Eco Drama, a touring children's theatre company based in Glasgow, have set itself a challenge. That is, to address the creative ways in which we can engage children and young people in ecological and environmentally sustainable practices.
It has never been so pressing for all of us to develop lifestyles and behaviours that are sustainable for the future of our planet. Eco Drama, a team of passionate drama educationalists, believes that creativity is essential in facilitating this development.
The company's educational approach is to engage with young people through quality drama and theatre experiences, ensuring they are engaged with concerns of climate change and sustainable practice not only intellectually but emotionally also. [Emotionally?]
Eco Drama was set up in 2008 as a response to the sustainability issues currently facing our world, and to address the need for a more interactive, creative method to reach young people on these issues. The company's ultimate aim is to engage and inspire more sustainable behaviours and a greater awareness and sense of responsibility towards our natural world.
To date, the team have reached over 200 schools and 14,000 young people all over Scotland, delivering environmental themed drama workshops and theatre shows. Touring in the Magic Van, a vehicle run on recycled vegetable oil, Eco Drama hope they will be seen as positive green role models themselves, with the belief that if young people see adults modelling positive sustainable lifestyle behaviours, they will be further encouraged to do so themselves.
Eco Drama firmly believes that drama is one of the most effective teaching and learning tools, as it places children inside the learning context; they become involved, active participants in the learning process.
The Curriculum for Excellence sets a challenge to educators: engage with creative teaching methods and, make a difference. Drama has the unique ability to connect with different learning styles, reach greater audiences and encourage active learning; so it seems there has never been a more exciting time to engage with drama in education.http://www.teachingscotland.org.uk/education-in-scotland/primary-teaching/exclusive-eco-drama.aspxBob Jickling in the Trumpeter argues against education for sustainable development.
"It seems thus far that many educators implicitly or explicitly assume that their task, teaching sustainable development, involves the advancement of a particular agenda."
Because sustainable development encapsulates a plethora of contradictory and contested ideas, education should instead enable students to critically evaluate the concept and draw their own conclusions.
http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/index.php/trumpet/article/view/325/497
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