The Gargasindi School is a special education centre located in Calp (Alicante) which educates diverse students with special educational needs from 3 to 21 years old. It is for this reason that our main goal as an educational and transformative-of-society centre is the indivdiual development of each of our students in order to get a full inclusion and social involvment of them. Newly celebrated the European Year of Cultural Heritage, the philosophy of our centre could not be better fitted with the commitment to the drama and, in general, to the arts as a basic means to provide our students chances to develop new ways of communication, expression and inclusion in the social environment. Drama has a positive impact at an educational level as a personal one, in terms of self-steem and motivation, communication and expression, and use of their possibilities and abilities because they become the starting point for the pattern of the activities; as well as a social level. The effect in this field is related to the own nature of the activity since it includes all the individualities from a teamwork; at the same time the activity makes sense when it is obtained a final product that will be played in front of the audience in general, which obtains a social visibility, overcoming of prejudices and, as a last target, social transformation. Finally but not least, drama offers us the chance to develope all thos contents needed for the established curricular model, providing with coherence the different working fields as the work is done in a crossing and functional way. But the effort for the social transformation can not be only from the educational scope, but it must be shared and it must include all the members of the Community in a wide sense, that is, organizations, associations and institutions which involve professionals from different social fields. This offers us a favourable frame to propose the work among European partners which includes the formal scope and non-formal scope as well in education through those associations which share a project in common: the specialization in the drama field and arts with people with disabilities in order to promote the personal development and the social inclusion of the participants. For this reason we have chosen ÁRATOS company from Thessaloniky (Greece) and TSVETE Theater in Sofia (Bulgary) with which it will be developed a project divided in two stages: a first course dedicated to the drama and arts training workshops in each of the partner organizations' headquarters and a second course dedicated to the rehearsal and performance of those plays designed by each of the partner institutions. These plays will be recorded in digital content for its divulgation in social networks and also in DVD format for its later broadcasting. The protagonists of these actions will be the 36 students/users from the participating organizations (12 different students or users from each one) who will participate in the training workshops as well as the performance of the play, accompanied during the mobilities by 2 coordinating professionals from each institution. Nevertheless, the nature of the proposed activities allows a greater impact, not only involving the rest of the students/users who are not direct beneficiary but also at a social level, taking into account that they will produce cultural content which will be difussed among the audience in general. Regarding the rest of students and users, they will benefit due to the enrichment of drama methods and techinques as a consequence of the contribution of the participating associates; and also due to the mobilities which will take place in their headquarters, since they provide the same chance to interrelate and meet people from other countries and cultures. Apart from the impact mentioned before at a personal development and participation and social inclusion, it is also expected to obtain in a long term a greater implication of the educational and regional authorities in oder to value the arts in general and drama in particular as a way to gain social transformation; as well as achieve a multiplier effect of these practices in formal and non-formal contexts to offer more and better chances not only of social participation (leisure activities and free time) but also of promoting job ocupation for people with disabilities.
In this project we pursue those objectives that range from those most directly related to learning dramatic art strategies and techniques to those that are more transversal and that have a direct impact on the personal development of the participants: - Develop their skills and dramatic competence from a professional and professional point of view. - Achieve a theatrical product from cooperation and teamwork. - Develop transversal skills through theatre. - Develop key competencies in people with disabilities while increasing social visibility and breaking barriers and social prejudices. - Offer opportunities to our students with special educational needs to get to know other cultures and cities. - Create networks of cooperation, work and exchange of methodologies. - To convey the impact of this project to local and regional organizations and authorities in order to obtain greater support for theater and performing arts for people with disabilities.
2018 was presented as the European Year of Cultural Heritage, which aims to promote the participation and approach of Europeans to their cultural heritage, encourage the exchange and appreciation of the rich European heritage and reinforce the feeling of belonging to a European common space. We could not find a more suitable European framework of reference for the presentation of our strategic association project that would not only guarantee access to cultural content but, above all, promote participation in the creation and dissemination of these in a vulnerable group such as that of disability. The THEATER has the advantage that it encompasses each and every one of the performing arts, thus achieving the necessary individualization for each person, while maintaining motivation for collaborative and team work aimed at achieving a common goal that It would not be possible otherwise without the sum of each and every one of the contributions. The THEATER also offers a space to overcome social discrimination against people with disabilities to the extent that it not only guarantees access to cultural content, but also their creation and social projection.