A Compendium of Case Studies has been produced as part of the joint Higher Education Academy / The Cathedrals Group / Leeds Trinity University project ‘Learning from Best Practice in Peer Learning and Mentoring across the Cathedrals Group’. It is intended to showcase and illuminate the rich range of practice within the group.
You can download the compendium on this page.
Each institutional participant within the project was invited to select one of the schemes / programmes in current operation that best illustrates their current practice. Although several institutions operate more than one scheme only one case study per institution was permitted. This is one such case study.
Nature and focus of scheme
First year Drama students are allocated to third year single honours student directors as actors for their final year Studio Practice module. The project is relevant and meaningful for both final year students and first year students as part of their degree programme. Final year students are assessed on the module and first year students evaluate and analyse the process and performance as part of their assessment. The process provides new students with a mentor and helps them to integrate into the drama community.
Scheme overview
The module operates in the first semester of the academic year. Third and first year students meet in the first week and third year students lead drama activities with first year students on a ‘getting to know you’ basis. This also introduces new students to common activities and drama devices. First years are allocated to final year students by the tutor on a largely arbitrary basis. Final year student directors work with their actors which frequently include additional second year actors to their own rehearsal schedules. The third year module is overseen by the tutor largely by tutorials and the first year actors are also overseen by the same tutor as part of one of their first year modules.
Generally there are between 15 and 22 directors single honours Drama students and 30-40 single and joint honours first year students. The process culminates in a festival of short drama performances each done twice which takes place in the final week before the Christmas break generally over three days and evenings. The performances are open to the public and the event is extremely popular with students across the campus friends and graduates who frequently come back for the event. The mentoring aspect and peer learning occur organically from the process rather than as a deliberately manufactured situation.
Key resource implications
As this activity takes place in compulsory modules for both final year students and first year students it is funded through the course. Currently both modules are run by the same tutor which provides a balanced overview and tutorials are built into the modules. Each third year student has a small production budget for their Studio Practice as is normal practice. Studio Practice is space intensive in terms of rehearsal time and spaces and this can be problematical. Directors need to be organised and innovative obviously useful transferable skills but so does the tutor overseeing the practice particularly in terms of space and time allocation. Overall it is a cost effective way of imparting relevant production values and practices to first year students with the added value of peer mentoring and a sense of community which is vital in Applied theatre practice.
Training and development of mentors/mentees
The tutor develops and leads the training of mentors and sessions are given on Health and Safety and ethical policies including disclosure and the respect of privacy in the first three weeks of the module. Final year directors have individual tutorials with the tutor which include advice on working with others as well as drama and directing practice. First year students’ preferences in terms of the sort of productions they are comfortable with are reflected in a form given to them by the tutor at the start of the process and final year directors are obliged to work to their actors’ strengths and weaknesses as part of the assessment criteria. The tutor also talks to first year students about their experience in Studio Practice and their own responsibility to the process. Final year students are given access to a copy of the first year drama timetable which enables them to talk through academic demands and time management with their first year actors and negotiate around pressure points.
How the scheme engages and supports students
The scheme is extremely popular with students who appreciate the opportunity to work with students from different years on relevant and interesting projects which include an element of creative and practical collaboration. The format of performance is relevant and satisfying for drama students and they are learning practical as well as social and creative skills. They see the point of the process and enjoy working towards a common goal. The fact that all first year students are involved in a similar process but with very varied productions is stimulating and provokes discussion and debate between themselves which can be tapped into by the tutor. First year students usually form a strong bond with their third year director and meet other second and third year students. Socialisation between the years is high and most first years settle down quickly and have a sense of loyalty to their director. Third year students are encouraged to offer advice on time management and look out for homesickness and other problems. First year students appreciate this near peer bond if only on a subject skills level.
It is interesting that the benefits are not always one way. In a number of cases first year actors have worked autonomously on their production when directors have been ill or suffered bereavement and they have been known to cover for their directors for less valid reasons!
The process is very successful and the quality of the work is generally very high.
Evidence of value effectiveness and impact
Feedback from both directors and actors is very positive. Many students rate it as the high point of their first year and most first year single honours students start planning their own studio practice from that point. Feedback from first years frequently mentions the sense of belonging and identity that they feel as a result of involvement and their relationship with their director. Many final year students continue to advise and mentor their ‘actors’ throughout the year and keep in touch after they graduate.
Quite a lot of the evidence is anecdotal but there is data emerging as the tutor has and will continue to gather feedback from short questionnaires and semi- structured case studies and interviews.
Many first year actors make it clear that the studio practice scheme is what kept them at university as it provided them with a network and someone to talk to when they were vulnerable.
Critical reflections
This project has evolved from a genuine need and this is one of its greatest strengths. Students appreciate its validity and see it as useful and pertinent to their degree course. That would be my best piece of advice; create something which is valid in its own right rather than simply create a mentoring scheme. The value for these students seems to stem from a common cause and goal. The process is a rich one but the product is something to be proud of too.
This particular project has been going for twenty years plus and it has become richer and more complex. Its mentoring value has become more and more obvious and has been articulated more specifically by academic staff graduates and students over the years. Safety nets have to be in place in terms of safeguarding final year directors if they have actors who do not commit and staff have to be aware of personality clashes and be prepared to step in at appropriate points. It is quite surprising how infrequently the process breaks down. There is plenty of scope here for written academic analysis.
