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The Arts in Collaboration
In 2000, two syndicates at Remuera Primary School in Auckland decided to create their own performing arts productions. The year 1 to 2 junior school and the year 3 to 4 middle school syndicates, each consisting of eight classes (200 students), devised and presented two separate productions. As its basic structure, each production took the idea of a journey with stopovers. This structure allowed each class to identify, investigate, and develop a particular scenario based on a country or city using dance, drama, music, and the visual arts.
To begin their production process, the children investigated different arts ideas and contexts. The junior school linked their production of Around the World in Eighty Minutes to a social studies theme of celebrations. The middle school's production, entitled Urban Jungle, made links to technology and social studies. For this production, the children used their Information Technology skills to research the people, current events, and history of particular New Zealand towns and cities. Each class then decided on the focus for its scenario, developing the initial ideas and designing and creating the costumes and props. Local expertise and involvement were integral to both productions, with parents and community experts invited to share their knowledge and experiences about special cultural celebrations, music, and dance.
Comments from the teachers in both syndicates highlighted some benefits of this collaborative process:
It was a wonderful experience for all of us as teachers. There were many children who absolutely blossomed and developed much greater confidence. The whole process gave the children an avenue to express themselves in a way that they would not otherwise have had.
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Organically grown productions are a lot easier to organise, are a lot more fun for the children and teachers, and take away a heap of the stress and strain of being "accurate".
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