Every Picture Tells a Story

....and I think it's fair to say, consensus amongst partners is that it was a good one. We are sad to end this story of stories...

And so what did we learn? (dear partners do add to this!)

A common comment from all partners is that it has been a very memorable, culturally enriching experience & extremely valuable learning curve. The learning was very broad & happened on many levels with many unexpected outcomes both hard & soft. I will attempt to briefly summarise the learning through the sub headings below which are collated from the three stage evalaution framework I prepared & the forms Jaques presented.

We evaluated:

individually - personal in reference to our own interests
organisationally - in reference to our work & country
totally - as a partnership in reference to the project joint aims

Language skills - every single person involved said that they had somehow increased their language skills, some slightly, some expressed interest to go on formal language courses, with 20% to informal learning & self-study of specific languages. Others were happy that they had learnt a few words in each of the partner’s languages – wehave made a point of learning greetings & useful basic phrases in all tongues. As English was the working language, English speakers had a better experience of speaking English. The U.K. & Irish had more experience of speaking clearly & correctly, without the use of dialect, listening carefully to accented English, taking into consideration accents & use of formally learnt English vocabulary. All learnt non verbal forms of communication as the learner group was highly inclusive, with people who have diverse backgrounds & disabilities learning alongside supporting each others understanding. This evolved informally in sessions e.g. the use of sign lanuguage or gesture or the use of sketching to devise a storyboard between learners who did not speak each others language, but type of this learning was noticed & evolved into an informal 'tool kit' which was used thoughout the project.

Other organisations - orgnaisations were very quite diverse with different working cultures & ethos, so there was a lot of comparisons to be made between organisations, structures, practices, working culture. It was very useful to consider & compare our ways - all went home with new ideas for this e.g. better food on day centre menu’s made a better experience for groups, which could set the tone for the working day or take risks aroung learners choosing for themselves not preprescribing. It was good to learn the ways that other organisations help to fund their work e.g. selling work in craft shops, producing high quality well finished articles, hving their won shop & how it operated. Some organisations felt that the project, even if they were very familiar with practices, had consolidated their way of working, they could take ideas and build on them, look at the same things but differently e.g. drama work but perhaps at different times of the day to maximise social opportunity for groups. There was definitely something different & new to learn during each mobility. There was also feeling that the work would have sustained impact within their organisation, such as improved attitude to inclusion & calculated risk taking & wyas of including people.

Cultural knowledge: All participants said that they had learnt more about Europe and other Europeans. All felt that we definitely now had better understandings of each other’s ways e.g. different politics, education systems, economics or how not all cultures greet strangers with a smile & what cultural/political experiences may have led to that way off being. Experiencing different diets & rhythms of living & working in a country is very different to being on holiday there. All learners said that they were more confident to travel independently across Europe - even if you don’t know the language. That there are other human resources that can be drawn upon - such as the non-verbal communication, if you have the raised confidence to do so, but also that basic human needs are all the same. We have learnt that you can find a way, some way, to communicate. Some found the Euro single currency very useful.

Others said that having done the project they were now happy to organise their own travel & not use an agent , going off the beaten track, to find the real experience away from the tourist traps, to talk to locals. Confidence was higher to do this through organising & experiencing the project travel.

Towards good practice:

All leaners felt that they had learnt some new practices to take back.

The work that was least prescribed had the best results in terms of learners confidence as they felt freer to offer ideas & contributed more, therefore were more engaged & more included.

When a diversity of people were most involved - the product was the best.

Where the learners had equality, respect & freedom to feel free in the participation the strongest communication happened. This could be clearly seen in the practical work of performance making, rehearsals & methods used in devising.

Involving people who are not normally asked for ideas or involved in decisions can have surprising results & offers further skills for inclusion.

Include people: if people feel included they will contribute.

Good communication is the key to a good project – of any kind.

Questioning is eternally useful. Checking understandings cannot be done too often.

Good planning & coordination is key too so that everyone is confident within the work.

Step out of the routine, try new things, variation keep things healthy.

Well managed risk has good results.

Changing things takes will, time, have faith & patience, trust in the process – people will respond.

Creating a good working atmosphere leads to confidence to try things.

Practical skills - a wide range of creative learning techniques were explored & exchanged in a safe supportive environment, the atmosphere was positive within the project was one of e.g. useful group drama exercises, storytelling techniques, theatres skills, evaluative skills, visual arts skills, contact theatre, movement & music, songs & stories shared (cultural heritage). Brand new skills were built e.g. puppet making, devising, using stimuli, using the arts broadly to engage people. The importance of clear & strong organisational skills before beginning work with groups as well as tutors approaches to working with groups were noticed, shared & absorbed.

There were both formal & informal opportunities for specifics to be discussed between organisation such as how people are employed, different staff & organisational structures, standards, working cultures & positive approaches to groups. This learning had both soft & hard outcomes in terms of skills - the positive effects on self-confidence on learners & self-awareness of practice or attitudes. All learners had different interests, this enriched & gave diversity to the learning of everyone. All learners felt that there was impact beyond the project that many skills were transferrable into situations beyond the project; further work, descision making, higher confidence, everyday skills, life skills etc.,

Personal skills - learners said working with so many different nationalities & disabled people's further communication needs, together has definitely increased their interpersonal skills even though some though they were fair anyway given experience & working practice & learnt to be more patient and less worried about such situations and that there is always something else to learn.

There are many layers of learning within this project - as an arts educator & practioner my experience here was different to that of my disabled colleagues - there was something for us all to find in this way of working. Bringing an openess & willingness to work generously was very important. Also an expectation that things will need to be flexible in response to the needs of everyone involved. I am definitley more confident that you can find a way to communicate with any nationality. I'd approach anyone to attempt a conversation, not be swayed by doubts about language barriers and would find a way to somehow communicate & invite further dialogue. I have discovered a new found sense of being European & an interest now in finding our how this discovered aspect identity feels further in Europe and the World.

There have been good working relationships (there are already plans for further projects) made here & firm friendships that will lead to future meetings both professionally & personally, on terra firma & in cyberspace - we have learned to use the internet well during this project!

The extra project legacy for us here at Headway Arts is that this work has helped to consolidate our reputation, working practice, hone skills old & new, define our methods & identify strengths (& weakness). It has developed our knowledge about what else we can offer as an organisation, for example excellent partnership working.

Anyone else - please do add coment.

So EPTS learners allow me to wish, on behalf of Team U.K. untill we meet again -
Arrivederci, Tot Ziens, Slan shlahn, Sudie Sudiev,

May you all live happily ever after...

~ Alison Walton-Robson, Creative Director, Headway Arts

& Learner Every Picture Tells A Story.