Circus education
Circus education is a method of social work that combines artistic ability and educational action.
aims
By skillfully imparting the various circus arts, circus educators promote the personal development , physical awareness and tolerance of their students. Each individual has to strive for his or her 'ability' while training endurance and concentration - and this in community with many others. Circus education is a very motivating field for a wide variety of talents. Especially for those who at first do not even know that they are a talent because, for example, they have only failed in performance-oriented sports. Circus in schools or youth facilities provides many effective impulses. A school circus makes valuable educational contributions up to and including improving cognitive performance, as many novel stimuli reach the brain.
The circus teacher promotes the community. The participants can bring in their personality: They are taken seriously, even if they are younger. Individual ideas must be further developed together so that they can be used for the benefit of everyone in the ring. Circus education can thus set impulses and create experiences. These positive direct experiences represent a contrast to digital leisure activities. They help the participants with the challenges of life, similar to what is described as a goal in theater education or experiential education .
education
For good circus pedagogy, it is important to have trained specialists who are not only passionate about what they do, but also with great skill - for the benefit and safety of the children, young people (and adults) entrusted to them. Since there are now many providers on the market, anyone looking for a cooperation partner in the field of circus education should above all check the educational quality of the providers. The umbrella organization of the Federal Working Group on Circus Pedagogy , which offers potential customers the opportunity to find out more about quality and safety issues, provides assistance. To improve quality, the BAG Circus Education offers training for young people to become circus group leaders and, together with five educational institutions in Germany, designs training to become “BAG circus teachers”.
Offer forms
In circus education, the focus is on strengthening self-confidence and group skills. The course participants practice the art of clowning, magic, the balance arts ( acrobatics , ball, rola , tightrope walk ) and the use of various small devices such as diabolo , juggling , poles, hoops as well as fire bravery, acrobatics, unicycle , trapeze , Aerial silk and trampoline .
Circus education is usually offered on project days or weeks. The relevant schools and youth facilities cooperate with educational experts who provide their know-how and exercise material and coordinate the projects. After such project weeks, there are occasionally fixed groups that train regularly. Some schools have expanded the offer to include a school focus. According to their self-image, circus pedagogy is not a training center for professional young circus artists. In many cases, the former participants move on to the trainer teams as young people and pass their experiences on to the next generation.
Examples
- At a comprehensive school near Cologne there is a concept for the implementation of circus project weeks . In cooperation with a traveling educational project circus, young people from the upper level are trained as group leaders. A project week is organized in a primary school and the teachers are supported in training with the children. A few weeks later, the team independently conducts the circus week for 150 children of the 6th year of a school and leads their own groups in the school's all-day area for a whole school year. The project was honored and funded both by the SozialGenial initiative and by the nationwide competition Ideas-Initiative-Future . The project offers young people a certificate to start studying; Further training at the “ZAK in Cologne” circus and artistry center in Cologne or with the state youth circus NRW is also possible.
- The Radelito school circus in Cologne has existed since the beginning of the 1990s and a new permanent group is formed every year. A special feature is a cooperation with a children's and youth circus in Nicaragua with a youth exchange that changes every year.
- The city of Berlin promotes circus education: At various locations, children and young people have the opportunity to train in fixed, stationary tents with trained circus teachers, such as in the Cabuwazi tents or in the Juxirkus .
See also
literature
- Wilhelm Kelber-Bretz: Magic with children. Meyer & Meyer Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-89124-657-9 .
- Bernd Oberschachtsiek: Juggling and more Meyer & Meyer Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-89124-943-8 .