Helping to create freedom and promote equity
Companhia de Música Teatral (CMT) has been active for 25 years and shows impressive vitality in pursuing its goals of developing aesthetic experiences for children by combining art with the environment, music with body expression, playful practice with dramatic expression and aligning learning with social development.
The title headlining this text is justified by the fact that CMT’s activities focus on helping to create freedom, firstly for the children who participate and are involved in its projects, promoting their creativity (as the renowned psychologist and sociologist Jacomina Kistemaker says: “Creativity is the vehicle of freedom”) and providing them with the ability to innovate and make choices; but also for the communities with which they work, by providing them with young citizens who are more aware and prepared to guarantee an open, tolerant, responsible and supportive environment that is incompatible with practices that restrict freedom.
It is no coincidence that their portfolio of activities includes, with complete legitimacy, a show titled “A liberdade a passar por aqui” (Freedom passing this way), a strong sentence from Sérgio Godinho’s song “Maré Alta” (High Tide), written and composed in 1971 and included on the album “Os Sobreviventes” (The Survivors), edited in 1972. This song, along with the others on this album, was (in its final period) one of the main themes of the resistance movements to the dictatorial regime overthrown on April 25, 1974, especially among students, and was one of the songs that the radio broadcasted the most in the afternoon of that day, announcing the freedom that was coming.
On the other hand, education is also an important factor in promoting social equity and helping to combat poverty, so when we fight for it, we are helping to increase social equality and reduce poverty among the population. And the promotion of social equity begins with interventions to be carried out in childhood in order to combat, from an early stage, the inequalities arising from the different social conditions in children’s families.
Investing in education is the most effective way not only to promote growth but also to distribute its benefits more fairly. And investing in people’s skills is far less costly in the long term than paying the price of health and social protection for a poorer population, with lower incomes, high unemployment rates and high levels of social exclusion – – all of which are related to low levels of education.
Quality education, more than a benefit for the people who enjoy it, is a huge benefit for society as a whole. This justifies the title of this text dedicated to CMT’s intervention.
I have known CMT’s work for more than 20 years – – since its landmark “Opus Tutti” and “GermInArte” projects, which were important steps in consolidating a virtuous path that today has reached a remarkable dimension and recognition – – and I’ve always been impressed by the significant way in which their projects prioritize the protection of children’s rights and promote their abilities as well as their responsibilities to participate in the tasks of their communities from a citizenship education perspective. They have been keen to follow a socio-educational approach with a focus on the practice of artistic expressions, social relationships and outdoor activities, creating a pedagogical and educational environment that promotes children’s general learning including their curiosity, spontaneity, autonomy, self-esteem, movement and sensitivity.
In the context of their projects, the children are always involved in aesthetic and sensory activities, providing them with direct contact and encounter with the surrounding environment, with learning processes centered on the children and their forms of expression through practical and interactive work tasks rather than more formal activities.
In order to develop its projects, CMT resorts to the multidisciplinary collaboration of psychologists, artists, educators and researchers with experience and solid resumes suited to the interventions it carries out, often combining several of these capacities in some of its protagonists, which facilitates the coordination and interaction processes they are focused on and which are indispensable in the preparation, definition and execution of its activities.
The great richness that results from this multiplicity of thematic approaches by qualified and talented protagonists should be emphasized by guaranteeing interventions of merit, combining a theoretical component with practical experiences that, unfortunately, are not frequent in activities carried out with children and which, therefore, hinder the potential for childhood development.
For this reason, the enormous attention that CMT has paid to the training of educators must be highlighted and highly valued, given its importance, it should deserve increased and significant support from the entities responsible for the development of the educational, cultural and social sectors, as well as other partners involved in the development of projects in these areas.
As I mentioned, CMT’s projects do not translate into isolated and disjointed interventions with no theoretical concerns. They are always based on a solid theoretical framework from those who are prepared to articulate it and respect methodological approaches that are compatible with the different realities they will face and the critical variables they will encounter.
The importance that CMT attributes to the surrounding community in its projects is another important aspect worth highlighting. With this concern, it seeks to build a model for creating an educational community that takes into account the specificity of its context and differentiates its program according to that context, while at the same time being articulated in a network between educational and local agents that value and rationalize support.
In this sense, the projects become much more effective by integrating the community into their work, strengthening their links with municipalities and other local entities, while continuing to involve parents and families in their activities as well as other agents, local associations and other public and private institutions, with the community also participating in the activities of these bodies.
The local community is a valuable resource for educational activities and these are a very valuable resource for the local community. Unfortunately, this mutual collaboration is often underused and undervalued, which is why CMT’s efforts to counteract this trend deserve to be highlighted.
In conclusion, after 25 years of activity, CMT must continue to look to the future — as it has done so far — and envision their interventions always with an aim for innovation and promoting creativity, knowing how to consolidate ongoing experiences — with the indispensable collaboration of the assistance they have rightfully earned — so that the important interventions they have carried out do not appear sporadic and inconsistent and their valuable results can be multiplied by continuing to prioritize training components.
This commitment to childhood is fundamental because, as numerous studies have shown, this is a critical period for children’s social and emotional development, which can shape the trajectory of their development throughout their lives.
Manuel Carmelo Rosa
Higher Education Public Policy Researcher