BGU Community aiming to increase their creativity and confidence with improv event

Built around the concept of “Yes, And…” (the philosophy of embracing and expressing ideas despite uncertainty and when the fear of failure looms large) the session necessitates creativity and spontaneity, encouraging intuition and confidence along with promoting listening and communication.

Improvisation based training is an impactful and efficient way to develop these crucial skills beyond the stage setting. The innovative workshop, led by two Hoopla teachers, will provide a safe and non-judgement collaborative space designed to foster an exhilarating opportunity to develop an effective skills tool kit, crucial in professional, educational and personal settings.

Benefits to students:

Improv skills will help you to confidently produce, devise and apply ideas in seminar work, essays and exams. You will develop your understanding of effective team-working and collaboration, and be more confident in expressing your ideas to your peers and in presentation scenarios.

You can cultivate your ability to work on the initiative, and be more creative and forward-thinking, which are both essential to problem-solving. Beyond university, improv skills will advantageous when applying and being interviewed for jobs, and have invaluable applications in your personal life, such as negotiating difficult social situations and building resilience.

Benefits to staff:

Staff will be able to foster creativity within the lecture or seminar setting, facilitate students as co-creators of the curriculum. Improv techniques can inspire ideas for seminar activities and lecture material, as well as how to communicate with students effectively. Individual learner needs are met more effectively, by giving a voice to all students within a nurtured setting.

Furthermore, it is often thought that teaching is a type of performance, and therefore staff will also have the opportunity to innovate and be flexible in how they communicate ideas and be able to engender a creative learning environment based on mutual respect and understanding. The workshop will be valuable for any staff pursuing either Associate Fellow or Fellow of the HEA.

The improv event is being organised by Dr Alyson Blanchard, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at BGU, and funded by the Centre for Enhancement in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at BGU.

The CELT team are dedicated to developing teaching and learning across BGU, you can find out more information on the Hoopla event by emailing celt@bishopg.ac.uk.