DEVISING IN EDUCATION SETTINGS

Play Incubation in the Classroom

In our capacity as educators, we've led a number of devising projects with groups of students and teachers across ages and disciplines. In this capacity, we use student interests and curiosities as the spark to build a piece. This can be a longer-term process that spans a few weeks, a term, or the entire year. 

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For one project, we were inspired alongside our students by the 2017 Women's March, and used media, conversations, photographs, and texts about the event itself and feminism more broadly to develop a piece for 90 students. Some central prompting questions were: What does it mean to cross or uphold a line? How can we respond to decisions by people in and systems of power? How can we defend ourselves and support others? What is the role of public space in doing so?

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For another project, we examined the Canada 150 celebrations and the history of the school community across time. We used archival materials, recollections, interviews, historical research, and news to develop a piece about the stories we tell about tradition, legacy, and inheritance. Some central prompting questions were: How can we make sense of "the past" in an embodied way? How do we decide which elements of it are most important to share? What stories are included or excluded? How do we hold ourselves accountable for past wrongdoings and how they reverberate in the present? Who gets to celebrate which stories?

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We are also frequently inspired by young people's (and our own!) love of picture books, comics, poems, and novels, and incorporate elements of inspiration and adaptation into our projects as well. 

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Due to privacy regulations in school settings, we cannot share photos or more specific documentation here. Get in touch with us if you're interested in chatting more about the process and projects or hosting a workshop for your teachers.