Case Studies and Good Practice

During 2016 the project team travelled the 5 partner countries researching and exploring examples of good practice. These visits were set up to help generate material and discussion to assist developing the Best Practice Guide and course syllabus.

We would like to thank all the schools, playwork sites, adventure playgrounds, youth centres, teachers, school heads and administrators, practitioners, entrepreneurs and children and young people who shared their projects, programmes ideas and passions with us throughout the research phase of our project. Their input has helped to shape our understanding of the challenges they face and their different approaches informed our best practice principles.

Photographs of our time with these projects and organisations can be viewed in our Gallery.

Links to projects and organisations 
Austria
Project For each other – together
Contact Emina Eppensteiner emina.eppensteiner@aon.at
Website http://tu-was.at/projekt-detail-183/items/fuereinander-miteinander.html
Description Children and adolescents from different cultures, with different languages and religions often live side by side and not together. The project named “For each other – together” overcomes the everyday distances in the common theater play. All children and young people are welcome. In groups of max. 14 children or young people, games are developed together and rehearsed. Everyone finds space for his/her creativity and imagination.

 

Project Dream Catcher
Contact Christoph Rabl christoph.rabl@aon.at
Website http://www.kulturplattform-traumfaenger.net/html/theater/anna_wolf.htm
Description The drama-educational project of “dream catchers” addresses the question of how bullying and other forms of violence affect children and what can be done about it. In the narrative form of the fairy tale, “dream catcher” takes up motifs of the Grimm fairy tale figures and joins them in a dramaturgical arc. It tells how children and young people are gradually gaining social competency and finding themselves out of the wake of their despair and developing new life perspectives.

 

Project Symbolarbeit
Contact Margot Cammerlander info@symbolarbeit.at
Website http://www.symbolarbeit.at
Description With the help of symbols we are able to provide children and young people with an additional language when they cannot find the right words. In this context, symbols work similarly to an interpreter; furthermore, they transmit information one cannot or does not want to share. As a symbol may have infinite meanings and is interconnected with multiple feelings, the key is an individual approach to support children and young people in adverse situations.
Poland
School Elementary School nr 12 in Gdansk
Contact Iwona Stankiewicz istank@wp.pl
Website https://zkpig12gdansk.edupage.org/
Description The school is a typical legacy of communist era as a building but filled with solidarity values integrating children of middle and working class, friendly for the newcomers. Drama is used for integration from early years and teachers are encouraged to explore its techniques for building stronger resilience.

 

School Special Elementary School nr 57 in Gdansk
Contact Anna Listewnik anna.listewni@yahoo.com
Website http://sp57gda.pl/netpanel/
Description The school addresses individual needs of children with special educational needs. Drama is used as the tool for diagnosing and expressing more personal needs and creating a more inclusive environment. It also serves modelling constrictive attitudes including resilience.

 

Project Intercultural Kindergarten
Contact Agata Hofman agata.hofman@lanlab.pl
Website  
Description The kindergarten is located at the sports club. The teachers are coaches and design spaces for free play and challenging physical activities.
Hungary
Project RS9 Színház
Contact Katalin Lábán katalin.laban@gmail.com
Website www.rs9.hu
Description The RS9 Theatre is a non-profit association, which opened its gate to the public in 1990. Nowadays they produce 100-140 performances annually, most of them being plays for children. RS9 organises and hosts several Playwright and theatre” camps every summer for children and young people between 10 and 15 years old.

 

Project Board games as tools for development
Contact József Jesztl jejozsef@freemail.hu
Website  
Description Board games have great potential as indirect pedagogical tools, as their internal rule-systems are relevant for every-day life, thus they can support cognitive, social and physical development. József is a social pedagogue who uses board games in his practice, with the knowledge of a wide range of games and their proposed application.
Germany
School Nikolai Schule
Contact Frau Hartmann ev-grundschule-psw@web.de
Website http://nikolaischule-pasewalk.de/
Description Private elementary school, with 6 classes / 150 pupils. Meaningful, Christian based, involvement of situations from life environment of pupils. Little space to play, but extension was foreseen. Drama is used in German lessons (presentation skills) and later on in developing and playing theatre around themes in life.

 

Organisation Schüler und Jugendzentrum (SJZ)
Contact Frau Marion Kramer sjz@eggesin.de
Website http://sjz.eggesin.de/
Description SJZ is a community centre for children and young people aged 6-27, open from 2 to 8 pm. Inside there is space for play, surfing the net, handicraft and outside is a large garden for beach-volleyball, football, bike half pipe, basketball and free play. Social workers, volunteers and peers are there for talking with, helping youth with homework or with social problems. Active marketing: at school and on the street. Per day 30-120 children and young people visit SJZ. Most of the programs are organised and directed by the children themselves. Three golden rules: be polite to each other, no politics, no drugs.

 

Project ZERUM – Center for Experimental Education and Environmental Education in Ueckermünde
Contact Johan Reinert slh@zerum-ueckermuende.de
Website http://www.zerum-ueckermuende.de/
Description ZERUM is an out-of-school learning place, located directly at the lake “Stettiner Haff”. It offers adventure and educational programs for children and young people, youth events, as well as school holidays, project weeks and training for social workers. The combination of adventure, body and movement form the central aspects in the projects and program offerings. The guiding principles are in the field of experiential education, environmental education and integrative pedagogy.

 

Organisation International Art Research – Schloss Bröllin.
Contact Frau Christine Lauenstein c.lauenstein@Broellin.de
website http://www.broellin.de
Description Bröllin has 4 rehearsal stages and 3 conference/dance rooms and a large outdoor area where (international) groups can rehearse / try-out theatre/dance performances and where social and cultural activities with young people take place. Drama as an instrument for detection, orientation and cooperation of young people who did not complete education and/or experience problems in their social environment. They also integrate, during breaks and in the evenings, with the visiting international art groups.
United Kingdom
Project Scrapstore PlayPods
Contact Kirsty Wilson play@childrensscrapstore.co.uk
Website www.playpods.co.uk   
Description The Scrapstore PlayPod® is a holistic process that works with the entire school community to change both the human and physical play environment transforming play at lunchtimes.

 

Project Gloucestershire Play Rangers
Contact Pip Levitt info@playgloucestershire.org.uk
Website www.playgloucestershire.org.uk
Description Play Gloucestershire is a registered charity that provides regular, free play sessions for children and young people in urban parks and rural locations across the county as well as project and partnership work.

 

Organisation OPAL
Contact Michael Follett outdoorplayandlearning@gmail.com
Website www.outdoorplayandlearning.org.uk
Description The OPAL primary programme is a mentor supported school improvement programme. It addresses all of the areas schools must plan for if they want to sustainably improve the quality of play.

 

Project Felix Road Adventure Playground
Contact Eddie Nuttall admin@felixroadplayground.org
Website www.facebook.com/pages/Felix-Road-Adventure-Playground/159066364152566
Description An open access adventure playground for children and young people in Bristol that supports freely chosen play and works to The Playwork Principles.

 

Project Playing Out
Contact Alice Ferguson hello@playingout.net
Website www.playingout.net
Description A project supporting anyone who wants children and young poeple to be able to play freely outside their own front door.

 

School Stroud Valley Community School
Contact Sarah Roberts admin@stroudvalley.gloucs.sch.uk
Website www.stroudvalleyschool.co.uk/contact.php 
Description Sarah uses drama interventions using Heathcote, Positional Drama, role play and drama games within the teaching of curriculum subjects.