Course: Drama Techniques: Developing Self-Expression, Communication and Social Skills for All Students

Rodos, Greece, 27.07–01.08.2026

When I landed on Rodos at the end of July – an island bathed in sunshine, captivating with its endless shades of blue and full of cats everywhere – I knew that the training course I had chosen would be unlike any I had attended before. Taking part in a course devoted to drama techniques became not only an opportunity to gain knowledge, but above all a profound and deeply personal journey that reminded me of the vital role emotions, authenticity and simple human sensitivity play in education. Working in a colourful, 24-member group of teachers from ten European countries – from Lithuania and Hungary to Italy, Macedonia and Cyprus – immediately made me realise that although borders and education systems may divide us, as human beings we face exactly the same challenges, concerns and hopes.

During the intensive workshops led by our remarkable trainer, Cynthia, we quickly abandoned textbook formulas in favour of genuine experience. The most important lesson I took away from those days concerned the role of the teacher. A teacher should not be an actor who puts on a mask and plays the role of someone perfect and infallible in front of young people. Students immediately sense artificiality, and every false tone of voice (fake voice) works against us. A teacher should be a performer who knows how to manage the energy of a group, but above all – should be genuinely human and authentic. Real trust and a safe relationship with a student emerge where there is room for honesty and even for showing one’s own vulnerability. I realised that, as teachers, we remain on stage and have our audience, but we do not act; on the contrary – we build relationships with students by remaining authentic and staying true to ourselves.

During the workshops, theory immediately blended with practice, pushing us beyond our comfort zones. Among other things, we practised finding the body’s “neutral position” and carefully observing micro-changes in another person’s breathing or gaze for three minutes, which taught us to pay close attention to signals conveyed without words. This made me see body language and the power of silence at school from a completely different perspective. Cynthia made us realise that strong people do not gesture excessively – excessive movement serves us more when we are desperately trying to explain something. This leads to an invaluable lesson for working with young people: when speaking to a teenager, calm your gestures, lower your tone of voice and allow an unexpected pause to speak, and your words will become twice as effective.

The physical techniques based on trust and touch proved particularly valuable to me, including exercises such as “mirror-human” and guiding a partner in different directions through a gentle touch. We also learned how to care for our voices through abdominal breathing and working with the diaphragm, which helps protect teachers from losing their voices. We rounded off all these demanding tasks with a powerful dose of humour – as in the “dishbone” exercise, where synchronising our breathing together on the floor ended in cleansing, infectious laughter. That laughter and the reduction of stress proved to be the best catalyst for learning. When words failed us, it was movement, playing together and a sincere smile that allowed us – an international group – to work in perfect harmony and build acceptance beyond language barriers.

I now want to bring all these moving experiences into my school – Kolegium Europejskie, gradually transforming our everyday school life. In my teaching, I intend to introduce Stanisławski’s system of six questions for analysing literary and historical figures. We practised this method using the example of a fairy-tale queen, examining her identity, goals and motivations in detail without using judgemental adjectives. The Stanisławski method shows students that it is decisions and choices that make someone good or bad, while the absence of certain answers leaves invaluable room for imagination. I want my students to stop seeing characters in books as flat figures on paper and start recognising them as living people. I also want to teach young people flexibility and how to say the same sentence in many different ways, enabling them to consciously notice the difference in the message being conveyed and how it is received.

All the inspiration from the course began to grow within me amid the extraordinary and, at times, dark history of Rodos, surrounded by the ruins of castles, monasteries and ancient cities, and while hiking through picturesque bays and hills that served as a reminder that the world should be absorbed with all our senses.

I would like this spark from Rodos to spread throughout our school community, which is why I have planned activities that can help share these practices. I will organise a workshop for interested teachers from Rada Pedagogiczna, during which I will share breathing techniques and present the games and exercises I learned – so that, as a team, we can take care of our own well-being. I am returning to work with a deep conviction that Cynthia has rekindled within me: to light a fire in others, you must first burn brightly yourself.

I would like to thank the management board of Centrum Edukacji Międzynarodowej and the leadership of Kolegium Europejskie for giving me the opportunity to participate in the course, and Małgorzata Kulesza for her support every step of the way.

Agnieszka Hliwa