Drama/Theatre & Education in Europe-A report, Part I

DRAMA/THEATRE & EDUCATION IN EUROPE-A report, Part I
June 2007
EDITED BY Nikos Govas, Georgina Kakoudaki, Damir Miholic
Hosted by the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network and the Croatian Centre for Drama Education for IDEA Europe
ISBN 978-960-88760-8-8
Printed & Published in Greece by the  HELLENIC THEATRE/DRAMA & EDUCATION NETWORK

++302106541600 Email: info@theatroedu.gr, Web: www.TheatroEdu.gr
Proof reading: Mary Rogakou-Rogers
Graphic designer and cover pages: Mary Kaldi

Contributions: Bulgaria by Tsvete Yaneva, Croatia by Vladimir Krusic & Damir Miholic, The Czech Republic by Jaroslav Provazník, Finland by Birgitta Snickars von Wright, Greece by Polyxeni (Jenny) Karaviti & Georgina Kakoudaki, Norway by Stig A. Eriksson & Aud Berggraf Sæbø, Portugal by Isabel Belzega, Serbia by Ljubica Beljanski-Ristic & Sanja Krsmanovic Tasic, Sweden by Anita Grünbaum, Turkey by Omer Adiguzel, The United Kingdom by Stuart Bennett

An IDEA Project Published by the Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network

Editorial & Contents
This book has been created in an attempt to raise education in and/or through the arts to the level it deserves in both society and in educational systems. It also springs from the tendency of regionalization of IDEA (International Drama/Theatre and Education Association) as an international organisation whose main goals are «...to demonstrate and advocate drama/theatre education as part of a full human education, to promote international project collaborations in the field of drama/theatre in education, to promote international dialogue and research around the practice and theory of drama/theatre and education, to support the practice of drama/theatre and education to achieve human rights and peace throughout the world, particularly for young people, children and excluded communities threatened by violence..». In December 2006, a number of European members of IDEA met in Frankfurt to discuss the possibility of the development of a European network. This initiative, under the working title IDEA Europe, helped reach an agreement that a report on the situation, the structure and the problems of Drama/Theatre & Education (D/T&E) both in formal and non formal educational systems in European countries, would be most useful and a catalyst for future projects. Therefore, IDEA Europe member organisations were invited to offer a short but holistic, independent and reliable reflection on the D/T&E situation in their countries. The Hellenic Theatre/Drama & Education Network and the Croatian Centre for Drama Education joined forces to collect, edit and publish these reports. Part I contains short reports of the development, current state and future of drama/theatre in education in 11 European countries listed in alphabetical order: Bulgaria, Croatia the Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Norway, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Turkey and the UK. The authors come from variety institutions and are actively involved in advancing this movement in their homelands. Pat II will follow with reports from more European countries. This edition does not necessarily include an academic approach to the discipline of Drama/Theatre in Education. It focuses on gathering, describing, shaping and understanding the drama/theatre structure in European countries, where the listed goals are realised at national institutions, NGOs or universities both in theory and practice. It could serve as valuable knowledge on the current state of affairs for perspective theatre pedagogues, as a resource of arguments in approaching policy makers as well as a starting point for future collaboration and research in European and world-wide institutions. Differences among countries are expected, but in a dynamic way, they aspire to the same goal: the introduction of the drama/theatre in education curricula, the integration of a larger number of users/pupils/students, the better training of specialists and the development of sound theory and good practice. It seems vital to emphasise that the editors have used the wide ranged term Drama/Theatre & Education, trying to cover all the terms and notions that appear in the reports i.e. dramatisation, creative drama, Drama in Education (DiE), Theatre-in-Education (TiE), Theatre Arts, Playing Through Theatre etc) and whose description and/or definition can be found in the texts, just for the necessities of this particular edition, and without an aim at introducing a specialised term.

Nikos Govas, Georgina Kakoudaki, Damir Miholic June 2007

Contents
Editorial Drama/Theatre & Education in:
• Bulgaria by Tsvete Yaneva
• Croatia by Vladimir Krusic & Damir Miholic
• The Czech Republic by Jaroslav Provazník
• Finland by Birgitta Snickars von Wright
• Greece by Polyxeni (Jenny) Karaviti, Georgina Kakoudaki
• Norway by Stig A. Eriksson & Aud Berggraf Sæbø
• Portugal by Isabel Bezelga
• Serbia by Ljubica Beljanski-Ristic & Sanja Krsmanovic Tasic
• Sweden by Anita Grünbaum
• Turkey by Omer Adiguzel
• The United Kingdom by Stuart Bennett