International Drama and Theatre Education Association
The International Drama and Theatre Education Association - IDEA - represents more than 90 countries around the globe.
IDEA Founding
After the second world war, UNESCO - the United Nations Education,the people of Science and Cultural Organisation, recognised the unique role that arts education can play in the creation of a culture of peace, international understanding, social cohesion and sustainable development. It was not until 1992 that the International Drama and Theatre Education Association was founded. IDEA's aim is to promote and advocate drama and theatre as part of a full human education and to provide an international forum for those working as drama and theatre educators throughout the world. IDEA encompasses the integral place of drama and theatre education in pre-schools, primary, secondary and tertiary education.
Congresses
IDEA Congresses have been held in :
- 1992 - Oporto, Portugal
- 1995 - Brisbane, Australia
- 1998 - Kisumu, Kenya
- 2001 - Bergen, Norway
- 2004 - Ottawa, Canada
- 2007 - Hong Kong, SAR, China
- 2010 - Pará, Brazil
The next IDEA World Congress will be in Paris, France in July 2013.
2007 IDEA Congress
The 2007 IDEA Congress was held in Hong Kong, SAR, China. Its theme was 'Planting Ideas'. Over 400 delegates attended from all over the world. Internationally respected drama and theatre arts practitioners were invited by the organising committee to delivered keynote addresses and conduct seminars, special interest groups and workshops. A host of different performances also took place during the congress highlighting Chinese Opera, Drama in Schools, Dance in Schools and Drama for the Disabled. Part of the congress was also committed to the world of young people. This was called Young IDEA.
At the 6th World IDEA Congress, a world alliance of the three key arts education associations was founded. This brought together IDEA with INSEA (International Society for Education Through Art) and ISME (International Society for Music Education). The aim of the world alliance is to "allow citizens to be enriched through the arts to allow confident, flexible intelligences, creative verbal and non-verbal communication skills, abilities to think critically and imaginatively, intercultural understandings and an empathetic commitment to cultural diversity in our knowledge based post-industrial societies." [1]
To facilitate communication between IDEA members, Dramatool,[2] an IDEA special website, was launched to aid international collaboration between different drama-practitioners.
IDEA President
At the 2010 IDEA World Congress, Patrice Baldwin was elected as the President of IDEA until July 2013. As the President of the International Drama-Education Association (IDEA), Patrice Baldwin is also an Executive Forum Member of the World Alliance for Arts Education. She has published several books on Drama for Learning (see www.patricebaldwin.com) and is also the Chair of National Drama, the leading association for UK drama teachers and theatre educators.