- Objectives
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- Support youth development (decrease fear and depression; increase learning)
- Recognize interpretation (through arts) as the vehicle for discovery
- Provoke curiosity to learn more
- Method
- Engage tactile and performative arts for different learning styles
- Use a chosen theme to generate readings and artmaking (see How?)
- Read aloud and ask questions
- Participants follow their tangents to discover more connections with the theme
- Meet regularly in groups with Pre-Texts facilitator (3x per week)
- Target audience
- Local youth who want to improve interpretive and leadership skills
- ESL students
- Immigrants learning English
- Seniors who can support youth
- Desired outcomes
- Increased engagement in community stewardship projects
- Maintenance of learning between academic years
- Improved literacy scores in school (see Why?)
- Richer intergenerational dialogue through Interpretation of history and nature
Literacy
- Indicator of development in all fields (economic, political, emotional, etc.).
- Stimulates imagination in order to comprehend texts.
- Inspires personal expression.
- Engages a range of experiences at a safe distance.
Innovation
- Starts with creativity, a universal human drive.
- Depends on facts and critical reflection.
- Requires reinterpretation of given material.
- Develops best with a diversity of proposals.
Civics
- Derives from diversity as a source of pleasure.
- Thrives on admiration of everyone for everyone.
- Appreciates facts and critical reflections.
- Recombines materials and experiences.