Culture, Arts and Refugees

Project Focus:

A drama/puppetry project working with schools in Wales to promote refugee integration and a positive climate for refugees and asylum seekers within host communities.

Background:

When the Home Office announced arrangements for the dispersal of refugees and asylum seekers to areas of Wales with little or no experience of multiculturalism, Small World Theatre decided to respond with a drama project to counteract the negative media and public response to new arrivals. Small World has extensive experience of working with participatory theatre and puppetry in Wales and developing countries to address issues of poverty, rights and exclusion.They worked in partnership with Global Connections and the Welsh Refugee Council on research, to develop workshops and performance for schools and to find refugee ‘mentors’ to work alongside the project to give children an authentic voice of experience to answer their questions. A participatory planning day to inform project design was held with 25 stakeholders from the local council, local education authorities, educational advisors, project partners,community groups, schools, racial equality and refugee support organisations. The aims of the project were to:

• Raise awareness within host communities of the underlying causes that lead people to flee their homes and become refugees.
• To create an understanding of human rights and responsibilities.
• To create opportunities for dialogue between refugee mentors and host communities.
  

Participants:

Young people and their parents and other people in Swansea,Wrexham, Bristol,Newport,Gwent and Cardiff.

Activities:

Small World Theatre researched the stories of refugees who were settling in Wales.The process informed the content of the play for National Curriculum Key Stages 2 and 3 about the experiences of a refugee boy in Wales following his flight from conflict in West Africa. Small World also identified a refugee mentor from Sierra Leone who could work alongside the project to provide support and guidance. The project process consisted of performances in schools to introduce the project, followed by participatory workshops using drama to enable children to explore common experiences of difference, journeys and being a stranger. Games and drama exercises were developed to help children build their emotional understanding of these experiences. The project facilitated young people to produce a performance for their wider community on refugee issues and children rights. Reflective discussions formed a part of every session.The mentor participated in every performance and throughout the workshop process to respond to children and help them identity with the real experience of being a refugee. The project was first developed in the city and county of Swansea and was subsequently taken to other cities at the invitation of local authorities.

Outcomes:

• The project was evaluated as a good model of practice for education in global citizenship and racial equality supporting schools in the implementation of key personal and social areas of the curriculum.
• it was seen as a good model for building partnership across different agencies – LEAs, schools,community groups and refugee providers.
• it developed knowledge of refugee issues and global citizenship and interdependence not only among pupils but teachers and parents.
• Empathy and understanding developed through using participatory drama.
• The involvement of SWT in schools helped prepare the ground for new refugee arrivals and increased the likelihood of them being well received.
  

Sources:

Research interview and questionnaire. Video interview. Project video. External evaluation report.

Contact details:

Small World Theatre

PO Box 45, Cardigan
Wales SA43 1WT
Tel: +44 (0) 1239 615952
E: info@smallworld.org.uk
www.smallworld.org.uk/