance I feel like I helped reassure and calm the nerves and anxieties of many of the Valance students. Kirsty had missed a previous week session so she was nervous about doing something wrong. I ran over the order with her and gave her some advice and so she went on stage with a smile!
Skills that I have developed over the course of the project:
I feel like I have 9 and half more bags of confidence, mental stamina, commitment, determination, independance and dedication and PATIENCE! I feel like this project has made me more adaptable to who my audience are and who I'm addressing my words to. I see myself as way more of a versatile performer and leader, having had to deal with situations that have thrown me in the past couple of weeks. feel more versatile because I now have a deeper understanding and knowledge of physical disabilities and what it is like to work with those less abled than myself. I feel more appreciative for what I have in life too. I know that wasn't the intention of the whole project - it wasn't so that I could go work with these students and leave like OH YEAH I LOVE MY LIFE!!! Because that's not that case. Some of these students are without their voice, something I RELY on in life, or their without the ability to move freely, and yet they are still way more optimistic and happier than me. They're inspirational and I'm so lucky to have been able to work with them.
What was the purpose of this project?
I personally have never done pane thing so rewarding and so helpful in my life, so I believe the aim of the project was to open our eyes to new things that may inevitably and push our mental and emotional boundaries past their limits, and to "throw us in at the deep end."
The purpose of this project was to help others AND ourselves. The Valence students were over joyed with our visits and it was something new and exciting to their usual school days, and that made me happy. We also helped ourselves by learning new skills and adapting and extending them. Going to a performing arts school, we're so used to performing and working with people just straight from the industry. It's nice to realise anyone has the ability to be involved in such a beautiful craft, some just might need a little help on the way.
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Evaluation
I am so unbelievably sad that it's over! The final performance was an amazing outcome and a great way to end these past few weeks.
The first part in the performance sequence was the car scenes we devised. I think this was a success because everyone spoke with loud clear voices and the groups knew which order to go in. One thing that could have gone a little bit smoother was the transitions between each group. Everyone really had fun doing this part and the audience enjoyed it - our audience was mostly children based so the laughs were coming easily.
The second part was the movement sequence we have been working on these past few weeks with Andrea. I also thought this was a success as the many weeks we spent practicing it really paid off - the movements were clear and remembered and when I spoke to the students they said that this activity was the one they were most confident with. I really liked this one too although the song was played so many times it annoyed the hell out of me. Jake and Josh were especially good at this part of the performance because they were very shy when it comes to the vocal part, so they made up for it with the effort for the physical.
The song was my favourite part! It was such a good way to end the 6 weeks and I was really impressed with whole confident and loud and excited everyone was. Emma, who I think struggles with confidence a lot, really shone the last time we did it and that made me happy! People remembered the actions because of the words or the words because of the actions and we gave 110% together as a big happy group.
I've learnt unbelievable amounts these past 6 weeks and I've felt like I've changed as a person and I hope I've helped other people change for the better too. I'm gutted it's over but I will not hesitate to volunteer should an offer like this ever present itself again. I thank The BRIT School and Valence for the opportunity. Thank you.
