Sessions
ENACT: Promoting World Peace through Theater and Role Play at the iEARN Conference
Andrea Aranguren
ENACT
Andrea Aranguren
Andrea Aranguren currently serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships at ENACT, where she also works as a Teaching Artist. Her background combines management, theater and education. Andrea has worked as a professional actor internationally, including theaters in New York, Washington D.C. and Buenos Aires. Andrea has worked for the past 15 years leading international social initiatives in education. She also teaches undergraduate and high school students Acting/Theater and Theater for Social Change at CUNY-Brooklyn College. Prior to working for ENACT, she worked as a Project Manager at the Department of Education and Culture at the Organization of American States in Washington D.C.; iEARN U.S.A. in New York; The international Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) from The Netherlands where she was the Project Manager for the Global Teenager Project. She also worked at The Open Society for Southern Africa, in Johannesburg, as the co-founder of Ungana-Afrika. She holds a M.B.A. in Social Enterprises/Non-Profit Management from the University of Cape Town/New York University, a M.F.A. in Acting from CUNY-Brooklyn College and B.A. in Finance from Universidad de Belgrano.
Diana Feldman
ENACT
Diana Feldman
Diana Feldman is the founder and CEO/President of ENACT Inc. (www.enact.org) that has brought social and emotional education through interactive theater and drama therapy techniques to hundreds of New York City schools for 30 years. A recipient of a five year Ford Foundation grant, NADTA Research Award, and frequent presenter at national Arts in Education and Mental Health conferences, she is a drama therapist and author. Ms. Feldman has worked on developing original theater pieces that have run at the acclaimed Lortell Theater, Ensemble Studio Theater, and the Tribecca Performing Arts Center in New York City. She is also a published songwriter.
Session Description
At this ENACT interactive workshop, teachers will observe and participate in ENACT’s use of theater games and role play activities that will help them understand and gain tools to assess behavior and better manage their classrooms. In addition, participants will share their experiences in relation to manifestations of violence in schools in their countries. Participants will explore possible resources to deal with bullying and other forms of violence in the classroom, through social and emotional skills learning and trauma informed theater approaches. The session will be both didactic and experiential. Teachers will have the opportunity to meaningfully share their experiences on how violent behavior affects their own teaching/learning. Ultimately, participants will leave with an understanding of the value of social emotional skills in the classroom.
What will educators learn and be able to do at the end of the session?
Participants will:
- Examine key elements ENACT’s partnership with iEARN in developing a new global collaborative project using theater and other creative arts to promote “World Peace”, by creating safer learning environments in schools around the world.
- Identify and share personal experiences and challenges with violent incidents in the schools in their countries, such as bullying, cyber bullying, gun violence, cultural intolerance, LGBT issues and other forms of discrimination.
- Identify issues affecting students that may trigger violent behavior.
- Define ENACT's "creative container" and how it creates safety in the classroom.
- Assess negative behavior manifestations through a trauma-informed lens and identify 3 causes of negative behavior manifestations.
Additional Session Information
ENACT understands that children learn best when their social and emotional needs are met. Healthy student development is often hindered when a student has experienced neglect and trauma. ENACT has been a pioneer of trauma-informed practices and social, emotional learning since our inception in 1987 and has reached over 200,000 youth in New York.
The “magic” is in our method that combines our signature drama-therapy and creative theater techniques and is delivered by teams of engaging professional actors and counselors. Our evidence-based approach demonstrates that ENACT’s programs increase attendance, greatly improve behavior and lessen violent incidents while improving overall school climate.
ENACT’s interactive workshop will focus on “online collaboration using theater and creative arts approaches to promote world peace.” ENACT will share its own efforts to reduce violence and create safer and peaceful learning environments in schools around the world.
Through a developing partnership with iEARN, ENACT is in the process of creating its first global collaborative project using theater, with a focus on “World Peace.” Schools from United States, Spain and Morocco, have interacted virtually to create different student-led projects using theater, music, dance, movement and other creative arts. Each student’s project focuses on creating safer and more peaceful learning environments in schools across the world. Students are encouraged to find their own authentic voices to raise awareness on different violent manifestations in schools in their own countries. The students’ project topics include bullying, cyber bullying, gun-violence, LGBTQ and cultural intolerance, and other forms of discrimination.
At ENACT interactive workshop, teachers will observe and participate in ENACT’s use of theater games and role play activities that will help them understand and gain tools to assess behavior and better manage their classrooms. In addition, participants will share their experiences in relation to manifestations of violence in schools in their countries. Participants will explore possible resources to deal with bullying and other forms of violence in the classroom, through social and emotional skills learning and trauma informed theater approaches. The session will be both didactic and experiential. Teachers will have the opportunity to meaningfully share their experiences on how violent behavior affects their own teaching/learning. Ultimately, participants will leave with an understanding of the value of social emotional skills in the classroom.