Special Educational Needs
'I started out teaching children and young people with learning disabilities and autism, focusing on art, drama, dance and art. In the late 1980’s one of the schools I taught in was sending students with severe learning disabilities to City Lit for dance sessions with Wolfgang Stange and I was at once surprised and moved by how well the students responded. I remember one young man in particular, never engaging in any of the activities at school but who worked creatively in the dance sessions, making wonderful shapes with his fellow students. This was so inspiring that as soon as I had the opportunity I started to attend Wolfgang’s training sessions and classes for teachers so I could learn to use his methods in my own work. I started teaching adults in 2000, coming to the Macbeth Centre to work with Wolfgang. I later trained as a yoga teacher and now also teach a yoga class at Macbeth.
The best bit about my job has to be the students - they bring so much of themselves to the classes and they are always completely open and honest. They constantly surprise us with their ideas and the way that they respond creatively to each other, and to whatever props or music we use.
In Dance Dynamics the teaching style is relaxed, informal, always responding to the needs of the students. There is an underlying structure so the students know what to expect but at the same time the classes are predominantly creative and spontaneous. In yoga there is a little more direct teaching, but still with plenty of space for students to bring their own ideas.
I continue to be inspired by Wolfgang, who has been working in this field for more than 40 years with the same enthusiasm and commitment, and of course by the students themselves - each of them are quite remarkable individuals.
I currently teach three Dance Dynamics classes with Wolfgang and Colm. There are three of us on the team as the classes are so large and many of the students need a great deal of support. We have 25 students in each of the first two classes. The third class is much smaller, with only 8 students, but several of these need a high degree of support.
The yoga class has 15 students, with a wide range of needs'.
