Acting Up

The project:

ACTING UP aims to provide professionals such as trainers, counsellors, social work professionals and other educational staff working with disadvantaged, low-skilled individuals to provide them with methodology and practical skills how to exploit drama techniques to motivate their beneficiaries in order to support them in finding career pathways and engage in lifelong learning education. The programme will be piloted in each country and adjusted to the needs of adult learners facing the problems of unemployment and help them to up-skills or re-skill. Participation in ACTING UP drama activities will foster the motivation of adult learners to gain new skills and participate actively in social life.

Activities include:

1. Research activity to prepare ground for the development, adapting and piloting ACTING UP methodology. European Guidebook on best practices on the use of theatre as a methodological tool will be elaborated to facilitate further implementation.
2. Development of the Course curriculum and materials of drama course for teachers. Course programme and materials will be identified to support trainers and teachers to implement drama techniques into their ordinary work with disadvantaged adult beneficiaries. Practical workshops for trainers how to exploit drama to support adult learners will be organized. Group of 25 trainers will be involved. Each partner will assign 5 teachers, trainers, counsellors to take part in workshops and later to apply ACTING UP methodology in their work.
3. Materials of the course to be convert (digitalised) from the current paper based materials onto the VLE (Vitural Learning Environment) to support a wider audience and make the training materials more widely available to other counsellors across the sectors.
4. Designing course for beneficiaries. The trainers involved in the project, once trained, will design a course for adult learner at risk of exclusion using the drama techniques. The aim is to enhance personal standing and self-image of beneficiaries, through a participative theatre approach. This technique helps to raise awareness and discover their potential.
5. Piloting the drama workshops by trainers in Poland, France, Italy, Portugal and UK. Exploiting drama as tool to motivate and engage adult learners. In each country 30 participants will be engaged. A final performance will be delivered at the end of the pathways in each country.
6. Setting up and proceeding with Evaluation process. Transversal activity through the whole course of the project. It will guarantee the project results meet the highest standards and needs of the trainers and end beneficiaries.
7. Dissemination and Exploitation the project results. It will include producing promotional materials such as leaflets, project website and dissemination report. Local small scale multiplier events will be organized in participant countries. At the end final conference to disseminate the outputs to national adult education providers, policy makers and representatives from local government and national funding bodies will be organized in Lodz, Poland.
8. Management and Coordination of Activities. Transversal activity through the whole course of the project.

The project addresses two target groups:

– adult educators, trainers, vocational counsellors, and socio-cultural practitioners who will be trained to use drama activities as pedagogic method to support vulnerable adult learners

– adult learners (final beneficiaries) at particular risk of exclusion, those who require up-skilling or reskilling, often affected by unemployment, restructuring and career transitions, and contribute to social inclusion, active citizenship and personal development.