Ep42 Unmasking Through Theatre with Sarah Duc

"I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being." -Oscar Wilde

There’s been a lot of discussion about empathy and compassion when it comes to providing behavior analytic services. Sometimes professionals get so caught up in the science they miss some of the more engaging and, dare I say, fun ways to learn and incorporate these concepts and still provide successful programs. It’s difficult to define empathy and compassion yet this quote from Oscar Wilde shows how using theatre can help others understand more about their fellow man.

In this LIVE talk, we meet with Sarah Duc, educator and Theatre artist, to discuss her experiences working with general and special education students in a theatre setting. She has had the opportunity to serve individuals with disabilities across multiple settings since May of 2001. She earned BA in Theatre from UNT, then pursued alternative certification to teach. Sarah taught for 6 years in a high school self-contained Special Education class. She currently teaches middle school theatre and is about to begin her 15th year as a public-school teacher. We’ll be discussing how the arts can be a healing, restorative, and learning opportunity for all individuals.

Learning Objectives:

1. Give examples of how to include autistic and disabled individuals in theatre and fine arts.

2. Describe the behavioural and social skills that can be learned while participating in theatre.

3. Recognize when accommodations are necessary for both special and general education.

4. Describe ways to teach and train others who work with and support autistic and disabled individuals.

Take Aways- your bite-sized educational noms

- Theatre provides an opportunity to learn a wide variety of skills- social, perspective taking, creativity, collaboration, math, science, reading to name a few- and it’s built in adaptability allows for learners of all skills to participate. Similar to Goldiamond’s Constructional Approach, the teacher meets the learner where the learner is at and develops a program based on their strengths- “The arts are about saying ‘yes and…’, ‘tell me more’”.

- Theatre involves a lot of collaboration, perspective taking, giving and receiving feedback in order to put out a successful and fun project. It gives learners a chance to explore their unique preferences and develop creativity, curiosity, alongside social skills that will help them throughout their life.

- Sometimes learners are put into situations that they may not seem “to fit” at first glance. But shaping up behaviors without pushing too fast helps to foster growth and development and sometimes new behaviors emerge that are more respectful of others and the environment (sounds like potential cusps..?). Not everyone learns the same way and taking into consideration the individual needs of the learner is imperative if a goal is to foster an engaging learning environment that facilities learning, understanding, maintenance, generalization.

- Sarah’s main rule in her classroom is “Give Respect”; all other rules really come back to this “basic” principle. And while it may be discussed casually, the attitude and behaviors behind it are more complex. It involves empathy, a calm demeanour, negotiation and mediation skills, listening and hearing to all parties. Learning to take the perspective a learner who exists in a world that is not accommodating to them is an important skill that those working with this population need to explore and learn. Respecting all voices, their space, preferences, autonomy, assent/consent and withdrawal of, and all the things that make them… them.

Worth 1.5 Learning CEUs