Dear SIG Members,
Here is some good and some not so good news. Let’s
start with some good news.
First of all, our SIG has grown considerably as there
are 75 IATEFL Poland members who expressed their interest in CELT SIG. They
come from all over Poland and represent all kinds of educational institutions
from primary schools to universities. I think it’s great that the spectrum is
so wide. It also means that there is interest in cultural studies on all levels
of English Language Teaching.
Next, the INSETT drama course for teacher trainers
held in Toruñ from 10 to 14 February 2003 was a great success. See the report
below. There is also some good news concerning forthcoming summer events that
might interest some of you, e.g. the Hornby Regional Schools organized in
Poland and other countries of Eastern and Central Europe or the Australian
Kaleidoscope.
The latter has already interested quite a large group
of teachers. The course organizer, Ewa Osiecka, has confirmed her promise to
organize the course in July.
Now it is time for some not so good news. So far I
have no confirmation on the funds for the American Studies course for web
writers. Although I do not lose hope, I think chances for a full-time project
are slim. However, we might get some funds for a short course in American
Studies in August. Ida Baj has thought of a very good theme for this course: “
The Motif of a Journey in American culture”. Anyone interested? If the answer
is yes, please get in touch with me.
Report on “Drama for Developing Cultural Awareness”
course held in Toruñ between 10 – 14 February 2003
Participants
There were about 12 participants from all over Poland.
They came from all kinds of schools: Teacher Training Colleges, Technical
Universities and other educational institutions. Although they had different
educational backgrounds, they shared admiration for Anita Dêbska who was the
course trainer. The participants worked very hard as there were 4 sessions a
day from Monday to Friday but the work was very enjoyable. The participants’ enthusiasm
was so great that they even worked in the evenings sharing their ideas and
producing new drama activities
Course Outline
Anita Dêbska who prepared the syllabus of the course
made it very interesting and varied.
Monday
was devoted to the elements of drama. The climax of the day was producing a
play for radio in groups. Provided with an outline for a radio play, the
participants’ task was to write a scenario and perform it before the audience.
Tuesday
activities focused on drama for language learning and the cultural dimension.
Using typical ELT textbooks the participants’ were supposed to create a drama
context for some simple dialogues e.g. “May I have an apple?” “Yes, here you
are”; “Thank you”; “That’s all right”. They also experimented with dialogues
in other foreign languages.
On Wednesday the participants explored a drama
approach to the cultures of the world. The most enjoyable moments of the day
were spent on studying poems on the same theme from different cultures. The
themes were: snow and school. The participants recited poetry and performed it.
The most thrilling moment came with the drama presentation of Polish nursery
rhymes in Anita’s translation. The hit was a little poem about a ‘very good
girl’ by a popular Polish writer for children, Stanis³aw Jachowicz, titled
“Julia”.
By Thursday the participants were ready to
explore in depth various aspects of one particular theme through drama. The
‘Three Kings’ theme was researched, developed through drama and finalized in a
short play. That was definitely the highlight of the course as Anita took us on
an imaginary journey following the tracks of the Magi who probably came from
Persia, which in those days was very advanced in astronomy and astrology.
Friday
was entirely devoted to “Romeo and Juliet” by Shakespeare. The day finished
with enacted reading of a classroom version of the play. Starting with brief
extracts, the participants finally got the taste of Shakespeare’s original
text.
Apart from the above-mentioned activities the
participants also watched some interesting video material e.g. “Rail Journey to
Arcadia” or “Inhabiting two Cultures – video with the poet Grace Nichols”.
Socializing
Anita Dêbska and Joanna Ciechanowska were wonderful
hosts and therefore the course participants had many opportunities to socialize
with a glass of wine or mead. They also went to the local theatre to see the
play about an imaginary meeting of two great composers Johann Sebastian Bach
and Georg Friedrich Handel.
The Course Venue
The TTC in Toruñ has excellent facilities for drama
activities. The charming redbrick college buildings created a perfect context
for a drama workshop. Anita changed the perfectly ordinary classrooms into
comfortable and magic rooms where the participants experimented freely with
drama techniques. As Toruñ has a lot of historical buildings, the participants’
enjoyed long walks in the Old Town. They were usually seen coming back with
loads of ‘ginger bread’, the specialty of Copernicus’ town.
Possible Outcomes
It is hoped that the participants of the course
will disseminate in their institutions what they had learnt. We can expect a
plethora of creative drama activities in the future.
This little poem written by one of the
participants, Ida Baj summarizes best the participants’ gratitude:
Fair
Anita! You and Copernicus
Are
famous in this town because
He moved
the Earth to roll across the night
You
moved our hearts and showed us heav’nly light.
Below you may see a gallery of photos taken during
the course:
The Hornby Summer School for Teachers of English in
Lublin (June 22 – July 4th)
This school is of special interest for teachers of
English interested in intercultural studies. There are going to be two parallel
strands: 15 participants will work on the methodology of intercultural studies
and 30 participants will work as web writers on the theme of “Food”. I believe
that the methodology strand might be very attractive to our SIG members because
a majority have declared an interest in methodology. As the school is going to
have an international character it will be a very good opportunity to share
ideas with teachers from other countries and work together on methodology
guidelines and materials.
The web writers group will also work with teachers
coming from different countries, and the theme of “Food” discussed in an
international context may indeed result in a variety of web materials, which
will be published online on the British Studies Web Pages. If you want to have
a look at the materials produced by web writers who took part in the British
Council school at Starbienino or Pu³awy go to: http://elt.britcoun.org.pl (‘The
Countryside’ and ‘Heritage’ issues). To apply you have to fill in an
application form, which will be available on the front page of the British
Studies Web Pages at the above web address.
There are other summer schools organized in other
countries such as the Czech Republic, Croatia, Rumania or Hungary. I think that
they may interest you as well.
