Dr Isabelle Gatt, a lecturer in Drama and Creativity in Education from the Faculty of Education at UM, was one of the international academics who visited Stranmillis University College during the 3rd International Staff Week held from 6 to 9 November this year.
Dr Gatt has lectured in Drama Education and Creativity and the Arts in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) and Primary Education since 1995. Besides being an academic, she is also a theatre practitioner (director and producer for Theatre for Children) and has produced Children's TV series.
While in Stranmillis, Dr Gatt delivered practical workshops entitled 'Narr-action!' to first year B.Ed. Stranmillis College students specialising in Drama. Students were introduced to various idea generation techniques and drama conventions to help develop their professional competences in teaching for creativity. The methodology was based on collective and collaborative storymaking and storytelling processes. While narrative is usually linked to the realm of words, in 'Narr-action!' students worked on embodiment: using the physical to tell the stories they created collectively.
The exchange was made possible through Erasmus +, the International and Research Office teams at Stranmillis, and the workshops were co-ordinated by Mr Andy Brown, Head of the B.Ed. Primary degree at Stranmillis University College.