Teaching Social Skills Through Sketch Comedy and Improv Games

A Social Theatre™ Approach for Kids and Teens including those with ASD, ADHD, and Anxiety

Shawn Amador

• Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Publishers
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781785928000
• eBook ISBN: 9781784508203
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Inclusive Education

Introducing a Social Theatre™, this book provides guidance on how to deliver fun and transformative activities to develop social skills in teenagers and children.

Drawing on ideas from Social Thinking®, CBT, mindfulness and assertiveness training this book develops games, skits and short plays which can be adapted to suit children and teenagers including those who are gifted, typical, and those with mild to moderate cognitive abilities. These activities will help participants become more assertive and flexible as well as improving confidence, focus and self-esteem.

Social Theatre™ can be used in small groups, in class or throughout the school, as well as in group therapy sessions. It provides a new and inclusive way to teach social skills and collaborative learning and is especially useful for those with anxiety, ADHD and ASD.

Chapter One

HISTORY OF SOCIAL THEATRE™

Growing up, I attended a music, arts, and drama camp every summer, where I learned about clowning. From this experience, I recognized the value in having an accepting environment where kids of any age could use their imagination and play together. Furthermore, I also know that when our clients and students think of social learning, they do not equate the idea with fun. However, when using Social Theatre™ groups, participants do not feel as if they are learning. In fact, performing about social mistakes and having opportunities to correct the social situations for a better, more effective choice, actually appears more like sketch comedy!

The origins of Social Theatre™ began in 2000 as an afterschool clown troupe program which morphed into a Comedy Improv Troupe in a regular education school on the southwest side of Chicago. Then, the program transitioned into a sketch comedy improv troupe called “Social Theatre.” Moreover, I have also begun a “Social Theatre™” group therapy program in a clinic where the focus is working with children with anxiety and social deficits while utilizing the program on a deeper level.

Throughout the development of my program, I have maintained knowledge of trending research in the field of social skills development through theatre programs. In consideration of the need for research-based programs, I strived to ensure our methodology followed those shown to be most effective by current research. In light of the fact I had my own evolving program, I wanted to learn more about the roots of my program and participant viewpoints. Therefore, in 2009, having parental and school permission to conduct an ethnographic study, I was able to study my original clown program to analyze more of its components, as well as what it meant to the participants. Participants described the clown program as having components of “stress relief,” “humor,” “teamwork,” and “role modeling.” Moreover, in the ethnographic study, participants described the program as enabling them to “teach what we learn.” Although our clown program has morphed into sketch comedy, it has the same mission and purpose, namely, to actively learn social skills and then teach the skills to others.

In analyzing written ideas, notes, and plays, I looked at five years of all of the paper notes the afterschool troupe had brainstormed and written. Through the script analysis component of the ethnographic study, I discovered that we had a script development process. Then, I grouped different stages of writings, which formed the foundations of our collaborative writing process. These foundations we found were made up of brainstorming single-word ideas, phrases with one or two details, more developed ideas with collaboration, and final scripts. Over the years, we have developed our collaborative writing process by utilizing the foundational information from the ethnographic study, along with what has worked in our group experience. The steps include: (1) brainstorming rules; (2) brainstorming; (3) preparation for evaluating; (4) grouping ideas from brainstorms; (5) validating each other’s ideas while evaluating, and re-writing; and (6) role assignment.

As we have solidified our script development process, we have been able to establish specific activities that fall under teamwork and collaboration, as well as stress relief. Moreover, we also utilize specific social emotional concepts as part of teaching social emotional skills in our plays.

SOCIAL THEATRE™ IN CLASSROOMS, AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, AND THERAPEUTIC ENVIRONMENTS

Presently, I utilize strategies from Social Theatre™ throughout the school day within the school as well as conducting small therapy groups using Social Theatre™. During the school day, I have co-led small classroom groups during a language arts class to teach collaborative skills through group writing. Moreover, we have held school-wide playwriting contests, which feeds back into the collaborative process described in Chapter Three. In addition participants from the afterschool program often help teach concepts in classes through performing skits or improv activities. When working with individual clients, I have also used the script-writing process and they are invited to share their script by bringing it to our afterschool program.

Due to decreasing levels of face-to-face interaction in everyday life, interactive social skills programs are increasingly needed. These programs are essential in boosting confidence while providing opportunities to enhance interpersonal communications. Research shows that theatre and improvisation can help bridge this gap. Specifically, studies show that collaboration, improvisation, and theatre are effective in increasing social skills, imagination, coping skills, and academic skills.

