Jan-Kåre Breivik og Tobba Therkildsen Sudmann: Applying creativity and physical arts in community work education
Abstract
In the Masters programme in Community Work at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen, students and teachers engage in interactive learning and problem-solving together. Paolo Freire showed us how learning is achieved through critical dialogue and praxis, i.e. action and reflection. Two different experimental workshops offered to both regular and visiting students, used alternative forms of dialogue and action. Through dialogues produced with words, bodily gestures, props and movements, and reflection upon action, generative themes emerged. These themes concerned ecological and social challenges faced by community workers. Students in the first workshop engaged in ‘skip diving’ with an aim of transforming skipped food into a gourmet food festive dinner, and in the second workshop students and teachers chose to create a socially relevant parade around the main street of a city borough. In both workshops artists with experiences in community participation were involved. The article discusses how arts-based workshops facilitate creation of context-sensitive tools for community workers as creative agents of change.