CREA Short Courses

CREA is offering a variety of short courses in 2005. Some are weekend workshops and others will be conducted over a number of weeks. Subjects offered include drumming, debating, family history, drama, and more. For some, the dates are yet to be confirmed. For further information, you can contact the CREA office on 9514 5277.

All courses require a minimum of 10 enrolments or they will be cancelled.

Debating

TITLE: Facilitating and Coaching Debating in Primary and Secondary Schools

PRESENTER: Kelli McGraw

DESCRIPTION: This workshop is for both beginning and more advanced debating coaches that are working with debaters at the Primary and Secondary school level. The workshop will cover several basic areas such as:

what is a debate?
how do I get students involved?
what do I need to know about organising debates?

as well as other issues surrounding the facilitation of debating:

coaching techniques
strategies for developing general knowledge
developing links with other schools and the community
integrating debating based activities into classroom teaching

Whether you are a seasoned debating coach, a parent, or a teacher that is looking to start a school debating team, this workshop will cover all the information you need to know.

BIOGRAPHY: Kelli has been involved in adjudicating, coaching and organising Primary and Secondary school Debating for the past six years. In 2004 she was the State Coordinator of the Premier's Debating Challenge, and in 2005 will be the Regional Coordinator for NSW DET Debating in the South West Sydney Region. Kelli is also a Secondary English teacher and a PhD student specialising in English Curriculum Studies.

TIME: Friday 7th October, 10am - 4pm

VENUE: Building 10, Jones St, UTS City Campus (Room 10.5.445)

COST: $104.50 (including GST)

PAYMENT DUE: Friday 30th September 2005 (registration forms can be downloaded at top of page)

Music Therapy

TITLE: Songs and Lyrics that Stay With Us

PRESENTER: Rosemary Faire

DESCRIPTION: Within the lyrics of our favourite songs are embedded those particular lines that stay with us even when we have forgotten most of the rest of a song. These lines have a particular personal resonance, they move us, even years later, and by studying them we may discover some recurring “life themes” and what they can teach us about ourselves.

Course participants will learn:

To use the method of lyric-based autobiographical self reflection by constructing a song timeline and teasing out song lyric fragments with personal resonance; this can serve as a self-care resource and can be adapted for use in teaching and self development contexts;
How to deepen the exploration of song lyrics through movement, drawing, dramatic enactment and group collage through intermodal transfer methods used in the field of Expressive Arts Therapy.

BIOGRAPHY: Dr Rosemary Faire is a Registered Music Therapist and Expressive Arts Therapist, and Course Coordinator of the Graduate Diploma in Music Therapy at UTS.

TIME: Saturday 8th October 2005, 10am to 1pm.

COST: $62.70 (including GST)

VENUE: Kuring-gai Campus (Eton Rd, Lindfield) music therapy lecture room KG02.04.14.

PAYMENT DUE: Friday 30th September 2005 (registration forms can be downloaded at top of page)

Upcoming Courses

These courses will be conducted in Semseter 2, 2005. Please re-check this website again or call the CREA Office (9514 5277) after May and we will be able to provide dates.

Drama

TITLE: Using Drama in Teaching

PRESENTER: Kate Collier

DESCRIPTION: This one day workshop will introduce participants to a range of drama strategies based on Neelands' (2002) Dramatic Conventions, which can be used to enhance learning and add variety to any area of learning. In the morning participants will be introduced to different drama strategies and their learning potential will be explored. There will then be a demonstration of how these could be used in practice. Finally time will be set aside for participants to plan and present how they could use at least one of the conventions experienced in their area of teaching.

BIOGRAPHY: Kate Collier is a senior lecturer at UTS with a background in drama and education. She is about to complete her Phd which examines using role-play as a learning approach in adult education. Her specialist area is the use of drama as a learning approach across the curriculum.

TITLE: Exploring Conflict Resolution through Forum Theatre

PRESENTER: Kate Collier

DESCRIPTION: This one day workshop will introduce/refresh participants' knowledge of the principles of conflict resolution and demonstrate the Forum Theatre approach to learning (Boal, 1992). Forum Theatre is an interactive learning approach that allows participants to explore problems in context and consider alternative straties that can be used to resove them. This workshop will provide an opportunity for participants to share their experiences of conflict and explore different ways these might be resolved through their engagement in the Forum Theatre process.

Learning

TITLE: Let's play games

PRESENTER: Elyssebeth Leigh

DESCRIPTION: An 8 hour workshop on the basic knowledge and skills required for successful use of simulations and games in learning contexts.

Topics covered will include

a brief history of how 'playing games' has always been a part of learning
some ways of classifying 'play activities' to assist in guiding choices for particular learning goals
an exploration of what happens to 'the learning' when 'play' is a driving energy of the process
some basic skills to assist in managing the learning that will occur during the action
designing simple activities for subject-specific learning needs and goals

BIOGRAPHY: Dr Elyssebeth Leigh FRSA - lecturer in adult education at UTS. General Secretary of the International Simulations and Gaming Association (ISAGA), author of two books on games for learning, international speaker and workshop leader.

TITLE: Complexity and Learning

PRESENTER: Elyssebeth Leigh

DESCRIPTION: A 16 hour workshop building on the content and processes in "Lets Play Games" (although that workshop is not a pre-requisite, prior attendance will have assisted in developing your awareness and confidence). This workshop will focus on the role of the learning manager/facilitator considering - or already - creating 'open' learning contexts shaped by the design of a 'game'.

Simulations and games have thousands years of legitimate history as learning environments. Yet the rich potential they offer for 'deep' (rather than 'surface') learning is often neglected in the face of apparent needs to provide learners with vital information. Their greatest contribution to learning is their capacity to engage participants in the process of creating their own knowledge and learning about 'the space between us all' (Harrison) that shapes effective communication and continuous learning and development.

This workshop will draw on participants' own experiences to develop their capabilities for managing the unknowable (Stacey) through both drama-oriented face to face simulation and computer-based games and simulations. A simulation can be created for any context, array of information or skill set. What are your needs? How might a simulation or game extend your ability to challenge your students to build their own learning contexts?