Art is an effective tool for education, reflection, and inspiration. Compelling characters and narratives can capture a person’s attention and resonate beyond a production’s runtime. By introducing health strategies through live performance, theatre-based initiatives serve an important function in preventative health. Here we’ll explore what arts-based interventions can look like and how Thriving Schools approaches this work through the Educational Theatre program.
What is arts-based learning?
There are many ways to interpret that question and no definitive answer. However, there are some helpful elements to consider when developing an arts-based learning practice. An arts-based intervention should “achieve a wide variety of social and learning goals in, through, and about the arts with a wide variety of participants,” according to Eric Booth, an actor and publisher. As long as the learning objectives and artistic medium support each other, an intervention can take many forms.
In the RISE UP program, artists work with school staff to explore workplace challenges. They then use fictional scenarios to explore topics such as interpersonal conflict between staff, challenges in communication with students, and managing the stress and demands of life as an educator. After viewing those scenes, the participants are provided with tools to approach the situations differently and are given the chance to improvise a new scene using the tools they have learned. The participants are now able to practice within an arts-based process to help them achieve the program’s learning goal of strengthening resilience in the school environment.
Addressing community needs
Theatre-based interventions are the most effective when the fictional narratives reflect real-life experience. Educational Theatre develops their programming based on important health issues identified by Kaiser Permanente and its members.
The Ghosted program was developed in response to a growing need within communities to address youth mental health. Ghosted is a 30-minute play that follows four high school students who are struggling with their own unique mental health challenges. Topics including stress, anxiety, rage, and depression are all explored through four characters. As the play progresses, students examine their own experience through the story they see onstage.
After the production ends, students are given the chance to ask questions about mental health to the actor-educators who performed in the show. Accessing their training and current research, actor-educators respond to whatever questions students have and offer helpful resources (such as the 988 helpline). When the Q&A ends, students are invited to approach the performers to discuss anything that they did not feel comfortable sharing in the larger session.
Amplifying the Impact
Interacting with art allows us to re-examine our relationship with health, others, and ourselves. Once participants are inspired to reach out, the actor-educator’s role is to bridge the gap between students and support. In collaboration with school staff and leadership, as well as community resources, the Educational Theatre programs allow students to share in a supportive environment and connect them with the help they may need.
Sometimes, we know what a healthy choice is. However, they are not always easy to make. It can take stepping outside of ourselves to make connections that translate into action. Arts-based learning holds up a mirror to our current situations and opens a door to what’s possible.
In a recent Health Views podcast with Kaiser Permanente’s Dr. Deb Friesen, Betty Hart, an experienced teaching artist and leader within Educational Theatre, spoke more about the role of arts-based learning in public health. “We move information from the head to the heart,” she said.
This perfectly sums up the superpower of arts-based learning. The information enters your brain and the artistic experience remains in your heart…allowing the lessons learned to continue to grow.
