The Results (Part 3) - What personal skills are required for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts in Cambodia?

In my last blog I presented the second theme area that was discovered through the interviews and observations I conducted at Epic Arts. This third blog post in the 3-part, “The Results”, series addresses the third theme area that the research at Epic Arts revealed. This third area was the particular ‘personal skills’ that people felt were required for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts.

What PERSONAL SKILLS are seen to be required for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts?

• Include everyone in communication
• Be part of a team
• Have knowledge and share knowledge
• Be adaptable in all areas

Include everyone in communication

The first of these ‘personal skills’ that people felt were required for successful inclusive arts practice was the ability to include everyone in communication. With three different languages in use at Epic Arts; Khmer, Cambodia Sign Language and English, clear communication can be a challenge at times, but one everyone feels is necessary to overcome. It was clear to see that additional challenges were also present as many of the people who are deaf at Epic cannot read or write. But as an inclusive organisation, clear communication is seen as essential and I could see that a lot of time and effort went in to making communication clear and accessible to all.

From my research at Epic Arts, I have been asked to create an ’Inclusion Policy’ or ‘Epic Manifesto’. This is still in its initial stages of development, but is starting to take form as a draft document called ‘We are Epic….We are Inclusive’. I feel that because communication is such a key part of Epic Arts’ successful working practices I have included it as point four in the ‘We are Epic….We are Inclusive’ document and it says;

Below is a flow chart that is an appendix to the ‘We Are Epic… We Are Inclusive’ document and shows how communication happens at the organisation. 

This document was developed with the staff at Epic Arts and you can see on this flow chart that Khmer, English and simple images are used so that those who can’t read or understand a language can make sense of the document.

Inclusive communication was also evident on the walls of the Epic Arts Centre, which contained a number of colorful timetables. Here is an example of a weekly timetable for the Inclusive Arts Course, which combines Khmer, English and images so that everyone can access the timetable.

A new one of these is made every week at Epic Arts so that everyone can understand what is happening, this process and format is also used for the Epic Encounters performance team when they tour. A similar style tour timetable and plan is created to enable the performers to be independent and to access information about what they are scheduled to do.

I also discovered in the interviews that the admin team at Epic are also working on sign videos of all the policies at the organisation and these will be posted on You Tube so that they can be accessed by staff who are deaf, at all times. As many of the staff who are deaf can't read, this use of digital media is a unique solution to the communication of important rights and rules that apply to them as employees.

It also became evident in interviews and observations that inclusive communication comes in other forms that do not involve words and a number of peoplel interviewed expressed the need for an awareness and understanding of body language. One teacher said,

“I can be inclusive in my words, give positive comments and feedback, but I am very aware that a facial expression or the way I stand can look like I don’t mean it, which can have a huge affect on a person.”

Many of the staff at Epic who are deaf, expressed that they are very aware of the body language of others and the way in which someone stands or uses their facial expressions can communicate a message to them, whether this is positive or negative. The students on the Inclusive Arts Course are aware of this and one student said,

“Your body language can be welcoming or unwelcoming, but you can be feeling the opposite. It's important when communicating to be open in our body language and aware of it in order not to exclude people.”

This awareness of body language was also clear in the Special Education Project, where some of the students with learning disabilities in the classes have limited or no verbal ability and are often very sensitive to other peoples body language. When I observed the lessons with these students, I could see that teachers were open in their body language and positive facial expressions were used well to support communication.

Be part of a team

Another personal skill that I identified as a key element in successful inclusive arts practice was the ability to be part of a team. One staff member explained that inclusive arts requires teamwork and a sense of a community working towards the same goal, he said,

“Creating inclusive arts work is a shared experience within a ‘community’ of artists. It is not about a single person’s agenda or mission, or solely about what they can get from it, but about a shared purpose.”

In all the areas of work at Epic, there appeared to be a sense of shared purpose and everyone working for the greater good, the development of others and of themselves. Within the Epic Arts community, its clear to see that everyone is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of each other and when working in a team everyone seemed to have an awareness of the role they could take regardless of their ability. One volunteer said,

“The students are very much a community and they can read each other and often don't need to ask each other if they need help, they know the strengths and weakness of each other.”

One visitor I interviewed also joined me in this observation of ‘commonality’ when they noticed the sense of community at Epic Arts and said,

“I think building communities is a hard thing, but I think building communities with so many different abilities must be harder, but you really feel that sense of community at Epic Arts.”

In one observation I undertook, I watched an art lesson with the Inclusive Arts Course students and they were participating in a textiles project as a group. Independently they chose to create an assembly line and each person had a part within it that reflected their strength so everyone could be involved. No one talked about this in the lesson, it just seemed to evolve.

Another personal skill that everyone at Epic seems to have developed is a very strong sense of humour. One staff member said,

“I think the notion of inclusion at Epic is seen in its most honest form in the humour within in the organisation.”

