RESEARCH STUDIES
Artist In Residence Program
Launched in 2009, our Artist in Residence (AIR) program put selected students and teachers from Charles Campbell High and Craigmore High in close, behind-the-scenes contact with our professional artists. For 2010 we will build on the 2009 pilot project and call for expressions of interest from additional secondary schools to participate in the AIR project linked to our Fugitive production.
Students and teachers will be involved in the entire process throughout the development, rehearsals and performance phases, providing them with a unique glimpse into the creative workings of a professional theatre company.
Our Arts Education Program is informed by formal research, and for our AIR project we are working with staff and researchers from the Drama Department at Flinders University.
CREATIVE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP - ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE INITIATIVE
EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
Windmill Theatre, a South Australian Company with a national and international profile for creating innovative professional performances for young people and their families is seeking expressions of interest from two secondary schools to participate in a pilot creative literacy project.
Part of Windmill’s commitment to arts education is to document and research the impact of performance experiences on the cognitive, social and creative development of the young audiences who attend our productions. We have successfully applied for and received a grant from the Australia Council for the Arts to implement a pilot creative literacy program, from July – to December 2009.
The selected schools will develop a creative program centred on the performance of Fugitive, see enclosed newsletter for performance details.
Students will have the opportunity to:
• Attend 2-3 rehearsals and participate in dialogue with the creative team
• Participate in drama skills workshops (acting, design, directing, dance etc) with professional theatre artists
• Attend a performance of Fugitive
• Participate in a post performance forum
In addition teachers will have the opportunity to:
• Participate in pre-performance workshops focussed on the creative development of the performance piece
The selected schools will have the opportunity to describe their focus of interest – it might be the various design elements of a production (set, costumes, lighting, sound), acting skills, choreography or directing. The project will be co-constructed with teachers, students and professional theatre artists.
Nominations for schools to participate in the Performance Literacy Project will close on Friday 26th February 2010. For further information contact Julie Orchard, Arts Project Manager on Tel 8415 5358 or email: julie.orchard@windmill.org.au. Applications can be downloaded from the Windmill website: http://www.windmill.org.au/educate/research-studies and emailed to or posted to:
Julie Orchard
Windmill Theatre
PO Box 8251 Station Arcade
Adelaide SA 5000
Applications should be no more than two A4 pages and should contain:
• A statement about arts education at the school
• An example of an arts curriculum program/project the school has managed
• A statement of perceived benefits for students and teachers
• A nominated staff liaison contact person
• Year level of students (the funding covers up to thirty students per school)
The funding for the selected schools will cover:
• Theatre artist fees, performance tickets, transport, and release time for teachers to plan and document the process.
Children's Voices
Children’s Voices was a longitudinal research project that explored and documented children’s perceptions of quality theatre and the impact on them, their teachers and school communities. The research was conducted in South Australia with 140, five to twelve year olds from four primary schools. The research was conduced by Professor Wendy Schiller from the de Lissa Institute for Early Childhood and Family Studies, University of South Australia. The children attended two to three arts performances per year over a period of three years (2003-2005)
Download the Children's Voices executive summary.
To purchase the full report please contact Julie Orchard, Arts Education Manager on 08 8415 5358. ($15.00 including GST and postage)
Performance Literacy Early Years
From 2002 - 2004 In partnership with Flinders University, we developed an exploratory research project looking at the link between literacy and performance experiences for the very young. The project examined language development through pre-performance and post-performance activities with babies and toddlers and how this links to the development of performance literate learners.