Our group has decided to tackle the issue of Amy Cheong's racism remarks on Facebook. Since it was a recent issue and it sparked off a heated argument/debate/controversy about many issues. The main issue is Racism and then we can venture/branch out to many other issues concerning racism such as cyberwellness, law, politics, economics, business, social or personal family issues. However, because it is a 30 min workshop, we decided to only cover one aspect of it which is racism in the public's view. We did not want to go into cyberwellness or politics because it may be of too much time spend on it. Therefore, whenever the students touches on politics, law or cyberwellness, it is our job to keep them back on track towards the public's view on racism. This is one of the difficulty that we will face which is when to draw the line.
Questions:
- When and how to draw the line where the students do not go out of topic/ venture into another topic that is too far from what we want?
- What are the rules while facilitating these process?
- How can we use props, movements to be in character?
- How can we ensure that the students are working in a safe space? Where emotions do not get into the way.
We chose Mantle of the Expert because some of our classmates have not gone through this convention and it would be beneficial if they could gain experience on how to go about conducting this process. We believe that Mantle of the Expert enables them to think critically and be in character. Not only are they in their own character mode, we as facilitators are also have to be in character and facilitate the whole process well. Therefore, we have to have rules and boundaries set so that the students do not go overtopic. We want them to imagine themselves in their own characters and think critically of how to analyse, discuss and solve the issue in a diplomatic manner. It would be beneficial for them to experience this process so that they can use this process in their future classrooms as well.
Group Members:
- Joanne Liu
- Carmen Chan
- Jasmine Mong (myself)
- John Pav
Topic/ Issue: Amy Cheong’s Racist Remarks on Facebook
Targeted audience: Secondary School students in a drama class
Estimated time: 30 minutes
Rationale of chosen topic:
We have chosen this topic because we felt that the issue of racism is very relevant in a multicultural country like Singapore. In order to promote racial cohesion, we believe that it should begin from the younger generation so as to instill the importance of racial harmony in them at a crucial stage of development as teens are vulnerable to various influences. It is through understanding that one begins to appreciate the multiculturalism in Singapore which in turn influences one’s actions. Therefore, through this drama workshop, we hope to be able to allow participants to understand that it is wrong to be racist and why it is wrong to be racist through exploring the consequences of being racist. This is done through a ‘believable’ experience which Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert (2004) advocates. It is through this ‘believable’ experience that allows participants to experience the emotional and psychological aspects of a character or situation, developing awareness and empathy in participants.
In order to understand other’s perspectives, we plan to engage participants through an exploration process by adopting Augusto Boal’s Forum theatre techniques. This is because through Forum, one would put oneself into the situation to experiment the various possible ways to react in a situation (Boal, 1979).
Objectives:
Through this workshop participants will be able to,
Drama Convention/s:
Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert
Augusto Boal’s Forum theatre - theatre of the oppressed
Resources:
Boal, A. (1979). Theatre of the Oppressed. New York: Theatre Communication.
Activity 1
Layer 1: (3 mins)
- Walk around the space
- What do you think you will be doing...
1. In a office on a normal working day.
2. Imagine there is a situation that happened, how will you react?
3. In the NTUC head office and there will be a major meeting...
Participants to pose in a freeze frame after 1, 2, 3, Pose!
Layer 2: (10mins)
- Imagine this space is going to be used for a board meeting of NTUC. As a whole, set up the space (using whatever props that you see) you think would look like a board meeting of NTUC company. Participants have a few minutes to set up.
- It is a board meeting between NTUC and leaders of associated companies affiliated to NTUC where all of them have come together to discuss about the issue of Amy Cheong, Assistant Director of NTUC in the membership department. (One of the facilitators will be act as the Director and tell the situation of ‘amy cheong’ to the participants)
(Note: Inform participants that the board meeting consist of different races)
- The council is made up base on their own mother tongue languages.
- Based on the newspaper article, Director will lead board meeting (in-role):
1. Should Miss Amy be fired because of her racist remark on FB?
2. So what should we do in this kind of situation? “We need a solution asap to face the media and public! Because in NTUC we believe in ….. !” (Below is NTUC’s vision thingy)
The National Trades Union Congress
The Labour Movement is a network of affiliated unions, associations, social enterprises, staff, members and partners working together for the benefit of all working people and their families in Singapore.
Set up in 1961, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is at the heart of the Labour Movement, providing leadership, services and support to promote inclusiveness across all collars, ages and nationalities, so that working people and their families can work, live and play together in Singapore.
NTUC’s family includes 61 trade unions and one taxi association, and 12 social enterprises that serve more than 2 million customers and 4 related organisations.
Layer 3: (2-3 mins)
Short discussion session
Activity 2
Layer 1: (10mins)
- Get into 2-3 groups
- Within each group there should be participants that represent more than 1 race (e.g. chinese, malay, indians)
- Create a tableau that shows how you would react to the issue.
- Taking turns, each group will present their tableau and participants as observers would be encouraged to change the ‘situation’ of the tableau that shows an improvement in the situation.
Layer 2: (5mins)
Discussion/ dialogue to summarize issues discussed in workshop - promoting racial cohesian
Possible questions: What were you considering when you were one of the leaders/bosses representing a company at the board meeting? Were you considering racial cohesion or?
