I had to leave this session early but I did catch up on the readings and check out the websites!  Looking back on my school days I can see that I was quite awful to other children at times, so when Jo asked us to sketch a bully I drew myself.  I believe that my own behaviour was a direct reaction to having been bullied by another girl (not that this is an excuse but it is a factor).  Bullying wasn’t as talked about as it is now, so I never saw myself in this light.  If I had participated in a workshop such as this, and been made aware of my negative effect upon others, perhaps I would have modified my behaviour.  

I think it is easy for me to acknowledge that I was a bully now because it is a long time past; however it may not be the same for current primary/high school students.  The good thing about the workshop format is that the activities allow you to explore different viewpoints, without actually giving your personal opinion or saying, “This happened to me”.  In this way students have a certain amount of anonymity and safety in voicing an opinion; and this is one of the great advantages in using drama for enhancing social learning. 

The beauty of drama is that you can actually FEEL what it is like to be in another person’s shoes.  I think this is an important part of developing social awareness: to treat others as you would wish to be treated or to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.  They’re such worn out clichés, but they are obviously so often forgotten when people interact in society. 

I really enjoy the practical suggestions as to how these units can be developed in the classroom (ie. the MindMatters website).  The Response Ability website, however, seems to be purely background information for teachers and is therefore not as interesting for me. 

I feel that teachers can play an important role in social activism and can see so much potential to do this within the dramatic realm.  I personally still see a need to educate students about basic human rights issues and how these can contribute to a culture of peace.  I think that racism, resilience and family conflict can all be examined under this banner, and workshops could be devised which follow the some format as the bullying workshop.  Obviously some activities would work better than others or some may need to be changed to suit the specific issue.  It all depends on the outcome the teacher wants to achieve. 

I found a Welsh website that uses drama as a tool for developing social awareness in the community http://www.valleyandvale.co.uk/drama/drama_index.htmHere’s a lesson plan for increasing landmine awareness through role-play http://jalt.org/global/30Exp.htm