Owing to the EIRENE project, the applied theater method tackling bullying has been tried in practice

Karalius Mindaugas VTC, together with partners from Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, Portugal and Poland, is working to develop a methodology and training courses that would allow teachers to improve their competences in dealing with various bullying situations at schools. All this comes due to the participation in the international project EIRENE: Using Community Learning Paths to Tackle Bullying.

Karalius Mindaugas VTC vocational teachers Ms. Agnė Milieškienė, Ms. Janina Kukauskienė and Ms. Greta Trofimovaitė participated in the training of this project in London, the United Kingdom on January 11-18, 2020. The training was provided by the Playhouse organization under an agreement between Karalius Mindaugas VTC and the Istituto Magistrale Statale Giordano Bruno No. 2018-1-IT02-KA201-048161.
“This visit was aimed at teachers to increase their competences and abilities to respond to bullying phenomena in society, especially in the school environment. The aim of the project is to expose the peculiarities of the bullying phenomenon and to discuss the possibilities of assistance, applying the newly developed methodology,” says the project manager Ms. Gintarė Lisauskaitė. During the training, 20 representatives gathered from the countries participating in the project – from Lithuania, Italy, Portugal, Poland and Greece. The practical work was really intense.
“It was remarkably interesting to get acquainted with the theater method, its application in solving bullying situations. We have been actively involved in the process of experiential learning, which consists of storytelling, role-playing, the situation plays, analysis and reconstruction of various situations,” says Ms. Kukauskienė.
During the visit, the project partners from Greece (Action Synergy) presented the POL methodology, which aims to involve all members of the school community, i. e. students, parents, associations and institutions. A drama education seminar was attended, during which the acquired knowledge can be applied to students, teachers, parents and school administration.
The project partners from Portugal (ETIC) conducted two seminars during which they presented the features of social advertising campaigns on the most popular social networks. It was reviewed what the quality content is, how to attract the widest possible audience by means of the advertising campaign.
Karalius Mindaugas VTC teachers who participated and were trained in the project, will be giving classes from February to April, 2020, using the applied theater methodology for students; together with partners they will be creating social advertising campaigns on the issue of bullying.