(ALL SEATS ARE FILLED) Guardian or catcher? The role of the teacher in group work

Athens, 25/11/2018, Workshop, Dimitris Mavreas, Sonia Mologousi, Iro Potamousi

Guardian or catcher? The role of the teacher in group work

Athens, 25/11/2018

Dimitris Mavreas, Greek language and literature teacher, Greece
Sonia Mologousi, theatre theoretician, theatre/drama pedagogue, Greece
Iro Potamousi, sociologist, theatre/drama pedagogue, Greece

Workshop 2,5 hours
Part of the 2018 ATHENS GREECE INTERNATIONAL THEATRE/DRAMA & EDUCATION CONFERENCE
organised by the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet-Gr)

Language: Greek

In the novel by J.D. Salinger "The Catcher in the Rye", the protagonist Holden Caulfield feels trapped, alienated, afraid of adulthood and the “fake” adult world and faces a villainous education while at the same time he cannot find shelter in the conditional love provided by his family. The workshop attempts to experientially examine the role of adult educators towards their teenage group, exploring how they manage the role of the guardian or the catcher towards the obstacles / cliffs faced by the students, as the teenage hero of the novel does.
Taking into account the key characteristics of Middle Adolescence (14-17 years), as defined by the World Health Organization, the main goal of the workshop is to explore the role of the teacher as a group coordinator/facilitator (class, theatrical group or other) and his/her place on the teaching and learning continuum margined by utopia on one hand and necessity on the other. Drawing on theater, educational drama and a variety of other theatrical pedagogical techniques, the workshop will approach the following questions regarding the position and role of the teacher in group work.
Do I feel sufficient as a group coordinator/facilitator?
What communication practice do I use? Is it functional and effective? Are we talking the same language? Do we communicate?
How can I understand and accept the perspective of the other?
Am I able to recognize and detect the true needs of my group as well as the values, attitudes and tendencies that are likely to affect my educational practice?
Ιs the change I expect plausible? Is it necessary? What factors affect it?
The workshop is aimed at teachers, educators of formal or non-formal education working with teenage groups. 

Dimitris Mavreas is teaching modern and ancient Greek, literature and history in secondary education. He is interested in using Theatre and Drama techniques with his students. He used to teach Deaf and Hard of hearing students and he is also a Greek Sign Language (GSL) interpreter. He graduated University of Athens (Faculty of Philology, MSc in Linguistics). At the same university he successfully defended his PhD thesis on GSL and specifically its language planning. He has presented papers in several conferences. From 2014 to 2017 he was the Secretary of the Board of Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network.

Sonia Mologousi is a drama theoretician and theatre/drama pedagogue, graduate of the Department of Theater Studies of the University of Patras and the University of Warwick in the UK, where she completed her postgraduate studies on Drama/Theater in Education. She has volunteered with groups of children and young people in Greece (Hellenic Children's Museum, Life Roads) and abroad. She has also attended seminars on various dramatic techniques, Puppet Theater and drama/theater in education. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network (TENet- Gr, 2011-2014). As a drama pedagogue, she has been working in municipalities and primary schools since 2008 and has also facilitated workshops for children, teenagers, adults and teachers in collaboration with several Environmental Education Centers in Greece, the British Council, the 2nd Second Chance School of Korydallos Prison, as well as TENet- Gr and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as part of the project " It could be me;it could be you; A Human Rights and Refugee Awareness Project ".

Iro Potamousi is a sociologist and drama practitioner. She is a graduate of the Department of Sociology of the Panteion University and the Center of Arts and the Creative Education "ANIMA". She completed her postgraduate studies on Drama/Theater in Education at the University of Warwick in the UK, where she focused her research on TiE programmes. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of the Aegean. She has attended and has been trained in educational programs in Greece and abroad in the thematic modules of Team Dynamics and Operation, Communication, Leadership and Motivation. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Network for Drama/Theater & Education – (TENet – Gr, 2008-2011). She has been working as a sociologist at a secondary school since 2015. Since 2008, she has been involved in the creation and facilitation of educational follow up material for children's and teenage plays. As a teacher and drama practitioner, she has facilitated workshops for children, adolescents and teachers and has participated in drama/theatre in education projects that address social issues through theater in collaboration with various organisations in Greece (University of Athens, NGO Ance, TENet-GR, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Council of Europe ect.) and abroad (Liverpool Institute of the Performing Arts, University of Warwick).