RESEARCH-BASED PRACTICE

Two studies by Corbett et al. (2014a, b) measured outcomes in a camp model lasting 10 days of 3½ hours and a 2½-month theatre program of approximately 40 hours. SENSE Theatre stands for “Social Emotional NeuroScience Endocrinology Theatre” and was developed by Blythe Corbett, a professor and researcher at Vanderbilt University. In the SENSE Theatre program, youth aged 7–18 who were on the autism spectrum were paired with trained peer models during theatre classes. The outcomes included significantly decreased anxiety, increased theory of mind skills, and increased interaction during unstructured time with peers. More specifically, participant stress levels were measured through a saliva cortisol sample, which showed significant decrease of stress over the two weeks of theatre camp (Corbett et al. 2014a). Corbett et al.’s studies (2011, 2014b) further supported theatre interventions to increase social, adaptive, and perspective taking skills. Guli et al. (2013) measured qualitative and quantitative results of an improvisational theatre intervention experimental group compared to a traditional group of participants with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The research studied the “Social Competence Intervention Program” alongside a control group for 8–12 weeks, which included a total of 24 hours of training. The Social Competence Intervention Program included improvisation games with the goal of teaching social skills such as inferencing, feelings recognition, perception, social attention, and group cohesion, among others. Through qualitative measures of client and parent report, 75 percent of parents reported improvement and 82 percent of clients reported improvement. A computerized, visual test (Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy, or DANVA2) indicated that the experimental group showed an increase in the area of understanding social cues compared to the control group. Participants were observed within their school environment to examine possible generalization of skills; the statistical results showed an improvement for the experimental group in the areas of understanding social cues, a decrease in solitary play, and an increase in peer interaction.

In a study by DeMichele (2015), a dramatic increase in writing was shown when improvisational theatre was incorporated into language arts classes. The control group consisting of a traditional language arts class showed a 78 percent increase in student writing, while the experimental group with improvisational theatre interventions in a language arts class showed a 209 percent increase in student writing. For students with cognitive disabilities and learning differences, the increase was even more dramatic. The students with cognitive disabilities and learning differences showed a 49 percent increase in their writings in the traditional language arts class versus those with cognitive disabilities and learning differences in the improvisational theatre-based language arts class, who increased their writings by 309 percent. DeMichele stresses the importance of building trust by creating a non-judgmental, accepting environment, and building ideas through improvisational theatre work in the classroom, which allows increased idea flow.

Agnihotri and colleagues’ (2012) case study of a theatre and arts program, which worked with participants with brain disorders, reported increased time with peers, increased social perspective skills, and decreased stress levels among participants. In my own work, I have found that a program utilizing arts-based modalities such as writing, sketch comedy, and improvisational theatre, allows participants to find stress relief through humor and the ability to laugh together about social awkwardness, yet at the same time learning how to be social.

Related results taken from a study by Seih et al. (2011) found that writing in the first person was shown to increase perspective taking. When acting a certain part, I have also found that participants increase their ability to see another perspective. In fact, when someone is having difficulty seeing a certain type of perspective, I challenge that participant to try out a similar role.

Those with social deficits often have difficulty with interrupting or with others interrupting them, and it is often difficult for them to understand when interrupting is and is not appropriate. Vass et al. (2008) concluded in a study that collaborative writing has its own process and expectations. During the brainstorming process, interrupting and overlapping is typical as participants become excited about others’ ideas. They might complete each other’s sentences, talk in short phrases, or even interrupt as they build off each other’s ideas. In collaborative writing, the process of brainstorming is essential.

I’ve also found that, when brainstorming, participants will blurt out ideas that pertain to personal aspects of their lives. Oftentimes, these details had not been brought up in therapy or discussions with parents or teachers. Bereiter and Scardamalia (1987) conducted a study in which they found that brainstorming is very similar to free association.

Various coping skills were assessed for effectiveness within a diverse, urban youth population in a study by Vera et al. (2012). Out of all of the types of coping skills, Vera et al. found that humor was the greatest buffer between stress and negative affect.

A common difficulty for participants who do group work is letting go of their original ideas or allowing changes to be made to their script. I find this is hard for students who participate in classroom group work, as well as for children participating in pretend play. In theatre and in collaborative writing, the process of brainstorming, writing, and making revisions can be taught. Centerstage’s Teaching Playwriting in Schools: Teacher’s Handbook (n.d.) discusses that participants might initially have difficulty when asked to revise parts, but are much more accepting of the revision process when they see the finished product. Also important is that humor is a way to help relieve stress. Many studies discuss the benefits of humor to health (Berk, L.S. et al. 1989; Kamei, T. and Hiroaki, K. 1997) and psychological well-being (Kuiper, N.A. et al. 1983; Vera et al. 2012). One can only imagine how creating positive humor together can foster more happiness, more positivity, less stress, and greater relationships. Patch Adams, the infamous doctor clown, utilizes humor as a basis for caregiving in his own practice as well as at the Gesundheit Hospital and Clinic. In his book Gesundheit (1998), Patch discusses the positive brain chemistry and body effects that contribute to physical and emotional well-being. In his book House Calls (1998), Patch discusses the importance of the imagination and creativity in living a full and happy life.