Why did you respond that way in the 1st tableau? What did you do when you intervene in the tableau? Why did you decide to do that? Did it help to change the situation? Yes/No, why?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Targeted audience: Secondary School students in a drama class
Estimated time: 30 minutes
Rationale of chosen topic:
We have chosen this topic because we felt that the issue of racism is very relevant in a multicultural country like Singapore. In order to promote racial cohesion, we believe that it should begin from the younger generation so as to instill the importance of racial harmony in them at a crucial stage of development as teens are vulnerable to various influences. It is through understanding that one begins to appreciate the multiculturalism in Singapore which in turn influences one’s actions. Therefore, through this drama workshop, we hope to be able to allow participants to understand that it is wrong to be racist and why it is wrong to be racist through exploring the consequences of being racist. This is done through a ‘believable’ experience which Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert (2004) advocates. It is through this ‘believable’ experience that allows participants to experience the emotional and psychological aspects of a character or situation, developing awareness and empathy in participants.
In order to understand other’s perspectives, we plan to engage participants through an exploration process by adopting Augusto Boal’s Forum theatre techniques. This is because through Forum, one would put oneself into the situation to experiment the various possible ways to react in a situation (Boal, 1979).
Objectives:
Through this workshop participants will be able to,
- Understand that racial harmony is crucial in developing an inclusive environment through exploring the consequences of their actions.
- Experience behavioral aspects through embodiment of character/s.
- Develop empathy and understandings towards different races.
Drama Convention/s:
Dorothy Heathcote’s Mantle of the Expert
Augusto Boal’s Forum theatre - theatre of the oppressed
Resources:
Boal, A. (1979). Theatre of the Oppressed. New York: Theatre Communication.
Activity 1
Layer 1: (3 mins)
- Walk around the space
- What do you think you will be doing...
1. In a office on a normal working day.
2. Imagine there is a situation that happened, how will you react?
3. In the NTUC head office and there will be a major meeting...
Participants to pose in a freeze frame after 1, 2, 3, Pose!
Layer 2: (10mins)
- Imagine this space is going to be used for a board meeting of NTUC. As a whole, set up the space (using whatever props that you see) you think would look like a board meeting of NTUC company. Participants have a few minutes to set up.
- It is a board meeting between NTUC and leaders of associated companies affiliated to NTUC where all of them have come together to discuss about the issue of Amy Cheong, Assistant Director of NTUC in the membership department. (One of the facilitators will be act as the Director and tell the situation of ‘amy cheong’ to the participants)
(Note: Inform participants that the board meeting consist of different races)
- The council is made up base on their own mother tongue languages.
- Based on the newspaper article, Director will lead board meeting (in-role):
1. Should Miss Amy be fired because of her racist remark on FB?
2. So what should we do in this kind of situation? “We need a solution asap to face the media and public! Because in NTUC we believe in ….. !” (Below is NTUC’s vision thingy)
The National Trades Union Congress
The Labour Movement is a network of affiliated unions, associations, social enterprises, staff, members and partners working together for the benefit of all working people and their families in Singapore.
Set up in 1961, the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is at the heart of the Labour Movement, providing leadership, services and support to promote inclusiveness across all collars, ages and nationalities, so that working people and their families can work, live and play together in Singapore.
NTUC’s family includes 61 trade unions and one taxi association, and 12 social enterprises that serve more than 2 million customers and 4 related organisations.
Layer 3: (2-3 mins)
Short discussion session
Activity 2
Layer 1: (10mins)
- Get into 2-3 groups
- Within each group there should be participants that represent more than 1 race (e.g. chinese, malay, indians)
- Create a tableau that shows how you would react to the issue.
- Taking turns, each group will present their tableau and participants as observers would be encouraged to change the ‘situation’ of the tableau that shows an improvement in the situation.
Layer 2: (5mins)
Discussion/ dialogue to summarize issues discussed in workshop - promoting racial cohesian
Possible questions: What were you considering when you were one of the leaders/bosses representing a company at the board meeting? Were you considering racial cohesion or?
Why did you respond that way in the 1st tableau? What did you do when you intervene in the tableau? Why did you decide to do that? Did it help to change the situation? Yes/No, why?
However, after the presentation of our proposal, other groups gave quite challenging remarks and comments. How well will our targeted participants take the level of our subject? Will this be too much for the students to take it? Should we use Amy Cheong's newspaper because it will seem like we are arrowing it at her, as if it is her fault. Because our targeted audience are sec 1s and 2s, they might take it too seriously and the end results or our expectations will not be met.The mantle of the expert activity might be heavy for the students because they are called to be executives, office workers, people with high positions in the NTUC office. Some of them might not have the idea of how to be in character of these people because they never experience it before. However, it could be possible if we have alot of prior experience of process drama and discussions after activities with them to develop their role-playing skills and critical thinking skills.Choice of words: Should it be racial harmony? racial cohesion? or racial tolerance? We decided to change to racial cohesion because we dont only want them to be able to understand but to also practice it with empathy. For racial integration to happen in Singapore, they need to understand and maybe even participate in cultural activities to appreciate the different ethics and cultures of other races. Tolerance would be a bad choice because it sounds as if living with the other races is bad enough. It would sound like a teeth-gritting experience (As what the chinese say). Tolerance is having a bad experience without understanding and appreciation for the other races. If it reaches the boiling point, it would be an ugly side.Therefore we decided to change our activities to suit the student's learning abilities.
