preparing students for an ista connect
working with ista scholars |
Though the relationship between the host school and the service learning community is one of service, the focus for all participants at an ISTA festival is one of collaboration and mutual learning. It is important that the visiting international school students do not see the relationship with the ISTA Scholars as a relationship of service but one of mutual creation, learning and collaborative play.
This requires you to prepare visiting students by getting them to consider:
Language
Explain the nature of the festival to the students in advance and prepare them for the fact that some of the scholars may not speak English or have the same linguistic reference points. This may have an impact on the rhythm and pace of the sessions. Students should be prepared to support each other and help other students and scholars who may be struggling.
PREP: Prepare students by examining strategies for how they might meet and work with young people who don’t speak English. You might want to think about exploring this through drama looking at body language, face etc.
Experience of drama
The young scholars may not have any prior experience of drama, theatre or working collaboratively and physically. Students need to be patient, supportive and sensitive to the ISTA Scholars. Play is a great way to find common ground and a common energy but standard drama activities which may be familiar to students of drama may be new and challenging to students who have no experience of the art form.
PREP: Prepare students by getting them to consider what it must be like encountering drama for the first time. Maybe get students to work with younger students who have not got any experience of drama.
International mindedness
The ISTA Connect festival encourages us to actively and consciously consider the international nature of our work and be sensitive to the social, cultural and economic contexts of others. In some community contexts, many of our previously held assumptions regarding interaction, theatre work, collaboration and what is appropriate may need to be reassessed. This is an important learning opportunity for all students and students need to be mindful not to make judgments based on external differences but to seek the commonalities.
PREP: Prepare students by discussing what it means to be internationally-minded and what attributes, qualities and behaviours are demonstrated by an internationally-minded young person. Discuss how we form judgments and ways to keep an open mind.
The final piece
The ISTA Connect festival ends with a sharing rather than a fully blown performance regardless of the age group. This is a culmination of the collaboration and is a celebration of connection and our common humanity.
PREP: Explain the spirit of the final piece and discuss such things as target audience, reasons why we create theatre etc. This is a great learning opportunity to discuss artistic intention, purpose, target audience and the role that theatre plays in a community.
Make sure you have carefully read any information in advance from ISTA and the host regarding the nature of the ISTA Scholars and any specific social or cultural considerations as this will help you to prepare the students.
This requires you to prepare visiting students by getting them to consider:
Language
Explain the nature of the festival to the students in advance and prepare them for the fact that some of the scholars may not speak English or have the same linguistic reference points. This may have an impact on the rhythm and pace of the sessions. Students should be prepared to support each other and help other students and scholars who may be struggling.
PREP: Prepare students by examining strategies for how they might meet and work with young people who don’t speak English. You might want to think about exploring this through drama looking at body language, face etc.
Experience of drama
The young scholars may not have any prior experience of drama, theatre or working collaboratively and physically. Students need to be patient, supportive and sensitive to the ISTA Scholars. Play is a great way to find common ground and a common energy but standard drama activities which may be familiar to students of drama may be new and challenging to students who have no experience of the art form.
PREP: Prepare students by getting them to consider what it must be like encountering drama for the first time. Maybe get students to work with younger students who have not got any experience of drama.
International mindedness
The ISTA Connect festival encourages us to actively and consciously consider the international nature of our work and be sensitive to the social, cultural and economic contexts of others. In some community contexts, many of our previously held assumptions regarding interaction, theatre work, collaboration and what is appropriate may need to be reassessed. This is an important learning opportunity for all students and students need to be mindful not to make judgments based on external differences but to seek the commonalities.
PREP: Prepare students by discussing what it means to be internationally-minded and what attributes, qualities and behaviours are demonstrated by an internationally-minded young person. Discuss how we form judgments and ways to keep an open mind.
The final piece
The ISTA Connect festival ends with a sharing rather than a fully blown performance regardless of the age group. This is a culmination of the collaboration and is a celebration of connection and our common humanity.
PREP: Explain the spirit of the final piece and discuss such things as target audience, reasons why we create theatre etc. This is a great learning opportunity to discuss artistic intention, purpose, target audience and the role that theatre plays in a community.
Make sure you have carefully read any information in advance from ISTA and the host regarding the nature of the ISTA Scholars and any specific social or cultural considerations as this will help you to prepare the students.
ista connect follow up
some possibilities of what to do after the festival back at school
The ISTA Connect festival is a good opportunity for follow up work back at the school. It could be the launch of your own service learning programme or an opportunity to make new links and connections.
You could consider hosting an ISTA Connect festival or begin a programme where the students from your school, led by those who have been to the festival, form a link with a particular community and offer drama workshops as a means of collaboration and connection with them.
Here are some types of follow up work:
Presentation
This could a dramatic presentation or a speech and visuals to a year group, to another class or to the whole school explaining the ISTA Connect experience, the communities the students have engaged with at the festival or the Connect programme. A presentation is a great launch for your own school’s Connect project.
Campaign
This may be consciousness raising campaign or an action focused initiative around a particular issue or a particular community inspired by the ISTA Connect festival. Students may write letters, make postcards, leaflets, banners, set up an online community or create a piece of theatre to address a particular issue. This may also be linked to the school’s service learning programme.
