A Course Facilitating Intergeneration Integration: Community-based Small-scale Musical “Together with Arts”
“I never thought that my husband would be willing to attend courses for older adults and participate in activities with me after retirement. He had so much fun! Is this the power of arts that you mentioned?”
“I would like to tell you that after my knee surgery, I was unable to walk. I was supposed to be in rehabilitation, but I had great fun and relieved my gloom,” older community members Ms. Tsai and Ms. Huang, who participated in the course, said happily.
The second week of September after the start of an academic semester is an ordinary period for most people. However, it is particularly meaningful to those at the Community Care Center of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and NTNU undergraduate students. During summer vacation, the older adults and students participated in joint activities, co-learning, and community advancement. In the less than 10-hour course, the team with an age range of more than 50 years amazingly completed a small-scale musical. They are eager to present their work to community members and faculty and students within and outside NTNU.
Since its launch in summer 2018, the small-scale musical has been considered a highlight of NTNU’s university social responsibility implementation project. Course participants and audiences are invited to imagine and experience people’s lives through short dramas.
Facilitating change, creating connections, and rebuilding relationships are the most crucial core beliefs in the course.
Unlike traditional high arts- and education-oriented courses, this course integrates the concepts of ＂participatory art＂, ＂socially engaged art＂, ＂community-based art education＂, and ＂service-learning＂. In addition to encouraging participants to inspire creativity with each other, the course enhances their aesthetic literacy, humanistic thinking, social care, and other civic engagement abilities, as well as guides them in deliberating on various social issues. Course instructor Dr. Tsai, Hsin-Chang incorporates his service experiences with older adults, people with disabilities or special needs, and arts education and life education in developing countries into the art practice project—Relational Esthetics: From "I" to "Us". Cheng, a student majoring in teacher education in the Department of Music, has participated in the project for two consecutive years, stating “I was surprised by this type of pedagogy; this will be very helpful for me in future lesson plan development and guiding student activities.”
In this course, in addition to co-creation and joint performance, the challenge lies in integrating two groups that differ greatly in living backgrounds and education modes into a team in which all members genuinely care for each other within the shortest time. “The process of establishing a team inevitably involves conflicts;” said Dr. Tsai. “However, people have aggressive behavior largely because they do not understand the living conditions of each other. Thus, I constantly provide gaming- and art-based interaction experiences in the course to help improve both parties’ empathy and tolerance.”
Hsieh, a student who came to Taipei from central Taiwan to attend the course every week during summer vacation, said, “This is a warm interactive activity. At first, I was worried that older adults might not understand the university students’ language and culture. In the end, I truly felt that the boundary between the university students and older adults dissolved, and we are simply 'actors and actresses' performing together.”
After the performance every year, Dr. Tsai always receives letters from the audience. This year, a particular letter attracted his attention. Community member Ms. Chang, encouraged by her daughter, wrote the letter to express her feelings. “Learning together in this age of severe confrontation extends our horizons and adds consideration and kindness to both parties’ worlds. The performance reminded me of my mother, who is more than 90 years old. I thought I had done my job by visiting her in central Taiwan every weekend. Nonetheless, the daughter in the performance did not realize her mother’s preference for lemon cake until she saw a passionate neighbor give a gift to her mom. Only by watching the scene did I remember that I had long forgotten my mother’s love of lemon cakes. What my mother eats every day and what she loves to eat is the knowledge of her foreign caregiver…Did I make my mother feel even lonelier with my hasty visits? I am determined to make changes from this week on. I did not expect that a small musical would make me spend sleepless nights missing my mother.”
“I thought a few sessions of the course would not influence my life much,” excitedly said Wu, a student who learned of Ms. Chang’s feedback, “but the course was beyond my imagination. I learned that our actions can bring energy to others’ lives, guide the audience to think about the issues, and change society.”
The innovative art practice project that involves co-learning of young people and older adults not only facilitates the growth of diverse cultural emotions and experiences but also enables participants to rethink relationships between individuals and between people and society, thereby demonstrating the value of modern citizens. Under the expectations of the older adults, university students, and the audience for next year’s event, a new civil aesthetics education mode is in development.
“I would like to tell you that after my knee surgery, I was unable to walk. I was supposed to be in rehabilitation, but I had great fun and relieved my gloom,” older community members Ms. Tsai and Ms. Huang, who participated in the course, said happily.
The second week of September after the start of an academic semester is an ordinary period for most people. However, it is particularly meaningful to those at the Community Care Center of National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and NTNU undergraduate students. During summer vacation, the older adults and students participated in joint activities, co-learning, and community advancement. In the less than 10-hour course, the team with an age range of more than 50 years amazingly completed a small-scale musical. They are eager to present their work to community members and faculty and students within and outside NTNU.
