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Activity 6 - Entering an institution

Aim

To explore what it was like to go into an institution.

Curriculum area(s)

  • Year 5 and above
    • Drama
    • English

Suitable for adults with learning disabilities?

Yes

Learning outcome(s)

Students understand the experience of entering an institution as a child

Time required

20 minutes

Resources

Activity

  1. Read, watch or listen to the stories of children going into a large institution.
  2. In threes, choose Mabel, James or Ruth’s sister and create a short play about this experience. The characters are:
  • one child
  • one relative
  • one nurse.

Ideas for follow up

Write a letter to your family a week after they left you, telling them about your life.

Extension - Drama - Entering into an institution 2

Aim

To be immersed in the experience of arriving into the hospital.

Curriculum area(s)

  • Year 7+
    • Drama
    • Art
    • English

Learning outcome(s)

Students create a movement piece that charts entering into an institution for the first time.

Time required

20 minutes

Resources

  • Activity 6/Resource 3 - audio track: [[[media-0]]]

Activity

  1. Students listen to the track with eyes closed. They imagine themselves as a new arrival at a hospital. 
  2. Discuss what images students saw, what feelings they encountered. Is there a narrative or story told in the audio? 
  3. In groups of four or five, create a movement sequence to accompany the audio track. 
  4. Perform and share.

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Contact us

About the Group

If you woud like to get in touch with the Social History of Learning Disability (SHLD) Research Group, please contact:

Liz Tilley 
Chair of the Social History of Learning Disability (SHLD) Research Group
School of Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies
The Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes
MK7 6AA

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