During my research time at Epic Arts, it was clear to see this was a fun place to be, there was a feeling of play and freedom and everyone appeared to approach things with a sense of humour and that humour involved and included everyone. One volunteer noticed that,

“There is a great sense of fun and a lot of light-hearted banter and even this is equal, there may be jokes about someone wearing glasses, or the colour of their hair or their disability; everyone can be joked about in a fun way, everyone is included – everyone is fair game!”

Here is one example of the jokes and banter that happen between people at Epic Arts. This is a Facebook post from a staff member called Buntheng. He posted a video of his little boy walking for the first time saying…

“I’m 11 months old and I can walk now!”

Within minutes Sokun, one of the performers with Epic Encounters, who is a wheelchair user, posted a comment ….

“I’m 30 years old now and I still can’t walk, any ideas?”

This was quickly followed by another staff member saying….

“Oh Sokun, don’t be jealous of him!”

Have knowledge and share knowledge

Another personal skill that I identified as necessary for successful inclusive arts practice at Epic Arts was to have knowledge, be prepared and share knowledge. The aim to have professional knowledge, to be well prepared and to have knowledge of other people was revealed in all areas of the Epic Arts programmes. A number of people I interviewed talked about the importance of knowledge and understanding to prevent people being fearful of others. One of the inclusive arts students said that,

“If people do not have an understanding or knowledge about different people they can be fearful and this can stop inclusive arts from happening, because there is judgment and uncertainty.”

I think this very simply explains the importance of the awareness of others and the acceptance of differences. In workshops I observed, I saw people being wary of the workshop leaders with disabilities at first, but as they spent time with them they became more comfortable and there was a realization that there was nothing to be fearful of. 

As part of the Inclusive Arts Course at Epic, students learn to lead workshops and as part of this they are taught the importance of being knowledgeable about being inclusive, being well prepared and well planned. The students seem to have taken this on board as one student I interviewed said,

“I have to have knowledge about working with different people in an inclusive way. I must plan and be prepared so I can give a high quality experience to the people in the workshop.”

At Epic Arts it was apparent that there was an importance placed on those leading inclusive workshops being knowledgeable in how to work creatively with different abilities and to have solid training in this. I could see that the workshop leaders were strong artists and able to teach, but they also had a specialist knowledge of how to work inclusively. The dance teacher at Epic also said,

“Its vital I am well prepared and aware of the needs of each student and how they can work on the project within the group, not just as individuals.”

Being well planned and aware of the needs of all individuals in the group is an essential criterion for successful inclusive arts practice as it’s very hard to ‘make it up’ in an inclusive setting and hope it works, as there are so many things to consider. The workshop leaders and those students learning to become workshop leaders seemed to understand this and the idea of being well planned and knowledgeable was ingrained in the teaching process at all stages of planning and delivery.

Be adaptable in all areas

The final ‘personal skill’ that people at Epic Arts felt was key to successful inclusive arts practice was to be adaptable in all areas and this skill seemed to permeate every interview I did and every observation I undertook. Every single person talked about how important adaptability was in all areas of the work at Epic Arts during their interview. Its almost as if being adaptable is the very foundation of the inclusive arts work the organisation does. One student gave an example of how this idea of being adaptable works for him when dancing with others. He said,

“To dance or move together with someone who uses a wheelchair, I do not have to get in a wheelchair myself to do that persons movements, just like they do not need to stand like me, but together we can work out a new way to make a movement by adapting together.”

This highlighted to me that 'adapting together' is the very fabric of creating at Epic, not an 'after thought' in creative workshops. There is an understanding and acceptance that everyone needs to make some adaptations to work together, but that this modifying creates a new way of achieving something and it is an integral part of the creative process, not simply something to ‘overcome’. One staff member talked about adaptability at Epic in general, not just the in 'creative' elements and said,

“I think that people who are successful at working inclusively at Epic Arts are adaptable and understand that things are changeable and organic and that the experience is a journey of discovery for everyone. Its part of what makes up what we call ‘Epic DNA’.”

Things are always changing and moving around at Epic Arts. With so many different needs; requirements, plans, activities and even thoughts and ideas have to be moveable and cant be fixed or ridge as being flexible creates the space for people to explore how to adapt. Within this concept of flexibility one teacher did highlight an important element to remember in terms of being adaptable. She said,

“We cannot be selfish and want something to be the way we want it, but in the same way, we shouldn't move too close to what another person wants either. There needs to be a middle ground, there needs to be respect of each other AND of ourselves - This the true nature of inclusion in the arts!”

In being adaptable, its important to not adapt towards one person’s needs so much that it affects who you are and what you can do. I think as this teacher says above, the idea of ‘meeting in the middle’ with a respect of others and of ourselves is the 'hallmark' of inclusive arts practice. Just like a Chameleon adapts naturally to its surroundings, we must also learn to adapt to each other as a natural process to enable successful inclusive arts practice to happen.

In my next blog I will begin to look at how my primary and secondary research links together and how I can begin to structure my findings to make the basis of a booklet for use within Epic Arts.