/ Business
   Good Practice - Tyneside Careers

Format: Full day facilitated event with live scenarios

Brief
To design a full day training session to improve communication between the different organisations who work with disaffected young people and at the same time offer them a chance to share good practice.

Results
Gibber designed a full day programme using drama, practice, forum theatre and interactive games to provoke discussion between the delegates. Not only did this facilitate the sharing of good practice but also allowed the delegates to explore new ways of dealing with difficult situations in a safe and supportive environment.

By working together the delegates developed a deeper understanding of each others roles and an awareness of the importance of co-operation between organisations. Some of the topics that were covered included:

/ Dealing with aggressive behaviour
/ Bullying
/ Drugs and alcohol
/ Equality and diversity
/ Confidentiality
/ Conflict resolution
/ One on one interviews

Through the use of humour and team building exercises we were able to reassure the delegates and dispel any preconceptions that they may have had about using drama for development.

Actors were used to present difficult scenarios in a forum theatre setting. The delegates were able to observe the scenarios and as a group work out different ways of resolving the situation without the added pressure of being in it. The workshop took account of the different learning styles and provided a relaxed atmosphere for everyone to participate in their own way.

12 workshops were run for a total of 85 delegates and at the end of every workshop the delegates were asked to fill out a questionnaire to find out their opinions about their Gibber experience.

100% of delegates agreed that the workshop should be repeated in the future.

“Enjoyable and relaxed day. Well done. Innovative way
  of approaching these topics.”
“The day was valuable in terms of sharing experience
  and expertise. The role plays and sketches were presented
  and organised in a very professional and thoughtful way.
  Real insight was shown into the type of behaviour exhibited
  by disaffected young people.”
“I thoroughly enjoyed this training session. It tackled very
  serious issues in a positive and interesting way.”

The workshop has since been repeated to a wider audience including Personal advisors, Teachers, Careers advisors and Education Welfare Officers.