Igniting the creative impulse in older people through active participation in video camera drama workshops

I am currently supervising Ryan Bowler in his honours year dissertation entitled, “Nurturing creativity in nursing homes: Exploring how the camera can be used to develop esteem, purpose and community with residents of Creggan Bahn Court”. It is a practice as research project where Ryan explores the potential for the video camera as a creative tool of empowerment. He designed and facilitated weekly drama workshops with the residents of The Creggan Bahn Court Nursing Home in Ayr. This 20 minute presentation will capture the ontology of both tutor and student which has led to this research. It will discuss Dorothy Heathcote’s and Augusto Boal’s theatre techniques in the context of Paulo Freire’s dialogic pedagogy where notions of “to” are dismantled in favour of “with” both in Ryan’s role as facilitator of the workshops in the nursing home and in his role as student during supervision meetings. The findings of Ryan’s research relating to the camera’s role in bringing about esteem, promoting health and igniting the creativity of older people will be highlighted through a short film collaboratively produced by the participants at Creggan Bahn Court and Ryan. We will also provide a verbal summary of the outcomes, the aspiration and prospects for developing this research.

Links to conference title – student/staff/research, dialogic pedagogy
Research-based learning in practice/Integrating work and enterprise into the curriculum – practice as research dissertation, professional standard workshops facilitated by student at nursing home, first stage in pitching funds for future development of the research and practice
Digital Futures – challenges assumptions that technology is only for the young
State-of-the-art research tackling global health, society and sustainability challenges – In a small way begins to tackle the global phenomenon of isolation and loneliness in older people