Artistic
This could be a piece of theatre, a short film, a website, a piece of writing etc which has been inspired by the ISTA Connect experience, the communities the students have engaged with at the festival or the Connect programme.
Connection
You could use the ISTA Connect as a starting point to form a relationship with a group in your own community and use drama exercises, approaches and play to connect with them. You could set up a small group of workshop leaders that use drama in a number of communities to create connections between the school and theses communities.
Learning
You could devise a unit of work inspired by the ISTA Connect experience, the communities the students have engaged with at the festival or the Connect programme.
The ISTA Connect experience is a rich learning and community experience so follow up work is highly recommended to make the most of the experience.
You could consider hosting an ISTA Connect festival or begin a programme where the students from your school, led by those who have been to the festival, form a link with a particular community and offer drama workshops as a means of collaboration and connection with them.
Here are some types of follow up work:
Presentation
This could a dramatic presentation or a speech and visuals to a year group, to another class or to the whole school explaining the ISTA Connect experience, the communities the students have engaged with at the festival or the Connect programme. A presentation is a great launch for your own school’s Connect project.
Campaign
This may be consciousness raising campaign or an action focused initiative around a particular issue or a particular community inspired by the ISTA Connect festival. Students may write letters, make postcards, leaflets, banners, set up an online community or create a piece of theatre to address a particular issue. This may also be linked to the school’s service learning programme.
Artistic
This could be a piece of theatre, a short film, a website, a piece of writing etc which has been inspired by the ISTA Connect experience, the communities the students have engaged with at the festival or the Connect programme.
Connection
You could use the ISTA Connect as a starting point to form a relationship with a group in your own community and use drama exercises, approaches and play to connect with them. You could set up a small group of workshop leaders that use drama in a number of communities to create connections between the school and theses communities.
Learning
You could devise a unit of work inspired by the ISTA Connect experience, the communities the students have engaged with at the festival or the Connect programme.
The ISTA Connect experience is a rich learning and community experience so follow up work is highly recommended to make the most of the experience.
Suggested resources
It is highly recommended that visiting schools spend time learning about the history of Cambodia prior to the event. Being knowledgeable about the cultural practices, civil war and genocide will help students to fully understand the concepts explored throughout the festival and the experiences of Connect artists, students and members of the local community.
VIDEOs
Our host: The International School of Phnom Penh
Check out who Phare, The Cambodian Circus are. Phare artists and students will be part of our Connect festival as both participants and performers.
A look into who Epic Arts are and what their mission is within Cambodia. Epic Arts will be joining the Connect festival as artists and performers.
Sophal Ear shares the compelling story of his family's escape from Cambodia under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. He recounts his mother's cunning and determination to save her children.
PBS NewsHour During the genocide trials, a new generation of Cambodians is learn about the country's violent and deadly history. Reported by The University of California, Berkeley's School of Journalism student Jake Schoneker.
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Experience life in Phnom Penh, Cambodia today
Phare, The Cambodian Circus will be performing their show "Influence" at the Connect festival.
Epic Arts love to put together their own versions of famous music videos highlighting their members.
A CNN short documentary about the aftermath Cambodia faces after the fall of the Khmer Rouge
BBC Timewatch A full-length documentary explaining the history of how the Khmer Rogue came into power and the impact it had on Cambodia.
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films
First They Killed My Father (2017)
A 5-year old girl embarks on a harrowing quest for survival amid the sudden rise and terrifying reign of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Available on Netflix. The Last Reel (2014) official trailer
A film that explores the legacy of the trauma and terror that families suffered under the Khmer Rouge and the impact it has had on the subsequent generations. www.thelastreel.info Enemies of the People (2010)
A compelling personal documentary about the experiences of Cambodian people and the Khmer Rouge. More than just an inquiry into the experiences, the film examines concepts of good vs. evil, and the ability for some people to do terrible things and for others to forgive them. |
Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll (2014) official trailer
A look at the Cambodian arts and culture scene before the Khmer Rouge and the reasons why artists were seen to be enemies of the revolution. Available on iTunes. The Missing Picture (2013) official trailer
Academy Award® Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film. THE MISSING PICTURE explores filmmaker Rithy Panh's quest to create the missing images during the period when the Khmer Rouge ruled over Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The Killing Fields (1984)
Winner of three Academy Awards. A New York Times reporter and his Cambodian aide are harrowingly trapped in Cambodia's 1975 Khmer Rogue revolution. Available on iTunes. |
books
First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung
Personal memoir of Luong Ung's experiences as a young girl during the reign of the Khmer Rouge. |
The Lost Executioner by Nic Dunlop
A journalist sets out to track down S-21 deputy commander, Comrade Duch. He was responsible for some of the worst atrocities during Cambodia's genocide. |
Building Cambodia: 'New Khmer Architecture' 1953-1970 by Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Leon Collins
A look at the destruction and rebuilding of Cambodia through architectural styles and commentary. A Cambodian Prison Portrait: One Year in the Khmer Rouge's S-21 by Vann Nath
Personal memoir of artist Vann Nath's experiences surviving the Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison. Nath is one of seven survivors of this prison. |
Cambodian Folk Stories From The Gatiloke by Kong Chhean and Muriel Pascin Carrison
A mixture of over one hundred Cambodian folk stories that explores traditional Cambodian cultural beliefs. |