Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp
Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp
Teaching Gender in Social Work - MailChimp
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fictive or non-fictive materials, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g (auto)biographical texts, real stories,<br />
scraps, novels and short stories, fairytales, or play scripts. The teacher, who is<br />
responsible for navigat<strong>in</strong>g the process, should decide whether to adhere strictly<br />
to the pretext or use it ma<strong>in</strong>ly as a stimulus at the outset.<br />
Jonothan Neelands 18 divides the drama conventions (or work<strong>in</strong>g<br />
methods) <strong>in</strong>to four categories. The first is the context-build<strong>in</strong>g action, which<br />
means f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g and mak<strong>in</strong>g contexts (time, place and people), symbols and<br />
themes for the work. Some examples are role-on-the-wall, collective draw<strong>in</strong>g, and<br />
the use of diaries and letters or other fictive or non-fictive material, journals and<br />
magaz<strong>in</strong>es and still images. The second convention is narrative action, which<br />
<strong>in</strong>troduces or develops a plot and allows learners to test out their assumptions<br />
and speculations about the narrative through dramatic <strong>in</strong>volvement. Some<br />
examples are mantle of the expert, meet<strong>in</strong>gs, hot-seat<strong>in</strong>g and teacher-<strong>in</strong>-role.<br />
The third convention is poetic action, which refers to conventions that<br />
are helpful <strong>in</strong> br<strong>in</strong>g<strong>in</strong>g a fresh perspective to work <strong>in</strong> open<strong>in</strong>g up an alternative<br />
channel of communication that functions at the level of symbolic <strong>in</strong>terpretation,<br />
and <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g emotional <strong>in</strong>volvement. Some examples are small group<br />
play-mak<strong>in</strong>g (improvisation), forum-theatre, rituals, ceremony, mimed activity<br />
and caption-mak<strong>in</strong>g. The f<strong>in</strong>al convention is reflective action; this consists<br />
of review<strong>in</strong>g and reflect<strong>in</strong>g mean<strong>in</strong>gs and issues that have arisen dur<strong>in</strong>g the<br />
process and comment<strong>in</strong>g on actions experienced collectively. Some examples<br />
are mark<strong>in</strong>g the moment, moment of truth and voices <strong>in</strong> the head.<br />
An Example of a Process Drama Exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g <strong>Gender</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Work</strong> History<br />
After read<strong>in</strong>g the selected writ<strong>in</strong>g on gender and becom<strong>in</strong>g conscious of<br />
historical research, the teacher can beg<strong>in</strong> to create a fictive or real story about<br />
a female pioneer social worker. In our case, the story could relate to an upperclass<br />
philanthropic activist, a poor house manager at the end of the n<strong>in</strong>eteenth<br />
century or a young female social worker <strong>in</strong> a male-dom<strong>in</strong>ated social welfare<br />
organization <strong>in</strong> the 1930s (just to give a few examples). As an <strong>in</strong>spiration it<br />
18<br />
Neelands, 1990.<br />
51