Community, Education and Project Management - Essay Example

Assignment: Community, Education and Project Management Programme: JHS Dance and Movement Studies Table of Contents Content Page Prologue: What it’s all about! ................................................................................. 3 Background: Who’s who and what’s what? …...………………………………… 4 Workshop: Main course ………………………………………………………….. 8 Personal growth: A memorable experience! ..……………………………………. 13 Conclusion: An end to spiritual journey …………………………………………. 16 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………… 18 Prologue: What it’s all about! This report entails the detailed analysis about planning, managing and executing effective arts workshops. It opens with a background about the venue for workshop, details about the client and audience and assessment of what I intended to attain through these sessions. Later, a comprehensive analysis regarding complete features of workshop sessions is provided in a chronological sequence, followed by details of my personal development and experience from this entire exercise. Here, I also discussed about a special case of a particular child who showed symptoms of evolving through the knowledge and confidence gained from my sessions and how I was moved from this astounding development. This area confers about how I take pride and credit for achievements that I gained by conducting an effective workshop and for amazing feedback I received from audience as well as my mentor. The chapter closes in with a concluding summary of how this whole exercise enhanced my learning curve and how I see myself merging as a new person after the end of this spiritual journey. The notes provided in this report can be helpful for anyone who desires to conduct a successful workshop, learning from where I made mistakes and how I coped with challenges that came my way! Background: Who’s who and what’s what? Location for workshop After being instructed to plan a workshop, the very first step to ponder about was the location where the workshop could be possibly held in the most effective manner. To discuss regarding this, I met my mentor and talked in detail about my placement. Initially, my intentions were to try for some non-profit organizations engaged in community development activities with primary focus on schools and educational institutions. My theme was dance and movements and I strongly believed that dance can be best used in education for children who can’t communicate verbally and therefore, seconding to Mertz in ‘As I See it,’ dance is a language and communication mode which uses one’s body and movements instead of vocal notes to convey a message. The person at the other end reads the gestures and decodes the subtle meaning behind them (Mertz, 2002). For kids, it could be the only mode of speaking up until a later age and the workshop could be useful in this context. It was vital to decide what target I desire to target for the workshops for which an article by Natura Networking Programme (ELO) came in handy. Based on nature of my workshop, I needed to determine whether I shall need an assistant, any external funding, group of people for whom my intended workshop shall be most fruitful and associations that might be interested in my subject matter (ELO, 2000). My mentor gave me names of some popular groups and associations where I could consider conducting my workshop. Accordingly, I applied to these entities requesting them to grant me permission to hold a workshop as part of my coursework. In order of my priorities, I applied first to Village Primary school but got a negative response on the grounds that it already had a full subscription of clubs. However, the school referred me to another association namely Refugee Housing Association. Nevertheless, this couldn’t work out either as they didn’t respond at all. I researched harder and came across African community group but again, the results were the same: they never got back to me! Though de-motivated, I couldn’t let my low morale stifle my longing to conduct an ideal workshop so without further ado, I gave up hope on these popular associations which do not have ample time to spare and narrowed down to a small-scale club called Ace Club. It comprised of a nursery for small children to have education in the morning hours and a recreational club for young children in after-school hours to learn new skills and indulge in extracurricular activities. I was very lucky to hear back from them. They agreed to my workshop theme relating to dance and movement class. Surprisingly, soon after we mutually agreed for the workshop, I got a response from African community group that I had applied to earlier but I was pre-occupied with my commitment to Ace Club and therefore I had to hesitantly take back my offer for workshop. At that time, I was not well aware of how this workshop would work out to be a blessing in disguise, giving me one of the best learning experiences of my life and when today I see back in time and think if I were given another chance, I would definitely opt for Ace Club again! Client correspondence It was time to communicate with the client. First, I requested the club to arrange for necessary paperwork for me to read before I start preparing for my workshop. They provided me their internal regulatory documents and standard operating manuals regarding authority hierarchies, permissions and approvals lists and health and safety rules. I was strictly instructed to abide by them at all times during my stay at their club to ensure welfare of all children, volunteers and generally the environment. I skimmed through all the provided documentation and made key extracts and excerpts out of them which I must comply with while conducting the workshop. I added these notes to my project file for later use. Afterwards, I had a detailed discussion with the competent