The Idea – The Implementation – The Outlook
I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT – The IdeaLinz09 invited local, regional and international artists of the theater to work together with teachers to develop process- & presentation-oriented projects with students at all types of schools throughout Upper Austria. Creativity and acquisition of skills were at the center of this intensive dialog between art and education.
This was Linz09’s approach to its mission of artistically and culturally enriching educational instruction at schools and to make these institutions key partners of the Capital of Culture initiative. Just as the future of schooling and education has once again occupied the focal point of social discussions lately, the performing arts was central to the conception of Linz09’s big school project. A project with sustainability potential that links the present to the future.
The usually “frontal” configuration of classroom instruction was dispensed with to give everyone involved the opportunity to have active personal input into how education takes place and to participate in a creative process. The accent was on communication and dialog. Enriching students’ course load with tolerance, flexibility, and teamwork & improvisation skills greatly benefits young people in light of the demands they can expect to face in their chosen careers.
I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT – The Implementation
I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT ran at all types of schools (academic, vocational, technical, special) on all levels of schooling. Each artistic crew—artists and interns—came to Upper Austria for eight weeks and worked with three schools simultaneously. The concepts to be implemented came from various areas of the performing arts including drama, dance, musical and puppet theater. Particular emphasis was placed on teamwork.
Each crew implemented a different type of project at each of the three schools:
1. Presentation-oriented projects
The artistic crew worked with one class during regular classroom instruction 2-3 times a week for seven weeks during the 2008-09 school year. The eighth week was strictly a project week during which there was no regular classroom instruction; instead, everyone worked intensively on finalizing the production. The culmination was a performance before a live audience.
2. Process-oriented projects
At a second school in the region, the artistic crew led workshops several times a week. In contrast to Model 1, there was no project week. The results of these efforts were displayed in a less elaborate form of presentation.
3. Training-oriented projects
At a third school (mostly elementary schools), workshops were held with teachers to give them the encouragement and expertise necessary to work with young people in this area and to show teachers what a pleasure this can be.
I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT - The Outlook
As a large-scale pilot project, I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT had the opportunity to evaluate under conditions established by the participants themselves the connection between creativity and learning in actual practice. The conditions were then redefined in a joint process of assessment involving teachers, principals and artists, and summarized in the form of 10 dogmas (dogma09).