Supporting the Development of Circus in Children's Education
The goal of this residency is to begin collaboration between Galway Community Circus (GCC) and University of Galway on embedding Youth and Social Circus in the curriculum of three degree courses across disciplines in order to educate a new generation of teachers on the benefits of circus in children’s education.
Working together, Galway Community Circus and the University of Galway will:
- Collaborate on innovative teaching, new research and novel curriculum creation in early childhood education
- Support the development of circus arts programmes for young children
- Promote the use of circus pedagogy in Irish children’s education
The degree courses we will work within are:
- Early Childhood Education and Professional Practice
- Children Studies
- Drama and Theatre Studies
University of Galway is a leading university in the areas of childhood, youth and family and theatre studies offering degrees in Early Childhood Education and Professional Practice - an innovative accessible offering for adult learners; the only degree in Children Studies in Ireland and a world class degree in Drama and Theatre Studies. These areas are supported through state-of-the-art facilities and cross-unit collaborations at the O’Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance and the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and the School of Education. The engagement is planned in terms of teaching, artistic development and promotion of Youth and Social Circus.
University of Galway has already partnered with GCC on Erasmus+ funded project Circus ++ (2019-2022) to develop a European BA degree in Youth and Social Circus Pedagogy and is conducting the monitoring and evaluation of the Creative Europe funded Wires Crossed: Head, Heart Balance (2022-23) project on funambulism and wellbeing.
Youth and Social Circus is becoming increasingly established in the education of children across Europe. This residency offers GCC, as Ireland’s premiere company in this area, the opportunity to lead in teaching students of the BA in ECEPP, Children Studies and Theatre Studies about the benefits of using circus skills to educate children by contributing classes and workshops across a range of different modules. Many of these students will become future teachers in pre-school, primary and secondary level education, ensuring this residency a lasting legacy.