authorities of the club to decide over specifications of workshop. Few things that were most vital to be known and decided beforehand in order to aid me in preparing for workshop included the following: Size of audience – to be well-prepared for the workshop, it was utterly important to be aware of my audience (number of participants), its composition (only kids or adults as well), its intellectual level (age brackets of children) and diversity (language problems, communication barriers, racial differences etc.); details of sessions – it was important to know how many sessions would they be able to spare time for and how long each session would be; and content of sessions – I needed to mutually agree with the client over the subject matter of each session so we do not have any friction later incase something appears controversial to them. Planned achievements Obviously, it was very necessary that I had a clear mind as to what I aim to achieve through these workshop sessions. To achieve as planned, it was necessary to consider factors, as mentioned in a book by Bensley, including the environment, expectations of the group attending workshop, traits of audience such as ages, attitudes, intellectual levels and willingness to participate. The presenter should thereafter tailor and adjust the content according to identified factors. It generates very healthy results and positivity to familiarize oneself to the audience, interact with them informally, introduce oneself and know them better prior to starting the first session (Bensley and Fisher, 2003). I had in my mind that I had to capitalize maximum on the experience and knowledge I would gain from this entire exercise and therefore I had jotted down, in my project file, few key milestones and achievements and that I was hopeful that I would somehow accomplish at the end of the day. These points included: Development of skills to effectively plan and deliver workshops at small and large scales; proficiency in time management at entrepreneur level; better communication skills especially in circumstances with language and psychological barriers, different ages and differences of opinions, mitigating friction and for discussions that are controversial and prone to arguments; abilities to work in multi-ethnic diverse environments; professional documentation skills through maintaining project file and other relevant notes; Analytical capabilities by critically evaluating effectiveness of workshops in different contexts with different audiences, identifying weaknesses and areas for improvement; and Professional skills of due care and integrity by maintaining confidentiality of information relating to people I worked with at the client. Workshop: Main course First Encounter It was essential to visit and obtain knowledge of venue structure, atmosphere, audience and the entire context prior to conducting the workshop. So I paid a little informal visit to the club, on 20 February 2013, without gaining much attention so I could observe silently without any bias and artificial behaviors from to-be-spectators. I referred to guidelines in an article by International Council of Archives and considered my budget restrictions, sufficiency of space in classroom to conduct dancing activities, arrangements of desks and furniture, availability of power access points to connect my laptop and speakers and other necessary measures (International Council of Archives, 2010). Also, I made sure to check emergency exits, fire escape routes and position of firefighting equipment and made my way from there to the room where children were present, being the same room where workshop was planned to be conducted, remembering clearly the path between the two for safe side in case of any emergency situation occurring during workshop. Additionally, I made myself aware of the formal rules in place to abide by them such as dress code, the dos and don’ts, first aid procedures etc. I made notes of participants that shall become my audience for workshop, identifying separately number of kids, their age groups and number of adults such as faculty members. I was totally unprepared for a session then but couldn’t bear the temptation and decided to hold a short informal session to introduce myself and the nature of symposium soon to take place. I managed to collect 20 kids for the session and it was time to be a little creative since I had no preparation or material on hand. Nervous enough, I gave my best to keep them alight and surprisingly I succeeded in maintaining their focus on me for at least half an hour! I indulged them into activities such as raising hands collectively and doing few stretches to tunes of nursery rhymes such as ‘Twinkle, twinkle,’ ‘Row your boat’ etc. I made sure to select most common jingles so that every participant could sing along and be part of the act. I got the faculty involved too to make children more comfortable since I was a new stranger face for them. After few minutes of repeating this exercise, I took my leave soon promising the children that I shall return soon with more activities! Second visit Based on observations noted from first meeting, I prepared few extra things prior to leaving for workshop such as downloading nursery rhymes and other melodies on my mobile phone, buying some props for making dance more interesting etc. I took reference from ‘Dance about anything’, planning how to bring confidence in children to come forward individually and show their dance moves. Coaching them to have self-confidence about their abilities and finding their strengths should be one of the primary aims (Sprague, Scheff and McGreevy, 2006). Finally, on 27 February 2013, I reached the club ready to deliver my workshop. Things were set in place as I had instructed for them to be and children were keenly waiting for me. Introducing myself, I used a bit of tactics as suggested by ELSPETH MCFADZEAN (2000), incorporating humor into the act since little children get very happy seeing some comic gestures and pulling off jokes. Also, humor works as a great icebreaker for a new session. But it is very essential to select jokes carefully according to audience like in this case, any jokes involving adult humor would be unhealthy and not appreciated or witty jokes might not be according their intellects. A big setback occurred when I was told that use of mobile phones is strictly prohibited within club premises and therefore I should avoid using it to help in my workshop. Unfortunately, I ended up depending on their available CDs of nursery rhymes and radio transmission. This made a bad impact and I failed to retain their attention and interest in the session. Soon the majority started taking off, leaving only 4 students behind who were somehow willing to give me another chance. This was my only chance and I grasped it and started singing and humming, moving along slowly in a pattern. This attracted their attention and they started participating especially one girl was so excited that she started showing different moves, asking other 3 children, with actions and expressions, to follow her steps. To motivate her, I started helping her deliver her ideas since her oral communication skills were underdeveloped. We moved on to different games and children started enjoying their time. Rest of subsequent workshops Since mobile phones were prohibited, I didn’t want them to make exceptions for me and therefore I decided to take my laptop instead. Similarly, I downloaded the tracks onto my laptop which children would most likely respond to, using my knowledge gained in first workshop about tastes and preferences of the audience. I also planned the order of exercise, starting with slow music to get them started such as ‘Happy and you know it’ and ‘Bob the builder,’ followed by fast music such as ‘Gangnam Style,’ ‘Superman’ and ‘McDonalds song.’ The session was to end with softer music again as part of ‘cool down’ process of 2-5 minutes allowing the participants to relax and catch their breath back. Also, I downloaded video songs so children could see visuals of melodies too but I deliberately played less video content so their focus stays on the exercise rather than on the laptop screen. With underdeveloped cognitive abilities, it was easier for children to understand through examples, scenarios and case-studies so I prepared a few. Hounsell suggested that case studies help audience to develop better vision, to understand different ways of looking at and doing things and to work collectively in a team to solve presented problems (Hounsell, 2002). It was difficult to handle the kids so I learnt from mentor how he got them to do what he wanted through rewarding systems and children psychology tactics. In my next workshop I prepared some colorful stickers which I rewarded few children with who showed good conduct and participated well. Sessions used to long for more than an hour with continuous dancing and other games. They had finally begun to enjoy their time and were looking forward to more sessions. In fact few of them suggested that a dance class should become part of their routine activities. However, unfortunately, in my last session planned, I fell ill along with some participants too due to extreme cold weather. Nevertheless, I turned up for the session and tried to boost up morale of the de-motivated audience. Finally, it was time to say our goodbyes but I assured the children that I shall make strong recommendations to the club management to incorporate dancing routines into daily activities as I could see great positive results through this exercise. I played a farewell song and did a few steps waving hands to end our sessions on a happy note while their mentor gave them a concluding speech. I packed off and left taking along the vast knowledge gained through these workshops. Once done, it was time to run follow up procedures to give a complete closing to the entire programme. I took guidelines from an article by Phil Rabinowitz at Community Tool Box and ensured there were no loose ends remaining on my part for any matter or agenda and no material was outstanding to be handed over to the audience and club’s management. Then I drafted an official report of my observations and recommendations and dispatched a copy of it to the club for their consideration of potential benefits and future use (Rabinowitz). Personal growth: A memorable experience! The vivid experience I attained through the sessions was undoubtedly spiritual for me. I not only developed new skills through them but also learnt a lot about myself which I never knew until then! I amazed myself with how I successfully responded to the needs of the group every now and then in following ways: With concentration levels of such small children to be of a very short span, my primary focus was on maintaining that through attention-gaining gestures, communication skills, attractive video content and selection of tunes known well by every participant. If the group’s attention would be scattered at times, I used to get back their attention by clapping hands loudly or pointing out a certain child to participate. Children often made requests for their favorite melodies which I used to note down and download in my laptop for the next session. I played different roles simultaneously during the session to carry out different tasks as identified by Harlan and Gabarro. According to them, groups should be managed by reaching agreement on agenda, commencing new conversations, ensuring active participation, avoiding conflicts and friction, reaching compromising or win-win situations for entire audience and simplifying ideas presented by participants for others to understand (Harlan and Gabarro, 1986) Kids can be easily enticed through rewards and gifts and appreciation in kind therefore