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Chatsworth High School

This school used shadow puppetry with a group of pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and saw many positive effects on children — from better use of language to stretching their powers of imagination.

As an experienced arts teacher who has taken part in several education research projects, Margaret Meredith is no stranger to innovation in the classroom — and neither are her students at Chatsworth High School in Salford, Manchester — a special school for young people with severe learning difficulties.

However, even by her standards, introducing shadow puppetry to a group of pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was one of her more experimental ideas.

Me and my shadow
The project — entitled 'Me and My Shadow' — involved two groups who have a wide range of severe learning difficulties and differing degrees of ASD: a younger group of seven pupils (with a teacher and three support staff) and a group of four older pupils (with a teacher and three assistants). The children created shadow puppets from their own images: cut-outs of enlarged photos placed on sticks, so they could tell stories about themselves in a safe and engaging way.

It was developed with Creative Partnerships (CP) Manchester/Salford, the local arm of a Government-funded organisation that helps schools establish links with artists and musicians.

CP introduced the school to an artistic partner — puppetry practitioners Dynamic New Animation — and funded six half-day sessions for each group over two weeks. The costs of Margaret's role as an 'action researcher' on the project, with time set aside for planning, monitoring and evaluating, were also covered by CP.

The success of the project in helping the ASD pupils to explore the world outside and relate to others in a meaningful way fully repaid Margaret's "great faith in arts and creativity".

Easily replicated
"The idea was to relate the shadows to the person. We constructed screens using bamboo poles with a sheet attached, and used an overhead projector as a light source. It is something any school Art department could put together easily and inexpensively.

"The children would call to each other through the screen — they would only see the shadow figure not the real person. The person doing the shaping and shadowing can see their own shadow as well. Behind the screen that child is being supported by teachers, as well as the group in front of the screen and the shadow worker so there is interaction on all sides.

"A lot of the stories were based on real life. It might be different in mainstream school where children would be going straight off into imaginary tales of Gods and monsters, but with our children it's exciting for them to see themselves doing what they ordinarily do and to be able to literally reflect on it."

Self-awareness
A video artist working alongside the puppeteer introduced another element of self-awareness: the children filmed their own classroom and themselves making shadow puppets so they could review their participation in the tasks.

Margaret says: "If you and I do something, we are conscious we are doing it, but we don't have to think about it. These young people do things and don't ever consider they are the ones doing them. Some of them are really cut off from themselves and this was a good way for them to see themselves interacting with others. It was brilliant to see how engaging the process was for the young people involved — normally you can really struggle to get them to observe what they are doing."

Positive effects
While the impact on attainment would be difficult to quantify, staff observed many positive effects on the children involved. In practical activities some of the language that had been used had not been used before, the use of language in general and that of non-verbal communication increased and some pupils were more able to make stories with puppets, so their powers of imagination were being stretched.

Margaret says: "One of the girls repeatedly used the artist's name, which is amazing because she is normally quite withdrawn and I'd never before heard her speak a word in her time at school. The same girl was also getting up voluntarily and going for the camera to watch the LCD screen. It was noticeable how much more observant she was. She was showing a real engagement not just with images, but with the tool that made the images, which seemed to indicate a developing awareness of cause and effect in filming."

Staff were also impressed by the outcome of the project. "We were very surprised about how much you could do with the media — techniques we learnt could be used in any area of the curriculum and possibly with any group — except perhaps those with serious visual impairments," says Margaret.

Both partners benefit from such an arrangement. "We bring the expertise in understanding and dealing with our young people and the artists bring the expertise in their media. We go away with a bit more creative expertise and confidence and we hope they go away with more experience and empathy in working with young people who have special or different needs.The pupils of course get the best experience possible."

Top tips:

• Find an artist who is open to learning and willing to adapt ideas to children's needs (sometimes actually during a session).
• Allow plenty of opportunities to plan the project with the artists before it starts.
• An induction meeting is essential to ensure everyone is aware of their role in the project and the needs of the children.
• Ongoing evaluation is very helpful.
• Young people with ASD can find changes to routine very unsettling. Staff need to keep the pupils informed and prepared in advance using the most appropriate methods of communication (verbal, signing symbols or picture systems). This helps them to cope with the excitement and challenge better.