Since its launch in summer 2018, the small-scale musical has been considered a highlight of NTNU’s university social responsibility implementation project. Course participants and audiences are invited to imagine and experience people’s lives through short dramas.
Facilitating change, creating connections, and rebuilding relationships are the most crucial core beliefs in the course.
Unlike traditional high arts- and education-oriented courses, this course integrates the concepts of ＂participatory art＂, ＂socially engaged art＂, ＂community-based art education＂, and ＂service-learning＂. In addition to encouraging participants to inspire creativity with each other, the course enhances their aesthetic literacy, humanistic thinking, social care, and other civic engagement abilities, as well as guides them in deliberating on various social issues. Course instructor Dr. Tsai, Hsin-Chang incorporates his service experiences with older adults, people with disabilities or special needs, and arts education and life education in developing countries into the art practice project—Relational Esthetics: From "I" to "Us". Cheng, a student majoring in teacher education in the Department of Music, has participated in the project for two consecutive years, stating “I was surprised by this type of pedagogy; this will be very helpful for me in future lesson plan development and guiding student activities.”
In this course, in addition to co-creation and joint performance, the challenge lies in integrating two groups that differ greatly in living backgrounds and education modes into a team in which all members genuinely care for each other within the shortest time. “The process of establishing a team inevitably involves conflicts;” said Dr. Tsai. “However, people have aggressive behavior largely because they do not understand the living conditions of each other. Thus, I constantly provide gaming- and art-based interaction experiences in the course to help improve both parties’ empathy and tolerance.”
Hsieh, a student who came to Taipei from central Taiwan to attend the course every week during summer vacation, said, “This is a warm interactive activity. At first, I was worried that older adults might not understand the university students’ language and culture. In the end, I truly felt that the boundary between the university students and older adults dissolved, and we are simply 'actors and actresses' performing together.”
After the performance every year, Dr. Tsai always receives letters from the audience. This year, a particular letter attracted his attention. Community member Ms. Chang, encouraged by her daughter, wrote the letter to express her feelings. “Learning together in this age of severe confrontation extends our horizons and adds consideration and kindness to both parties’ worlds. The performance reminded me of my mother, who is more than 90 years old. I thought I had done my job by visiting her in central Taiwan every weekend. Nonetheless, the daughter in the performance did not realize her mother’s preference for lemon cake until she saw a passionate neighbor give a gift to her mom. Only by watching the scene did I remember that I had long forgotten my mother’s love of lemon cakes. What my mother eats every day and what she loves to eat is the knowledge of her foreign caregiver…Did I make my mother feel even lonelier with my hasty visits? I am determined to make changes from this week on. I did not expect that a small musical would make me spend sleepless nights missing my mother.”
“I thought a few sessions of the course would not influence my life much,” excitedly said Wu, a student who learned of Ms. Chang’s feedback, “but the course was beyond my imagination. I learned that our actions can bring energy to others’ lives, guide the audience to think about the issues, and change society.”
The innovative art practice project that involves co-learning of young people and older adults not only facilitates the growth of diverse cultural emotions and experiences but also enables participants to rethink relationships between individuals and between people and society, thereby demonstrating the value of modern citizens. Under the expectations of the older adults, university students, and the audience for next year’s event, a new civil aesthetics education mode is in development.
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University characteristic Startup Stage Project
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Taipei City
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National Taiwan Normal University
359votes
Further reading
Measures for Leaving a Message to Enter the Draw for the Live Streaming of the Opening Ceremony
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Event Period
From 13:00 to 14:00 on December 12 (Saturday), 2020
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Event Measures
Log in to your personal Facebook or Google account to proceed with leaving a message; each account with a successful message of #2020usrexpo left before the end of the live streaming of the opening ceremony will have an opportunity to enter the draw, and each account is restricted to winning the prize once only.
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List of Winners
On December 14 (Monday), 2020, the list of winners will be announced on the event official website https://2020usrexpo.org/) Announcement of the list of winners
Event Prize Content
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1st Prize
“Huei Yeh” Power Extreme Massage Gun 1 winner
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2nd Prize
Nestle Dolce Gusto Genio 2 1 winner
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3rd Prize
KINYO Bluetooth 5.0 Wireless Speaker 2 winner
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4th Prize
7-11 Gift Voucher valued at NT$200 27 winner
Announcement of the list of winners
The various prizes are expected to be notified via email and also announced on the event official website on December 14 (Monday), please will the prize winners pay attention to the prize-winning information, and send back the relevant documents according to the notices & explanations; no separate notification will be issued.
Notices
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