I kept them on track through rewarding of stickers and other prizes and patting them on backs to encourage their positive attitudes. Due to underdeveloped communication skills of small children, I learnt gestures and terminologies to get through them ensuring none of them feels alienated by my presence. Initially, I got a very poor response so I improvised in order to gain larger audience. I brought in video content, popular songs, easy dance steps, rewarding systems and active participation tactics. In the last session, the audience was facing low morale firstly due to illness and secondly due to it being the last session. In order to encourage them, I convinced and assured them that the sessions shall soon become part of this club and I shall take every step to persuade the club management for it. Also, I asked their mentors and faculty to mention in their farewell speech that they shall consider my recommendations and take necessary actions. Special case It is worth mentioning about a specific kid that I observed during the sessions. The boy was very shy initially and skipped the entire first week of sessions. However, he nervously moved in the session next week, sitting in one corner not participating at all. I was observing him particularly and made extra effort to get him involved. I recalled having read Brehm and McNett who suggested that sometimes young children lack certain types of intelligences such as verbal intelligence but may be sharper on the creative side. Therefore, putting this strength to constructive use, a mentor can help such children to overcome this issue and crack open their stifled intelligences (Brehm and McNett, 2008). Gradually, he moved to the middle of class and began participating meekly. Sometimes he would just get a seat next to the laptop and watch video content and try to sing after the melody. He was able to make resembling sounds when trying to mimic numbers being called out which was a great development. At the end of session, I could see that boy all lightened up with confidence and ready to take another session. Though it made me sad that it shall be my last session, but I got a sense of achievement seeing that boy practically evolve in his stages of childhood with help of my workshop. This achievement I would consider to be one of the biggest ones for me in life! Conclusion: An end to spiritual journey Conducting this workshop, though a tedious process, was very fruitful and totally worth the effort and time! It not only gave me professional advancement but also I could feel a change in myself in terms of personal growth and development. Now, I had better communication and interpersonal skills, capabilities of managing, planning and executing an effective workshop session and analytical abilities to assess the effectiveness of an ongoing session. Personally, through my experiences especially with a particular kid mentioned, I developed an intellect regarding grooming and personal development of other people including my subordinates, children of different ages and other people who may need assistance in this respect. Also, the way that child overcame his fears, phobias and reservations, I was highly inspired and tried to incorporate the same will power in my own day-to-day dealings with problems. I learnt about dealing with clients and their needs and how to cater them at reasonable levels while negotiating where I don’t agree with their perspectives. I got better at relationship-building with others and patiently handling my own internal pressures, low morale and feelings of irritation and ego. All in all, it had been a fantastic spiritual journey for me where I discovered fantastic facts about myself and interacted and made acquaintances with some remarkable human beings. Seeking to be a professional artist in future, the workshop provided me with some great insights. As acknowledged by Grant in ‘The business of being an artist,’ an artist reaches near to the self-actualization state when practicing his art though he can never be perfect but yet he has a learning experience with inspirations on the road to being an artist (Grant, 2000). Similarly, I could already feel the vibes that my journey as an artist had begun with that workshop and the knowledge gained through it will always come in handy for me in my future career and personal life. Bibliography BENSLEY, R. J., & BROOKINS-FISHER, J. (2003). Community health education methods a practical guide. Sudbury, Mass, ELSPETH MCFADZEAN. (2000). Techniques to enhance creative thinking. Team Performance Management. 6, 62-72. ELO (2000). Natura 2000 Networking Programme on behalf of the European Commission. Retrieved from http://www.natura.org/nnp_toolkit/nnp_workshop_checklist.pdf ELSPETH MCFADZEAN. (2000). Techniques to enhance creative thinking. Team Performance Management. 6, 62-72. Rabinowitz, P. (n.d.). The Community Tool Box. Retrieved from (ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1113.aspx BREHM, M. A., & MCNETT, L. (2008). Creative dance for learning: the kinesthetic link. Boston, McGraw-Hill. GRANT, D. (2000). The business of being an artist. New York, Allworth Press. GABARRO, J. J., & HARLAN, A. (1986). Note on process observation. Boston, Mass, Harvard Business School Publ. HOUNSELL, J. D, (2002) Students' Experiences of Learning to Present, In: Rust, C., ed. Improving Student Learning Theory and Practice Ten Years On. Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Improving Student Learning, Brussels. International Council on Archives (2010). Organising training workshops and seminars: guidelines for professional associations. MERTZ, A. (2002). The body can speak: essays on creative movement education with emphasis on dance and drama. Carbondale, Southern Illinois University Press. SPRAGUE, M., SCHEFF, H., & MCGREEVY-NICHOLS, S. (2006). Dance about anything. Champaign, IL, Human Kinetics. Read More