Participatory & Arts methods
CTDU use participatory and arts methods to develop and increase the voice, confidence
and sense of community of the members of the organisations we work with.
Cultural activities to develop voice
We use many cultural media to make learning enjoyable and creative, and also as an alternative means of getting local voices heard, expressing local views and building awareness of cultures which are hidden, ignored or undervalued.
We have made banners, written and performed dramas, made sculptures, sung, danced, and recited poetry at ceilidhs, we have put people’s personal stories in a students association website www.ctdustudents.org.uk, and we have studied local history on local hill-walks. We have studied poverty, its symptoms and root causes by attending films.
Making education fun, rewarding, sociable and relevant
CTDU has a great deal of experience and skill in working in voluntary/informal educational settings with people whose previous experience in the education system has been negative. We are good at coaxing people to join in, to try new things. We are constantly amazed and encouraged by the speed at which people can recover their confidence and develop their skills with some well-focused resources and a curriculum developed with the students around the issues concerning them. We believe in fun as a way of working because many communities have very hard lives and need, most of all, more joy in their lives in order to approach problems with a positive attitude.
Participatory methods
CTDU uses participatory learning and action methodologies and we have an established reputation in the field for theorised practice.
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Creative Community Engagement: Our Dreaming Workshop. In this picture we took pictures around the Bowmar area of Alloa, transferred them to a quilt and set up a 'Dreaming' workshop where participants could tell us what they like about where they live and what they would change by writing their comments on the quilt.
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Left: 'Choose Sport First' young people role play during committee skills training.
Right: Debating issues in small groups and reporting back to a larger group.
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Bannermaking
CTDU has worked with more than 20 groups making banners on the topics such as identity, prejudice and exclusion. Our work on banners with grassroots communities has helped them identify issues of importance, to explore root causes of poverty and exclusion, and to build alliances. The banners are educational and informative and a very powerful medium for communicating with a wide range of people.
Banner making has been the means by which CTDU has crossed borders and made relationships with many different communities.
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One of a series of posters sharing our banner making process with young people from Ecuador.
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The G8 banner, made after an educational programme on global poverty and climate change.
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This banner is an 'executive summary' of the findings of a participatory action research project on mental health care in the Forth Valley. The banner describes the experiences of the people participated in the research, and goes out 'on tour' during mental health awareness week and is used to build awareness of issues with professionals, schools etc.
A full report of the findings is also available.
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CTDU were asked to participate in a Youth Congress event in Falkirk. Young delegates from the world congress joined in the workshops and over the course of a day this banner was made at workshop events facilitated by CTDU.
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This banner was made by Disability Awareness Group to support their Positive Parking Campaign in Clackmannanshire.
CTDU has helped this group develop over the last 5 years, and in joint work with CVS Clackmannanshire to create the first ever accessible green map.
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Many of CTDU's banners made by groups with CTDU were exhibited at an event at Glasgow University to inspire an adult literacies event. CTDU supported participants to make this banner using words and symbols about literacies. |
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This banner was made by participants of a 'Working in Partnership' training course organised by Falkirk Council and the University of Dundee who wanted to show what they had learned about successful recipes for partnership working.
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Denny Community Flat's banner shows all the different activities organised for the community - something for everyone!
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Song and poetry
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Reporting to an Annual General Meeting!
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Poetry and singing in a campaign against global poverty in George Square Glasgow.
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Shadow Puppets
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Outreach work with shadow puppets to encourage new members. The 'play' was written and performed by the 'actors'.
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Participatory Video
Examples of our work:
a group of active citizens made a video with community media workers from the Dominican Republic.
a group made a video letter from Grangemouth to Brazil about the impact the oil industry in Grangemouth has on the life of their community.
parents of children with Special Educational Needs made a video letter about the little things professional people can do that make all the difference to improve their childrens quality of life.
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Drama
Examples of our work:
a group put together a drama about road development and child safety.
‘theatre for action’ drama about food shopping / healthy eating and performed it at the Food Futures Fair in Stirling.
as part of a for a participatory action research project, a drama about mental health was written and performed by Forth Valley service users, and was taken on the road and performed. The drama stimulated debate and enabled the group to collect the views of other service users.
another drama a service user wrote about about mental health was performed at many venues across the Forth Valley to raise awareness about mental health recovery and formed the basis of educational workshops she led with health professionals |
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