CIVIL SOCIETY: 276 PRACTICES
Founded in 1997 by Emmanouela Kapokaki. We work with consistency towards the art of Puppet Theatre, producing a new spectacle, combining action, actors, puppets, theatre and dancing for children and adults alike. Our puppets are of various techniques with a special visual art interest.
Our project "Puppetplay" consists of two parts:
1) The cultural educational program
2) The Pan-Hellenic puppet competition.
The project aims at training educators and children, on how to create a puppet show. The project includes online open access to educational content, live online seminars, participant communication network, creation and video recording of a performance, participation in the competition and evaluation- online event. Our goal is quality education for a new generation of creative citizens with skills & initiatives and a more imaginative society.
We address to:
The educational program and competition "Puppetplay" is held annually and specifically lasts the same months of a school year, since the audience that addresses, mainly concerns teachers and students - of all levels. Hence, the "Puppetplay" is implemented in the period: September – May.
The content of the "Puppetry" is addressed to primary and secondary school teachers who are interested in using the theatrical puppet in the classroom as a means of teaching and dramatizing the curriculum through it. Those interested are invited for FREE, to know all the steps of construction, animation and use of the puppets so that they are able to acquire the know-how and include the methodology in their class teaching their students.
In addition, our program is addressed to any individuals or groups who desire to cultivate soft skills as such, imaginative and creative engagement with the puppet by following our methodology, and are enabled to participate in the competition.
We are currently in the process of developing an interactive online platform through which teachers and other stakeholders will be able to access the digital material of the methodology, follow online live trainings and receive guidance & support.
The final goal is to lead to the creation of a new educational and scientifically approved method usable by official educators and other social organizations, through the use of the recorded activities of the participants and other research tools available on the platform, hence, making the most of the activities that have taken place in the context of this program.
Deliverable:
Directorate of the Ministry of Education and Coordination Offices of Greek Schools
The actions of the project are all accessible digitally. More specifically, the electronic platform and the website (the pre-recorded educational material, the live online seminars, the eshop and the blogposts) contain all the material for the program and the competition while at the same time the online seminars and participants’ activities take place at the platform. There is also the possibility of voting digitally, for the best performance by the public.
The main aid and supporter of the program has been the Ministry of Culture and Sports. More specifically, the "Prassein Aloga" has been the innovator who implemented the standardization in the educational programs and established the Panhellenic student competition "Puppetry" under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, after applying from the invitations: for Actions for children and adolescents, Multidisciplinary Events.
The Primary and Secondary Directorates of Education of Greece have been associates and active supporters since 2019. Their preexisting excellent cooperation regarding the communication and the support of our program nationwide, has been a great aid contributing to the success of the program. The later organization has also assisted with the inclusion of "Puppetry" in the cultural programs implemented by teachers during the school year.
In particular, we have had an excellent cooperation with the Supervisors of the Cultural Topics of Attica. During the pandemic, this collaboration continued in the form of online seminars with an even greater motivation this time, to promote creativity at schools throughout Greece.
The Institute of Educational Policy (IEP) is also an important collaborating body, as our action is disseminated through the electronic platform 21+ in the thematic cycle "I am interested and active" for human rights and in the field of sex education. In the latter, the manager of Platform 21+ recommended us to join in order to assist with the entry of teachers of Secondary education. Also through its network, our action has been integrated online as an educational program in schools since 2020. Together with the IEP, the Ministry of Education and Religions supports us with its approval and auspices.
From 2020, experiencing our vision, we co-organize our actions together with the Hellenic Republic Region of Attica (HRRA). More specifically, the commissioned cultural counselor Charis Romas appreciated the program and the actions that were proposed and recognized them as an important opportunity to promote the Hellenic Republic Region of Attica for supporting culture. The HRRA also acknowledged that our cultural program "Puppetry" is able to develop unity among the children nationwide through our digital actions with culture and arts at a time when cultural events are increasingly moving away from the school curriculum. So we continue to develop our digital actions with the significant support of the HRRA for the fourth year of "Puppetry", since we renew our cooperation.
The employees from the organizations have been working on this project since its first year in 2019. It is a close-knit group with the common goal of promoting the action and mission of our program, with a goal to highlight the benefits of Puppet Theater and art in education and society.
Volunteering also plays an important role for our organization. Only this year we have had with us 4 volunteers who support us purely in our project. More specifically, they provide their knowledge and experience in areas such as: video-animation, directing, digital marketing, organization and prioritization.
Since the launch of "Puppetry" program in 2019, the organization was able to open and maintain two job positions (one full-time and one part-time). The two new comers worked on the material for our program and competition, while providing artistic ideas and contributed in innovations regarding the program’s presentation and function.
Following our constantly renewable action and specifically with the successful recognition of the importance of spreading "Puppetry" in 2021, a new job was created in the institution (full time) which concerned the communication and organization of material for proposals for synergies and grants. An action that proved to be crucial for the development of our organization, since this position enabled us to be accepted in the Erasmus program and ensured new points of contact with several organizations from all over Europe. The aim of the body is not only to maintain these new positions but to make them available to full employment. Whenever the conditions allow, the artistic manager of the project who is the brain of creation, inspiration, and education of the project “Puppetplay" is occasionally paid.
Encouraged by the incoming positive feedback from the participating teachers, we feel compelled to continue the action for a fourth year. With new approaches, themes and content, this project has offered the organization a new direction. Driven by the motivation to innovate in education, this program fulfills our vision for the existence of a new interactive school and a quality education; a new generation of creative citizens with soft skills which overall will contribute to society becoming more imaginative and to push humanity forward.
In terms of the viability of our organization, the program and competition "Puppetplay" has received a lot of recognition in terms of our artistic work. Throughout the school year of 2021 - and as far as the measures allowed during the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus - the "Prassein Aloga" came in collaboration with several schools in Attica for theatrical performances and provided an additional income, which has a significance, given the financial challenges of the era which most artistic groups faced at that time.
The creation of our web portal "Puppetplay" and specifically the operation of the eshop that will be launched, it will bring financial benefits to the team, and will increase the services that will be available for purchase. In addition, the program gives the opportunity to our organization to have visibility and gain recognition and trust among the educational world.
Finally, it is important to mention that the "Prassein Aloga" team, via the “Puppetplay” program, focus greatly in community service. Benefiting and impacting meaningfully the society, is a core value of the team ethics. Since the program and the competition is available completely for free to institutions that deal with socially vulnerable people, "Puppetplay" is a program of social benefit and service.
