Innovative Theater Program Teaches Tolerance
“You always have to be difficult! When it comes to collecting money for an exam, your mother is unavailable. She has money to buy you mini skirts, but never for flowers for the teacher!”
The raised voice is that of a “teacher” scolding a “child” in a student theater improvisation of The Black Sheep, staged by fellow students for a Makiyivka school. It depicts a teacher humiliating a student before her peers by commenting on her poor financial standing, an all too common situation in this region.
According to an Amnesty International public opinion poll, schoolchildren in the town of Makiyivka, located in Donetsk Oblast, believe their rights are systematically violated by teachers: 75% reported that teachers discriminate against students of poor financial standing; 80% stated that teachers verbally belittle and disrespect students in school; 56% said
teachers physically humiliate them; and 36% said that teachers comment on their private lives and openly announce confidential medical information in class. Teachers’ response to the survey results was unanimous: “This happens, but not in my classroom.”
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Student performers from Makiyivka’s Oppressed Theater take their message to the streets
Photo Credit: Viktoria Fedotova |
Luckily for the town of Makiyivka, there is an organization that defends students’ rights. The non-government organization, M.ART.IN-Club, aims to improve the situation for youth by working with schools and social institutions, youth and family agencies. With funding from the USAID-supported Ukraine Citizen Action Network, the club teaches young people how to fight for their rights in a unique manner. It has developed the Oppressed Theater method, an unusual psychological interactive theater forum designed by the Brazilian theater director, Augusto Boalia. In Brazil, this method was used to alleviate social tensions among the rural population. In Makiyivka, Viktoria Fedotova, a trained psychologist and Club activist, first used the method to support students’ rights.
The students of Makiyiv-ka Oppressed Theater stage typical school situations and improvise ways for resolving conflicts. Real-life situations are improvised by actors in the theater, who then switch places with the spectators. They in turn act out the roles of the aggressor and the victim, getting a chance to view the situation from both sides. Each “actor” can propose his/her personal conflict resolution immediately upon entering the role of a victim or aggressor. The important thing is to engage each audience member.
Since the inception of the project, 159 high school students from 11 Makiyivka schools have learned the Oppressed Theater method. The group has given 16 performances in schools, government institutions and to orphans. In total, 555 spectators have watched the performances and had an opportunity to discuss and find alternative ways of resolving the problems as presented on stage. A public awareness campaign involving teachers, artists and community activists on eliminating abuse in schools has also been conducted. Forty-eight on-air shows on 3 FM stations have reached over 500,000 radio listeners.
M.ART.IN has sent the results of the Amnesty International questionnaire to five government officials, who said they now look at the issue of defending schoolchildren’s rights differently. The Makiyivka city council has asked the NGO to continue its work with teachers.
Teachers have begun to understand the impact of their behavior on students as well. Since the project’s conclusion in 2004, 90% of teachers in Makiyivka admit that violence is a part of the school system, and 26% have said the atmosphere in classrooms depends mostly on teachers. Also important, children’s attitudes have changed: 90% of Oppressed Theater participants have changed their view on self-respect and now acknowledge the need to help others defend their rights.
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