The School of People’s Theater (SPT) is the training arm of PETA. This unit is responsible for initiating and coordinating, systematizing and institutionalizing PETA’s various efforts in developing people’s theater curricula. These different theater and theater-related courses are meant to support and enhance cultural, educational, and development initiatives of the various sectors and communities in the archipelago. The program of the SPT ranges from faculty and curriculum development, annual PETA summer workshop, outreach workshops, and the partnership program.
PETA remains committed to its educational mission, which has kept the company grounded and connected to the lives of people. The continuing journey of PETA will be charted by its artist-teachers’ focus, commitment and passion to improve even further the use of theater for empowerment through education.
The School of People’s Theater (SPT) is the present training arm of the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA). It was established in 1967 by PETA founder Cecile Guidote-Alvarez who named it the Central Institute of Theater Arts in the Philippines (CITAP). CITAP was designed to infuse life into the moribund state of Philippine Theater.
The CITAP became the Central Institute of Theater Arts in Southeast Asia (CITASA) in 1972 as the training school for traditional theater forms of the Third World fusing traditional theater with the spirit and techniques of modern theater and modern communications media. It offered programs that provided a deeper acquaintance with the different Asian cultures through personal, direct, richly educational and artistic experiences.
In 1986, the CITASA was reorganized into two separate program units: the Training and Research (T&R) Unit and the Support Organizing and Linkages (SOL) Unit. The T&R Unit was concerned with research, faculty training and the development of courses for the Institute of People’s Theater (IPT). A special focus was given to establishing the sectoral programs, the SOL Unit was tasked to coordinate and provide cultural support for the regional, national and international networks.
In 1989, after the PETA organizational review by the Management Advancement Systems Association, Inc. (MASAI), the two units were reformatted, and the School of People’s Theater (SPT) Unit was established. The SPT is the teaching arm of PETA and is currently responsible for designing the various courses offered in PETA’s many workshops.
After more than four decades of educational work, three areas have surfaced as the focus of PETA’s educational work: Theater for Artistic Development, Theater For Development and Theater In Education. The three-pronged thrust is seen as a means to allow the PETA pedagogy to permeate the initiatives of artists, educators and development workers.
The PETA pedagogy reflects the orientational-artistic-organizational framework of PETA through the years. It is rooted in our culture and grounded in reality. It strengthens cultural identity and the Filipino perspective. It lemniscates process and product, form, content and context. It is creative, interactive, integrative, participatory and dynamic. The pedagogy may be applied to different streams of concern such as development work, education, artistic enhancement and cultural action. Its process is transformative, liberating and empowering. It upholds the ‘gold mine theory’ that believes that every individual has a gold reserve within waiting to be tapped. At the core of the PETA’s pedagogy is the full actualization of the human person toward social transformation. This pedagogy is embodied in all of PETA’s various curricular offerings.
These are specialized courses intended to cultivate excellence in the artist’s craft as an actor, singer, musician, mover, dancer, choreographer, designer, writer, director, technician and other creative role in an artistic production.
The TAD curriculum is backed up by creative research, including exposure trips and fieldwork. It is grounded in Filipino culture but is open as well to international influences. Its production process is holistic and organic, collaborative, experimental, innovative and may even be eclectic in form and content. Its modules are designed to facilitate self expression leading to community expression. The integrated theater arts as a general approach allow for improvisation, experimentation and creation of new works.
These courses are designed not only for those pursuing arts as a career but for ordinary people who wish to learn about art for community events. The content of these courses is derived from various sources and influences which include theater games, theater aesthetics, lessons in creative writing and playwriting, acting, movement, dance and other experiences in Philippine theater and interactive workshops and collaborations with other Asian theater practitioners.
These are courses which uphold the use of the arts for a holistic approach to learning within the classroom context.
PETA has defined this particular thrust as one that has to do with formal education or educational institutions. Originally just focused on the youth through secondary school drama clubs and their mentors, PETA has extended itself to training teachers in the use of creative pedagogy as an approach in classroom teaching as well as engaging with the Department of Education to influence their basic education curriculum design.
PETA’s TIE curriculum draws its philosophy and practice from the coalescence of various influences, educational models and other cultural movements. In the classroom situation, the TIE curriculum is creative and participatory in nature, interactive and integrative, grounded in the experiences of people and places. A curriculum that is high in imaginative thinking, it has been found to develop the critical faculties of learners; allowing multiple intelligences to flourish, and contributing to the total development of the learners.
PETA’s TFD thrust is a response to the needs articulated by specific sectors of partner organizations such as those working with marginalized children, youth, women, rural communities and so on.
An important feature of the PETA pedagogy in development work is the need to operate within a partnership program that is context and culture-based, with focused attention on a set of agenda in addressing people with special needs. Geared towards equipping people for self-determination, the PETA pedagogy is a strategy for advocacy, cultural organizing and social action. Its approach to education is based on a clear recognition of specific sectors’ ways of learning and developing creativity. The principles of the pedagogy are informed by theories, knowledge and discourses in development work, e.g. the children’s rights framework, feminism, human rights framework, Sikolohiyang Pilipino etc.
The SPT program ranges from faculty and curriculum development, annual PETA Summer Workshop, outreach workshops and the partnership program.
Seasonal Programs
Summer Workshop
Five- to twenty-session intensive courses offered during summer at the PETA Theater Center. Check out our courses here.
Outreach and Special Workshops
Specialized courses are available all year round and may be conducted at the venue of choice of the client or at the PETA Theater Center
Basic Integrated Theater Arts Workshop (BITAW)
This is the foundation course that makes up PETA’s Creative Pedagogy. This workshop can be given from a few days to several weeks. Different art disciplines are experienced as they interwoven in the study of the elements of artistic expression. The subjects included are group dynamics (games and perceptual awareness exercises); body movement; visual arts; creative writing; creative sounds and music; and creative drama. It exposes the learner to the process of improvisation in drama.
Repertory Theater Guidance (RTG)
The Repertory Theater Guidance (RTG) is a program that sends artist-teachers (writer, director, production designer, choreographer, composer, musician) to work with a group to develop a full-length production. This usually begins with a workshop which eventually leads to the mounting of a production. At times, the PETA artist-teacher enters at some point in the creative process and is requested to give a critique of what a group has done so far giving suggestions for improvement.
RTG guidelines may be found in the Faculty In-House Kit, and unpublished manuscript, which may be found at the PETA Library.
Other courses
Designed for theater and non-theater enthusiasts, children, youth, teachers, educators, trainers and workers of schools, non-government organizations (NGOs), local government units (LGUs) and corporations courses can be customized according to the needs of the participants or the requesting entity.
