R3 (Reading Reflections/Research)

Firstly: Beginnings of My Research Question
For what reason was arts education for underprivileged children designed?
Who began the idea and how is it run/funded?
Is it giving effective results?
So the question is: How are underprivileged youth in the vibrantly artistic city of Berlin being given their opportunity to become educated in the arts?

Secondly: A few notes on our compositions, for future reference
One - remember to not be afraid to give meaning to many aspects of the skit, because the audience can understand it if it is properly explained
Two - try going to extremes and have somewhere to back up from
Three - more on topic seems to be better practice for the future
Four - plan ahead for music/props/Phil :)
Five - remember that it is the moments of conflict and tension that the audience wants to see, not the happy everyday lives
Six - project!

Thirdly: Interesting reading follow-ups to human research
One of the most helpful readings that was given this week was Kevin Lynch and Malcom Rivkin's A Walk Around the Block. I have been becoming slightly concerned about my abilities to conduct a satisfying research project upon human subjects within the four weeks in Berlin because I was unsure of how such generalizations of humanity in Berlin could be made. After reading A Walk Around the Block, however, I've realized that the point will not be to see every aspect of the bigger picture, but rather to discover several people's points of view and apply their knowledge to those larger aspects. For example, the walk around the block took place in a very short time period using very simplistic measures, such as a tape recorder and a follow up meeting with a list of questions. All of the effort after that part was in finding patterns, an often innate human trait, in the data and observations. The end of the study resulted in the individual's responses applying towards generalizations about people who are new or familiar to the town, or even young or old. Enough data was taken so that there was a wide range of people, but obviously a truly representative population could not be surveyed for practical purposes. But that was O.K. Trends were still to be seen in the data, because the experimenters had set up a rout (or experiment, if you like) that would reveal certain trends for sure, and others potentially. By the time we arrive in Berlin we will each have a similar plan, which will be executable in a reasonable time frame, yielding reasonable results. Yes we will have limitations, both as students and as first-timers, but an effective study can be performed anyway, as shown by Lynch and Rivkin's paper.

Signs of Progress...

Since last week's blog I have discovered that there is a very specific group in Berlin that has to do with education of underprivileged youth in the arts. (This group's name is Fusion Street. A special thank you to Lauren and her computer for finding for me what I spent hours of searching for, with no luck!) I hope to make contact with the director of this program for interview purposes, as well as to see if I can do a case study on one or possibly two students from the program. (If there are no summer programs in session to observe, the experiences of each individual child may be discovered through interviews with the teachers.)
In addition, I would like to see if Manuela has any important contacts that she could help me with on this topic, or even on the topic of the general education system in Berlin: How is it different from America (in the sense of when the career decision is made, to put children on specific tracks), How it affects the choices of children without money for further schooling (is this applicable?).
Finally, I would like to gather information from similar arts programs here in the US (probably most specifically in Arizona, where I will be spending most of my summer, or in Seattle if I can find things out over email). This will serve as an basis for comparison so that I have documented what my biases will be when viewing programs and education systems in Berlin.

Preliminary Research

Arts for underprivileged kids in Berlin
The topic that seems to be most interesting, and accessible, is the effort to integrate the performing arts into youth culture, especially that of the underprivileged youth. In Seattle, and most cities in the U.S., education funding is being drawn away from the arts in schools. Many schools have had their arts programs cut back, and some have even disappeared altogether. Arts education seems to be going extinct, except for those privileged few who can afford the time and money to pursue the arts outside of school. This is rare, as it must usually be motivated by the parents, and sports activities often take precedence over dance or voice lessons.
There are some programs, such as D.A.S.H. and Artworks that are attempting to reach out to the underprivileged youth of the Seattle area and inspire them to improve their own lives, as well as the lives of others, by participating in the arts.
In Berlin there is a movement to do this as well. The Schleisische 27 program, for example, does this same outreach program for youth to become involved in the arts. I would like to do research on the process and effectiveness of such an endeavor, specifically in Berlin. What showed this individual that the need to educate youth in the arts was so great? Is funding for arts education being cut in Berlin, as it is in America? Is there a movement for arts education in schools at all, in this art-center or Europe? Are there programs in various performing arts companies to allow children to come and see performances with school, or for discounted prices? Workshops? Internships? Volunteer opportunities? How are the youth becoming involved in the arts?

Arts for underprivileged kids in Seattle
Graphic Arts
Cheap performances for youth attendance
Seattle Center
Youth Performance Groups
Not only underprivileged
D.A.S.H
Tacoma
Artworks
Seattle
Bush Education Funding Cuts
American Policy
Arts for underprivileged kids in Berlin

Head-on in the Russian Disco

The movie, though enjoyable, did not seem to relater overtly to the class topics of immigration. It was not so much a story of Turks in Germany as of two people and their own lives, though they happened to be Turks living in Germany for a time. I was also a little confused by the musicians on the beach...who were they and how were they integrated into the story? (Other than as acultural/musical backdrop.)

A few relevant themes in the movie:
- Life choices (such as who to marry) made in order to keep family happy
-Defending honor
- Freedom desired from familial and cultural restrictions
- Sex/drugs keeping some people together and tearing others apart

Themes from the packet:
- Integration into Berlin
- People acting as though they are different nationalities (foreigners united) for the sake of simplicity
- Cheap housing makes immigration desirable

(05/28) I would like to add a note to this blog, regarding the film:
I recently went to the Francophone Film series in the HUB, and watched a French film entitled Le Petit Jerusalem (translated little Jerusalem). It was a story of love, of attempted suicide, of separation by familial background, and of finding one's place within cultural identity, which happened to be Jewish and of African decent. The film had so many parallels to Head On's story line that I felt obligated to mention it, especially in light of the discussion that we had in class after the film. This movie, though about completely different people with completely different ethnic and religious backgrounds, had so many similar themes and the same ways of showing them, that I have begun to think that the depiction of Turkish immigrants in Germany was not so much an extreme depiction of them, as it was the set depiction of tension caused by inserting any foreign entity into another culture, for example Jews into France. The details of each story, however were specific for their own time and history. I think that any meaning that we take from these types of films must have this taken into account. They are dramatizations of stories which may hold grains of truths or stereotypes.

Schlesische 27

Schleisische 27 Translated Website