Mission Impossible: Operation "Heroes in Transition"

It's been a long time i didn't update my blog and i am away,

due to my housephone having problem after a little flood at my housing area.... :(
haiz....... i didn't online.
now i am stealing my offcie hours to do some reflection and thought in my blog for my personal learnign journal.
In this case, if tonight have online discussion again, i think i need to go out from my comfortable zone to do my online work :
when i checked my mail today, i see this "Mission Impossible: Operation "Heroes in Transition"
It was email from Alex to me and, the ALS members



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Hi all

I thought I better sent this out so that you have the chance to have a look at it and formulate any questions you may have when we meet for our tutorial on Wednesday. Could you please start before me. I will join you all at 8.30pm. This will give you some time as an ALS group to consider the task at hand. You may also note I have moved the submission dates to allow the group time for the task.

Best wishes

Alex


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Mission Code Name: Operation Heroes in Transitions
The scenario
Developmental transitions are critical periods of change in the lives of children as they negotiate through the complexity of not only the demands of physiological changes but more importantly, social and psychological ones as well. Normally, the cultural and socially constructed drama found in traditional rites of passage would suffice in providing the symbolic bridge in allowing the individual a meaningful medium to become accustomed to their new role responsibility and role expectations in finding a place within their respective society. Contemporary modern society have discarded many of the traditional rites of passage and values and have left a large number of people bereft of such supportive structures in their development. This may have contributed to the alienation experienced by a large number of adolescent as they struggled to find meaning and a ‘place’ within our contemporary modern societies. The ‘alienation’ has a part to play in the increasing social and psychological dis-ease experienced by this group e.g. teenage depression and suicide, drug and alcohol consumption etc.


As a group of Creative Arts Therapy workers, your assignment, should you choose to accept it, is to provide a creative solution that would help to alleviate the potential pitfalls and to provide a supportive psychological structure, in the absence of a traditional rite of passage for the individual negotiate the critical phase from childhood to adulthood.
 Dramatherapy through the use scripted role playing is an avenue which you will be working as a group to explore and implement. Drawn from your understanding of the therapeutic potential inherent in action methods and in the use of metaphors and symbols within the narrative, the group will work towards the development a ‘working package’ where it can be delivered by those who work with that particular age group.



Your ‘working package’ will contain a 3 Act Script of not more than 9 A4 pages, a props box itemising its contents, facilitator sheet with the aims and objectives of the role play, a list of reflective questions which the facilitator could use for further group discussion and reflection, some suggestions for warm-up and closure activities related to the dramatic role play.



You will deem to have accomplished your mission when your group has

Produce a 3 Act Script, not exceeding 9 A4 pages; A itemized ‘Props Box’; A facilitator sheet outlining the aims and objectives for the Dramatic Role Play, Suggestions for Warm-up and Closure activities related to dramatic role playing, A list of interactive questions for group discussions and reflections on the themes of the narrative.


Bonus points – Additional commendation will be given if the project includes a video of the dramatic role playing being executed. This is not compulsory though very welcomed. Some pointers and areas which will considered in relation to project are suggested below

• How do you use the ‘Hero’s Journey’ or Monomyth as a possible template in developing your script for dramatic role playing?
• How do you decide on the context (Sci-Fi; Animals, Legends, Fairy Tales, etc) for your scripted play in order to be accessible for appropriate gender, culture and age of the role players of your target groups?
• Is the scripted dialogue appropriate for the language ability of your targeted group?
• If you decide to work with groups with limited literacy skills, what adaptation would you suggest to the facilitator?
• Is the script able to fully utilized and embed the implicit metaphors and symbols within the narratives?
• Are the themes within the story able to resonate with the themes of the developmental tasks of the transition between childhood and adulthood?
• Are the warm-up and closure activities related to enhancing and enabling the tasks of dramatic role playing e.g. rituals, role preparation and inhabitation, role debriefing and deroling etc.?
• Are the props suggested easily available or easily constructed and would enhance the players to get into their characters?
• Do the reflective questions provide the possible integration and links to be made between dramatic reality and everyday reality?

The deadline for this mission is 18th July 2010.


Good luck!

PS: Document your process, the learning gained through self-reflections in your blogs as you undertake this mission.


O My... what a busy and heavy scedule of mine...

this is going to be really really interesting
How the ALS members going to do this??
OH MY......