To summarize, decreased stress levels (Agnihotri et al. 2012; Corbett et al. 2014a, b), increased idea flow (DeMichele 2015), and perspective taking (Agnihotri et al. 2012; Corbett et al. 2014a, b) are all benefits of participation in improvisational theatre. In collaborative writing, participants learn how to share and accept ideas as well as how to work in a group. In Social Theatre™, participants learn how to collaborate as they utilize improvisation and brainstorming in the process of playwriting. Participants work with each other to develop an end product all members can feel good about. After practicing the social skills that they write about, participants go into the community to teach others about social skills through their skits. This allows the participants to feel a greater sense of pride, as they are able to teach what they have learned and created.

This book describes the process of Social Theatre™ and its components, which include a collaborative writing process, improvisational activities, and skits. Since 2000, when I first started running the Sahs Comedy Improv Troupe and more recent theatre modality in my private practice, I have developed this program alongside my students and clients. Although we have always written scripts about social issues and social skills, recently we have been including Social Thinking® vocabulary and concepts. In defining the script-writing process, I’ve found it mirrors the values in cooperative and collaborative learning theory. Also incorporated within Social Theatre™ skits and activities are ideas from many social emotional paradigms or programs, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Social Thinking®, theory of mind, mindfulness, and assertive-ness training.

CBT, as a cognitive theory of psychology, is ingrained in some of the skits as well as in the script-writing. As CBT focuses on irrational thoughts, cognitive distortions, and defense mechanisms, the brainstorming process can help bring out repressed thoughts as it can be thought of as a group “free association” (Bereiter and Scardamalia 1987). Moreover, the process of allowing and accepting others’ ideas, sharing one’s own ideas, and the eventual selection of ideas challenges black and white thinking. The realization that not all ideas will fit challenges participants who think they have the best ideas, as Burns (1989) defines in the cognitive distortion of “being right.” Other important aspects of cognitive theory utilized in Social Theatre™’s script development process, the improv games, and activities are “cognitive flexibility,” as originally described by William Scott (1962), and the idea of “centration,” which was derived by Jean Piaget (1972). Scott explains “cognitive flexibility” as how much someone can change their perception when more information is presented to them. “Centration,” as explained by Piaget (1972), is a developmental stage when one is not able to see past one focused aspect of a situation. In order to establish more thought flexibility, one must be able to move into being able to see multiple aspects and possibilities in a situation. In Social Theatre™, the collaborative writing process presents opportunities to develop many possibilities in scripts, character perspectives, and the magic trick perspectives of audience and magician. Moreover, the main rule of improvisational theatre games is that all ideas are accepted, which is practice for collaborative idea building and mind flexibility. Participants are also rewarded with acceptance of their own ideas by others, as well as being able to see their final product during a performance. As stated in Centerstage’s (n.d.) Teaching Playwriting in Schools, participants tend to have difficulty with the editing and revision process, but once participants can see their final product, they appreciate the collaborative efforts that helped get them there.

As the group creates their skits collaboratively, each participant’s voice is important. In each process the group members make choices together, and are guided in their thoughts by the group leader. Once the group has established a problem, the group leader can incorporate a specific lesson on the social skill to defeat the defined problem. Together, the group evaluates and utilizes critical thinking skills to choose an ending that can resolve the problem with the use of a social skill. The importance of establishing collaborative learning opportunities is reflected in Gokhale’s (1995) research comparing the importance of individual learning and collaborative learning for drill and practice and critical thinking. In detail, Gokhale (1995) found that collaborative learning produced a statistically greater outcome in critical thinking than individual learning...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Breakdown Chart by Social Thinking® Profile Level and Target Skills
• Preface
• 1. History of Social Theatre™
• 2. The Creation of Groups
• 3. The Collaborative Script-writing Process
• 4. Activities/Skits to Teach Joint Attention and Focus
• 5. Practicing Recognition of Social Cues
• 6. Practicing Self-Regulation Skills
• 7. Practicing Perspective Taking
• 8. Performing When Anxious and Shy…and Clowning!!!!
• 9. Being Confident to Defeat Bullying
• 10. Social Theatre™: How Can I Use It?
• Appendices
• References
• Index
• Join our mailing list
• Acknowledgements
• Copyright
• Of Related Interest