About Shuna Beckett, freelance drama facilitator

A little bit about me

Approach

I have a very flexible and reflective approach which tailors to the needs and dynamic of each group I facilitate. The main focus of my work is to raise participants' self-esteem and confidence, as well as social skills, communication, team-work, motivation and many other areas unique to each particular group. I make my workshops inclusive and participatory, as I feel that giving people ownership and responsibility can lead to a greater sense of achievement, especially among those who are excluded and who often feel they have little or no impact on society. Not least, the workshops provide a fun and positive experience to all involved. 

Background and experience

Over the years, I have developed my practice extensively in the UK with both children and adults, in both school and community settings. Before this, I spent a total of four years living and working in some of the most deprived areas of South America with socially excluded children and young people, many of whom lived and worked on the streets. I have worked with many ethnically and socially diverse groups in my life and have designed and delivered several arts projects which aim to celebrate this diversity and promote social integration.

I have experience working with:

• youth offenders
• children and young people in care and living/ working on the street
• learning and physically disabled children, young people and adults
• people with mental health issues
• substance and alcohol misusers
• children and young people with behavioural and anger management issues
• refugees and asylum seekers, BME and EAL (English as an Additional Language) groups
• victims of torture and abuse

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Training

I am trained in forum theatre and image theatre techniques, dramaturgy and facilitation, acquired at the Centre for Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro, as well as with Cardboard Citizens in London. Augusto Boal and the Theatre of the Oppressed have been a main source of inspiration to me, traces of which can be seen in almost all my workshops to some degree. I have also had training in the Reggio Emilia approach to pre-schools, the techniques of Edward de Bono, and various other training in improvisation, physical theatre and methods of theatre facilitation. I have a Masters degree in Theatre and Development Studies from the University of Leeds, for which I studied participatory and human development and explored in-depth how the performing arts can empower children and young people.

Some of the techniques I use

Theatre of the Oppressed, forum and image theatre and Augusto Boal

Augusto Boal is a Brazilian theatre director, writer and politician. He is the founder of Theatre of The Oppressed, a political theatrical form originally used in radical education movements. Among its many different theatre modes are image theatre, and forum theatre. The latter is an interractive form of theatre whereby the audience is invited on stage to work out a series of possible solutions to a problem. The technique can be adapted and made relevent to a variety of different settings, and age-groups.

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Reggio Emilia

Reggio Emilia is a place in northern Italy which has created its own educational philosophy focussed on pre-school and primary education. It is being more widely used around the globe now, and is based upon the following set of principles: Children must have some control over the direction of their learning; children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing, and hearing; children have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that they must be allowed to explore; and children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.

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Edward de Bono

De Bono is considered by many to be 'the' leading authority in the field of creative and lateral thinking, and in the teaching of thinking in schools. Many schools and even major companies have adopted the use of the 'six thinking hats', a de Bono creation which explores creative and forward-thinking ways to explore a subject, and is often used in creative literacy lessons.

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