W4: New Conversations about Race: Sociodrama Training

Description

Race and racism are in the spotlight. Speakers, tweeters, film makers, writers, educators, shock jocks and demonstrators have race and racism in their sights. While awareness of unconscious bias, structural racism and white fragility may have grown, combative and polarised discourse has also ramped up. Conversations can get noisy. It can feel hard to keep up, stay steady or find a way forward.

Where are you up to with race and racism? What sense are you making of your own life experiences and of your learning so far? Perhaps there is something you want to get clearer about or be able to handle differently. As we consider what a refreshed conversation about race and racism might look like for you, what new interactions might you or we be capable of?

This experiential sociodrama workshop offers a space to catch up with yourself, your own experiences and the experiences of others. Attention will be given to building an open and enabling group experience and to how we work together as a racially diverse group with two white facilitators. A range of sociometric activities, sociodramatic and role training enactments will be used. Optional pre-reading suggestions will be made.

This workshop is for psychodrama trainees and practitioners, facilitators, educators, leaders and others interested in experiencing sociodrama and further exploring race and racism. It is being offered in both Melbourne, Australia 24-25 August and Wellington Aotearoa New Zealand 13-15 September.

What is Sociodrama?
“J. L. Moreno developed sociodrama during and after the Second World War, to improve the delicate fabric of co-existence between various groups in postwar society (Kellermann, 2007). Sociodrama is an experiential method for social exploration and intergroup conflict resolution. It focuses on our functioning in groups, including families, organisations, sub-cultures, cultures, nations, and even our global social structure, shining a light on values, collective ideologies and intergroup relations.

Sociodrama helps us enter into the view of life and feelings of people different from ourselves, including people from quite different cultures and roles in society. It broadens and deepens our experience; brings a greater appreciation of the values and attitudes of others and greater understanding of the structure of groups and subcultures. It assists our role development: enlarging our role repertoire; developing flexibility; and building our capacity to plan and execute interventions to improve the everyday working of groups. In addition, it can foster a personal sense of our own contribution to the evolution of our culture. (Clayton, 1989:165-166) It gives means and possibility to Moreno’s vision that we become active rather than passive members of society.” (Hutt, 2018, ‘Starting Where We Are’ AANZPA Journal)

Workshop Leaders

Jenny Hutt and Bev Hosking are both white (pakeha) women born and raised in Aotearoa New Zealand. They share a keen interest in sociodrama as a ‘third space’ (outside the home and the public arena) where participants can consider their experiences, have room to find out what they feel and think and develop resourcefulness for their ongoing work. Bev and Jenny have led sociodrama workshops on The Complexity of Belonging; Beyond Overwhelm, Spectatorship and Debate about belonging and social cohesion; Finding Your Feet in intercultural work and Finding Firm Ground in working relationships.