Kaleidoscope was a Victorian Government initiative designed to help primary school children readjust to regular school contact post the covid-19 lockdowns. This program was facilitated by a NFP called The Song Room which has specialised in delivering in-school arts programs for a numbers of years.
The program called for independent artists to develop engaging and encouraging arts projects to help kids express themselves meaningfully at school. I delivered a tailored performing arts package which focused on physical confidence and emotional grounding through movement-based activites, games and performances which we would then reflect on as a group through drawing and other quiet, introspective and solo activites.
I provided on-site and remote lessons in the Dramatic Arts to primary school students at three rural Victorian schools during the second semester 2022. Kaleidoscope was an open invitation to introduce fun, non-assessable activities to children who had experienced disrupted social and emotional learning throughout the recent pandemic. The objective was to help children readjust to on-site learning.
I have been a performing artist for over 10 years, and I have studied in afterschool programs through to undergraduate performing arts. A typical session would consist of introduction and orientation activities to get everybody comfortable and get their creative juices flowing followed by story-building activities working both as solo artists and in groups.
My rationale: introduction and orientation exercises in dramatic arts classes are used to relax participants, energise their emotions and body, and get them creatively thinking about the language choices (verbal and non-verbal). They ask participants to describe their emotions in a variety of ways and to collaborate with other participants by listening and responding. This makes for great relational practice in a heightened environment where lots of excess energy can be safely and joyfully expressed.
My objective is always to create a learning atmosphere that is open, calm, and focused on self-responsibility and expression while working as part of a collective. This approach aligned with several core SEL objectives in the Victorian Education Curriculum as well as on-site school mindfulness activities.
Our sessions ended with gentle, introspective activities to help participants ease back into their regular day. Drawing was often favoured as was meditation, slow dancing and reading.