Introduction – what is the report about and where does your positionality sit within the review?

This Report is about the Artefact that I have choose to do is a Handbook called A Guide to Inclusive Teaching Practice in Theatre. By a Company Called Graeae Theatre Company

This handbook is essentially an approach to inclusive teaching practice and assists in the development of inclusive practice within an education or training environment. It is designed to be used by teachers, workshop leaders, or educational administrators in the Performing Arts. It also touches on ethics/casting, artistic accessibility and internal and external access suggestions and possible solutions. Throughout the guide you will see quotes from drama schoolteachers / practitioners who share their experiences of working inclusively; some positive, some with questions raised, but all on a journey of discovery to create theatre which reflects our society.

Here is a link to the Artefact

https://graeae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Teachers-Guide-Updated-May-2015.pdf

About the Company

A world-class theatre company that is artistically led by disabled people, pioneering an inclusive new dramatic language that is unparalleled and unprecedented. ‘Graeae rightly holds iconic status nationally and internationally for the innovation and quality of its work. It plays a vital part in the cultural life of this country.’ Ruth Mackenzie, Director of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad

https://graeae.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Graeae-who-we-are_Sept-2016-D2-HR.pdf

Context – which course/department are you engaged with and why would this intervention be an important one?

I work in the performance department at CSM as a support Technician in the theatre spaces. My Main focus is in lighting teaching and working with students with their lighting needs for their performances. I also hold tutorial sessions in lighting design for students that what too know more about lighting. Disability is not something that is talked about much and as technician we are not told if students require additional support while working with us in the theatres. I want to engage my fellow colleagues in the department in how we can support and cater from people with disabilities.

Inclusive learning theory – why is your work important within the Academy?

My work is very important to the Academy without It the performance students would not learn the essential skills needs to put on a show. I am working closely with the students in lighting teaching them how to rig the lights, how power and controls work and what you must do, also how to use the lighting control desk and how to plot lighting cues for their performance. I also give them advice and support in building and make of set / props items that the students what to make.   

Reflection – what were the considerations as to your process of deciding on the artefact and a description of the artefact?

I wanted to find information about how we can support disabled people with the theatre doing research online I come across this document from a company called Graeae. The Guide to inclusive teaching practice in theatre covers.

Access Tools provide more specific information relating to Access and Teaching Tips associated to the following impairments: Deaf Participant, Blind and Visually impaired Participants, Participants with mobility and physical impairments, Participants with differing voice patterns.

To educate people of different teaching style and to encourage disabled students to join the course.

Action – How would this artefact be used/has/would be used and what does this mean to your practices?

Having read the handbook there are a few things that we could that we will have to do if we have any students with impairments making sure that any set and staging is acceptable for mobility and physical impairment and blind and visually impaired participants. Also, will give them time in the space to lead them around so they can get a feeling of the space. My plan is to email out this Handbook to members of staff in my department to see what we as a team can do to support the learning of students with impairments when working in the theatre.

 Evaluation of your process – how successful was it, what you learned and how would/could you do things differently?

So, I sent my artefact to my peers in my group and my peers in the department. These are the feedback that I got from them.

1. Thanks for finding and sharing this resource.  I can see it as a valuable guide informing our practice here at CSM and in the Performance program. There were several ideas/questions this raised for me while reading:
2. Do we have an access/disability officer at CSM that we can use as a resource for information and support regarding good practice with students?
3. Can or do we have a member of staff (Performance technical and Performance Academic) who knows BSL (British Sign Language)?
4. Can we put anything on Technical Moodle regarding support for people with disabilities?  What might that look like?
5. Can we put anything on Technical Moodle to support any students who want to make their work accessible?
6. Some ideas for the technical areas: Accessibility of our work surfaces and spaces- Braille label printer?

This document really makes clear the wide variety and complexity of support that may need to be provided to students.  The challenge seems to be how to prepare for this support.  It seems to me that some of this must be done in preparation for any potential student need.  Not only because it might be challenging to put in place but also to provide an environment that would feel welcoming to potential students, encouraging them to come here.

• The peer-to-peer presentation had gone well I told the group what my artefact is about and how I plan to use it. There feedback from the group was positive they had said that maybe I should take once section of the handbook and concentrate on that. This is a valued point as trying to do the whole thing is a massive task and I do agree with them. More about the convocation on how as a department we can support people with disabilities.    

 

Conclusion – what are your key findings, observations and reflections regarding this process and your practices?

The Conclusion of the artefact is that as good as the handbook is and has a lot of information that is very useful in our department. To try and intermittent all of it into our practices would be a huge task. Working on smaller segments would be beneficial to the department and the students. Looking at the UAL support for disability’s it seems to be on a case-by-case bases. Nevertheless, there are some things that we can do with training and knowledge. One thing that the group said was very helpful was the language. It is essential to recognise that being disabled impacts hugely on who someone is, but it is not the only thing that defines them. Disabled people self-define their disability but there are some basic guidelines of acceptable language to use.

	x
disabled	handicapped, cripple, invalid
disabled people	the disabled
has … (an impairment)	suffers from…, victim of …
Non-disabled	able-bodied, normal, healthy
has learning difficulties/learning disabled	mentally disabled, retarded, backward
wheelchair user	wheelchair bound, confined to a wheelchair, in a wheelchair
Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing people	the Deaf
Deaf sign language user, BSL user	Deaf and dumb, Deaf mute
blind or partially sighted people, visually impaired people (VIP)	the blind
has mental health issues, is mental health system user or survivor	mentally ill, insane, mad, crazy
has cerebral palsy	spastic
restricted growth, short stature	dwarf, midget

These simple Changes in Vocabulary can make a big impact on the performance and contribution to the work. Also changes in what you say is important like asking a wheelchair user to walk around the space instead ask them to move around the space. Or if talking to a blind person describe the object or action in more details like the colour or textural. Give them object to hold and feel. These are the few examples that the handbook suggests. Also, another thing that we could be done and was asked by one of my colleagues is about learning BSL (British sign language) I think this is possible. Either as staff development or individual learning i.e., YouTube or other websites offering training. This would be something I would consider once my PG cert is over. I do feel that our theatre spaces are mostly accessible already as all areas are flat floor and can be access to higher levels via lift. There are a couple of places in the theatre that are not accessible these are substage storeroom and the front of house technical bridge. But these areas are rarely accessed by students. In terms of my teaching lighting, I can add different approaches to teaching different types of disabilities for example with a blind person I could get them to stand or sit in a light from different angles then one light at a time tells me where the light is coming from just by feeling the light on their face. This it’s a great exercise for the performers to find the light. Overall, I found the handbook helpful and will be using it in the future and work towards a disability’s friendly performance program.

 Referees

Graeae Theatre Company

Our artistic vision

UAL Disability

https://www.arts.ac.uk/students/student-services/disability-and-dyslexia

https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/documents/sppreview/e316b235-5e19-4062-b013-cd0b0d3c8a27

https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/documents/sppreview/c107a279-3e53-421e-a419-f536ababbad1