Rehearsing Self-Advocacy: An Experiential Workshop for Theatre Educators

Abstract

In the spring of 2023, I was one of three graduate student co-organizers of the 2023 NYU Educational Theatre Forum: Collective Visioning. As I read through the enriching and diverse slate of workshops and presentations being offered, I found myself wanting to offer an opportunity for Forum attendees, who were largely early career theatre educators, to both engage with one another in a playful and community-building manner, and to have space to practice advocating for the unique skills they bring to the table. Therefore, I created a workshop entitled “Advocating for Your Work through Creative Play,” an interactive, collaborative experience that used techniques grounded in improvisational theatre and personal storytelling to help participants practice articulating why they are uniquely qualified to do what it is they do. The workshop culminated in participants giving creative elevator pitches about their work and experiences.