HORNBY SUMMER SCHOOL – DRAMA IN EDUCATION
MIERCUREA-CIUC, 11-23 JULY 2004

The summer of 2004 witnessed the development of four Hornby Summer Schools all over Europe. Funded jointly by British Council in Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania and the A. S. Hornby Educational Trust, all four summer schools had as a common goal creating a community of enthusiastic teachers that would engage together in professional development and networking.
The theme proposed for the course in Romania, which took place in Miercurea-Ciuc between 11-23 July 2004, was “Drama in Education”, a theme dear to Mrs. Marion Hughes, who had previously supported other drama summer schools and EDAR projects. The course, which focused on drama as a resource for teaching English and social studies, gathered 22 participants from Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland and Romania. They benefited from the varied experience of an international team of tutors: Dr. Peter Harrop, Dean of the School of Creative and Media Arts at University College Chester, UK (course director), Daniela Bacova, lecturer at the University of Constantine the Philosopher in Nitra, Slovakia (course tutor), Lotus Havarneanu, teacher at the National College, Iasi (course tutor) and Victoria Hlenschi, teacher at “Onisifor Ghibu” High school, Sibiu (course assistant).
The course was structured in three sessions so as to offer the participants as wide a perspective on educational drama as possible. The first session focused on building confidence and getting familiar with drama techniques, which was a perfect opportunity for participants to get to know one another, to experiment with a number of drama conventions and to discover, develop and improve dramatic skills. The second session, Drama and ELT, dealt mainly with storytelling as a dynamic approach to teaching English. Participants became engaged in different activities connected with storytelling, narrative and drama techniques which would help them approach vocabulary, grammar, listening and speaking areas as well as develop social skills. Starting from the idea that humanity is performative and social science is the study of human behaviour, the third session focused on drama as a tool in social science teaching with particular reference to the ‘performed self’, the ‘social construction of reality’ and ‘documentary material’.
At the end of the three sessions a group of 15 students (16-17 years old, upper-intermediate English level) were invited and participated in four lessons designed and taught by the participants. Team teaching was a challenging experience for everybody and provided the opportunity of applying the techniques presented to the teachers during the first 6 days of the course. The students involved gained drama skills, which will be transferred to many other subjects in their basic education. The preparation as well as the delivery of the lessons proved once again that communication, cooperation and trust bring about well-deserved success. Thus, the teachers involved became better prepared to use the techniques they had learned and implement these ideas in their own schools.
The learning and developmental dimension of the course was doubled by the idea of networking and follow up activities. Special sections in the programme were devoted to participants sharing experience from their own contexts. This was beneficial both for more experienced teachers, who had a confirmation of their work being part of a common interest, and for less experienced ones who were taking the first steps in this area. One session was dedicated to the presentation of associations similar to EDAR in Romania, sharing common ground, analysing differences and establishing contacts.
However, probably the best contacts were established during the free time and social programme which was varied and animated by a warm atmosphere of collaboration and friendship. The foreign participants along with the Romanian ones could discover or rediscover the beauties of our country: Sighisoara, Bicaz Gorges, The Red Lake, Praid, Corund as well as Miercurea-Ciuc surroundings. Thus, the course work together with the social activities, in which participants engaged as a small community, fulfilled the main objectives of this summer school which was characterized by creativity, energy and enthusiasm.