Our ethos
The beliefs that underpin our work
Our work aims to encourage and accompany the physical and emotional development of groups and individuals. Each person has a view of the world and their own belief systems some of which they may be only partly aware of. In order to develop, these beliefs and attitudes need to be made clear. Our ideology therefore, seeks to develop a better understanding and awareness of
- emotions, their consequences and their preconceptions,
- the disparity between personal values, needs and actions,
- the tensions arising from meeting others with different views.
Active listening, accepting and reviewing others’ points of view in a non-judgmental manner allows us to clarify the different interpretations influenced by our life experiences and facilitates an open-mindedness needed to evolve.
To facilitate the evolution of preconceptions and attitudes we stress :
- working in groups which allows us to meet others with differing conceptions and allows each individual to be questioned by others and grow from this experience,
- a questioning ethos where people are invited to face their preconceptions of the world, their opinions and the consequences of their actions,
- forum theatre in which people can safely explore the positive and negative aspects of the differing attitudes they encounter,
- fully trained facilitators who bring their expertise to the various situations being played out.
We also seek to enhance the interpersonal skills of all the participants in order that they may continue to grow as individuals or as a group when the training is finished. The particular interpersonal skills we tackle are :
- to modify the users language from judgmental to observational, and to challenge their feelings and view point of each given situation,
- to listen to and rephrase the feelings and viewpoints of others,
- to be able to find the necessary resources ( requests for help, legal help, reflexion keeping one’s distance, empathy etc) to keep oneself and others safe from aggression,
- to value ones ideals, needs and actions,
- to use an authoritative manner which shows strength and openness,
- to use the group experience in facilitating the learning process.
Our ethos
The guiding principle for all our work is that we help the participants to question their beliefs and attitudes in order that they might grow in self awareness and develop their skills with subtlety and integrity. This is why we focus especially on the way in which we run our workshops and activities, for example :
- We never seek to put over any particular message or dogma, focusing instead on the problem in hand to facilitate the exchange of points of view, challenge and guide opinions using our expertise in the field as well as pointing out the positive and negative aspects of differing attitudes.
- We use theatrical role play as a principle tool as it helps get people physically and emotionally involved whilst remaining a fun activity allowing the participants the space to reflect on and adapt their views. Our principle objective is that the attitudes explored in the role plays can be transferred to everyday real situations.
- We prioritise working with those who are best placed to change the prevailing attitudes and develop interpersonal skills in an institution or workplace.
- We adapt our workshops to the abilities and needs of those we work with allowing us to move forward at an appropriate pace. We do not expect instant results but rather hope to inspire progressive change.
- Whilst our work sometimes has a “curative” side effect our methodology is principally one of prevention.
How we work
- Through interactive conferences or forum theatre, shows using scenarios which highlight the problems and serve to improve understanding and change attitudes and preconceptions.
- Through training sessions and workshops or procedural analysis sessions during which the situations being worked on are proposed and played out by the participants.
Details of interactive conferences and forum theatre sessions
With the aim of quality assurance, we suggest the following as a framework for our sessions :
- prior to the sessions
- We work with the group to define their requirements thereby ensuring our involvement exactly meets the group’s needs.
- We hold meetings with those concerned to ensure the characters and scenarios used best suit the views expressed.
- We ask that everyone involved is made aware of the subject matter and methodology involved
- We ensure that everything is in place so the event can happen in the best possible conditions. - after the event
- We invite the participants to fill in an evaluative questionnaire on the event and the on-going affects of the work.