task 6c: literature reviews

The pieces i have chosen are just as individually relevant to my interests as they are combined. The pieces i have chosen to review are:

A plethora of benchmarks by Susan Elkin, december 2008- The Stage

Creative Inclusion in Community Theatre: A journey with Odyessy Theatre Company by Roger Wooseter, February 2009

Ofsted Report: How new teachers are prepared to teach pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilites by Ofsted September 2008 (ref 070223)

All of the links to these are posted on the SIG WIKI page.

so lets start from the beginning..

A plethora of benchmarks by Susan Elkin, december 2008- The Stage
This is an article that i discovered on The Stage website and it discuss the National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT)'s introduction of their Excellence and Inclusion Scheme. The idea is to eventually elimate external examinations from various boards across the country and for progression to monitered and examined internally. My intial reaction to this is that it gives companies the opportunity to focus on their own process and not become distracted by tickboxes and red tape from the outside, which in my oppionion is a good thing?
However the immediate contadiction in terms is the idea of a standadised membership with the 'inclusive' schene. Although the NAYT have said that they will 'keep and eye on' smaller companies that do meet the standard of excellence to become 'members' of the scheme,  they have not outlined any strategies that could be put in place to help progression.
I agree with the authour when she says; 'too many organisations have had the same idea at once.' as i feel that the word 'inclusion' has become somewhat of a buzzword for many arts organisations and faliure to implement such a scheme would be highly frowned upon.
 However, i do challenge the authors point that  'This is surely a recipe for muddle, mayhem and confused parents?' - is this the case? or should there be positive recognition for the fact that companies are embracing the need for 'inclusion' regardless of motive?

Creative Inclusion in Community Theatre: A journey with Odyessy Theatre Company by Roger Wooseter, February 2009

From the outset in this piece, the terminology used, for me raises imediate questions about the writers true comprehension on the subject matter. Although 'pre-warns' the reader of the terminolgy he will be using;  'In this  article the term ‘learning disabled’ and ‘non-learning disabled’ will be used.' there is no explination as to why. Using the word 'disabled' within the context on inclusion, for me is an immediate contradtiction in terms. The 'dis'-abled immideatly implies the inability of the individual. I would argue that when arguing the positive's of  inclusion the positives of the individual should be the foucs rather than enforcing the idea of people having a 'lack of skill'.
The first thing this piece does is recognise the struggle for quality within inclusion to be recognised. Mainstream views of quality are often immediatly comprimised for an 'inclusive' piece has been seen due do sympathy or patronage.
This patronising view is emphasised in the piece when the writer acknowledges the Department of Education's document published in 2006. Phrases such as 'them joining 'us'' are pointed out as patronising to anybody who is deemed to be outside of the norm which then raises the question for me;
How do we define who is 'them' and who is 'us'?
Wooseter also recognises the National Disability Arts Forum (NDAF) who say that 'specialist knowlege of disbility is vital in inclusion'. This is a statment that i would have to disagree with. If the understanding of inclusion is that labels are to be removed, knowledge of each individual specifically built and not having their individuallity removed by the knowledge of their disability.
It is discussed in the piece that, Gaynor Lougher, heavily involved with the ODYSSEY  theatre company, emphasis her work on the engagement of the members and not on a fantastic performnace- is this not conflicting with the quality of the work produced? does her approach to ensemble and chrous work provied enough of a challenge for all involved in production from cast to director?

Ofsted Report: How new teachers are prepared to teach pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilites by Ofsted September 2008 (ref 070223)

I chose to look at this report inparticular as it covers my interest in education and how teachers are trained to outlook various situations in the classroom. The first recommendation this report makes is to 'ensure awareness of what constitutes 'good practice' when teaching pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilites'. My first question is how is 'good practice' recognised across the board? is there documentation of such practice? or guidlines given to the entire education system to ensure consistency? non of these questions can be answerd from this report.
it also discusses the use of teachers with 'appropriate expertise' to conduct training. Although i agree that a certain level of relevance to the subject matter would of course be positive- it then brings me to the question; how do we measure expertise? surely when dealing with individuals no matter what their age ability or background, there is not a generic course of action?
Interms of progression within schools the report embraces the need to adapt courses without great emphasis on any 'disadvatage' and individual may have in order to maintain the quality of work at a high level. This is something that i agree with as it compliments the ideals that every child learn's differently in order to acheieve their best.
The base of this report is in the need to ground teachers with professional standards giving them a familiar and strong guidline that they feel able to use as a point of reference.