Page 146 - Glasbenopedagoški zbornik Akademije za glasbo v Ljubljani / The Journal of Music Education of the Academy of Music in Ljubljana: Mostovi med formalnim in neformalnim glasbenim izobraževanjem, leto 15, zvezek 31 / Year 15, Issue 31, 2019
P. 146
SBENOPEDAGOŠKI ZBORNIK, 31. zvezek
Summary
The article takes as its theme the results of the international Erasmus+ project EducOpera
– Struggling against Early School Leaving with an Education to Opera that was carried
out between 2017–2019. Methodologically, it is based on Participatory Action Research,
an approach whereby researchers actively collaborate with stakeholders. The project
involved five partner countries, while the leading institution was an opera house from the
suburbs of Paris, the Opera de Massy, that has extensive experience in integrating socially
sensitive people and especially youngsters in the cultural environment. In my article, I
focus on a description of the process that took place in Slovenia. I first highlight the
process of the creation of the opera Všeè si mi (Eng.: I like you), produced by the society
Glasbena matica Ljubljana and Cankarjev dom. The opera included over 70 youngsters
who sang, danced, or performed as soloists. In terms of content, the opera, created by
librettist Milan Dekleva and composer Damijan Moènik and directed by Nana Milèinski,
is related to the sensitive and timely topic of migrants in Slovenia and their
(non)acceptance in our society. The youngsters worked on the opera for 9 months,
attended regular, intensive rehearsals, and invested a lot of time and energy in the
performance.
One of the aims of the project was to involve youngsters who are at risk of dropping out of
school. But this turned out to be a great challenge, since the identification of potential
dropouts is usually not carried out in schools and early school leaving in Slovenia is not
such a big problem in quantitative terms (in comparison with many European countries).
This is why we involved youngsters from the BOB Institute – an institution that helps
youngsters reintegrate into the school system or into the labor market through various
(also cultural) activities. Those youngsters then filmed a 20-minute documentary of the
entire opera production process. The second challenge was to build a bridge between
non-formal and formal education. Unfortunately, we were unable to attract
schoolteachers, as they were overwhelmed and tired of project collaborations. However,
in order to evaluate the achievements of youngsters in the extracurricular education
process, we asked youngsters and their parents to take part in the study. Thus, through
interviews and questionnaires, and through reflection on answers to questions, we have
informed youngsters and their parents that by participating in the creation of opera they
have acquired much more than just knowledge and skills in the fields of music, theater,
and dance. It can be seen from the responses of parents and, to an even greater extent, of
youngsters, that most of them do not mention artistic competences at all, but rather
emphasize their growth in social and emotional competences. In this way, we have shown
how adolescents “grow up with opera” and acquire the skills, knowledge, positive
self-esteem, and behavioral patterns that help them in this sensitive period in their life.
144
Summary
The article takes as its theme the results of the international Erasmus+ project EducOpera
– Struggling against Early School Leaving with an Education to Opera that was carried
out between 2017–2019. Methodologically, it is based on Participatory Action Research,
an approach whereby researchers actively collaborate with stakeholders. The project
involved five partner countries, while the leading institution was an opera house from the
suburbs of Paris, the Opera de Massy, that has extensive experience in integrating socially
sensitive people and especially youngsters in the cultural environment. In my article, I
focus on a description of the process that took place in Slovenia. I first highlight the
process of the creation of the opera Všeè si mi (Eng.: I like you), produced by the society
Glasbena matica Ljubljana and Cankarjev dom. The opera included over 70 youngsters
who sang, danced, or performed as soloists. In terms of content, the opera, created by
librettist Milan Dekleva and composer Damijan Moènik and directed by Nana Milèinski,
is related to the sensitive and timely topic of migrants in Slovenia and their
(non)acceptance in our society. The youngsters worked on the opera for 9 months,
attended regular, intensive rehearsals, and invested a lot of time and energy in the
performance.
One of the aims of the project was to involve youngsters who are at risk of dropping out of
school. But this turned out to be a great challenge, since the identification of potential
dropouts is usually not carried out in schools and early school leaving in Slovenia is not
such a big problem in quantitative terms (in comparison with many European countries).
This is why we involved youngsters from the BOB Institute – an institution that helps
youngsters reintegrate into the school system or into the labor market through various
(also cultural) activities. Those youngsters then filmed a 20-minute documentary of the
entire opera production process. The second challenge was to build a bridge between
non-formal and formal education. Unfortunately, we were unable to attract
schoolteachers, as they were overwhelmed and tired of project collaborations. However,
in order to evaluate the achievements of youngsters in the extracurricular education
process, we asked youngsters and their parents to take part in the study. Thus, through
interviews and questionnaires, and through reflection on answers to questions, we have
informed youngsters and their parents that by participating in the creation of opera they
have acquired much more than just knowledge and skills in the fields of music, theater,
and dance. It can be seen from the responses of parents and, to an even greater extent, of
youngsters, that most of them do not mention artistic competences at all, but rather
emphasize their growth in social and emotional competences. In this way, we have shown
how adolescents “grow up with opera” and acquire the skills, knowledge, positive
self-esteem, and behavioral patterns that help them in this sensitive period in their life.
144
