The idea of this project arose during the European Prison Education Association’s International Conference, organised in conjunction with the PAN European Arts Network, in Dublin, June 2007. Also many teachers & professional artists involved in The Will to Dream project, promoting theatre/video in prison education, have provided further potential partners. The management of City College Manchester agreed to coordinate the project, with the support of its Offender Learning Directorate together with two leading organisations promoting music & dance in UK prison education.
The partnership, representing centres from 6 European countries, is a mixture of centres experienced in educational provision & professional arts organisations, ideal for developing links between music & dance practitioners and prison teachers. Its main aims are:
- To identify current activities in music & dance in adult prison education across Europe.
- To create, pilot & disseminate a practical educational model (a multilingual, multimedia learning package) for using music & dance in adult prison education across Europe.
- To organise practical workshops for exchanges of information & best practice between centres experienced in using music & dance in adult prison education and those with limited experience, including specific training courses.
- To develop strategies for promoting the use of music & dance in adult prison education, particularly in centres where it not previously been used.
- To develop an effective framework for employing the rich traditions of European music & dance, through the involvement of professional musicians & dance practitioners in adult prison education.
- To develop the use of music & dance to explore and analyse personal and group reactions and relationships in prison education.
- To explore the benefits of combining music & dance in a prison context.
- To establish local, regional & national partnerships to support music & dance activities in adult prison education.
- To encourage awareness of cultural diversity within Europe, through the creative use of music & dance in adult prison education.
The project is particularly focused on using partners with more experience of music & dance to support those hoping to use these art-forms in a prison education context for the first time.
