Research, Assessment and Training

How do you measure inner resiliency, self-awareness, and personal responsibility? Why is the ENACT program so effective? And what components contribute the most to this success?

After years of refining its methods in the field, ENACT is beginning to consider sharing the lessons it has learned with other educators. So, it has taken on the challenge of creating tools to assess what works, and then translate these results into a transferable teaching strategy. In 2005, Emilie Ward, a long-time ENACT staff member, was promoted to the new post of Director of Training and Research to head these efforts, which are funded through a generous grant from the Ford Foundation.

Ward’s responsibilities cover three distinct areas. The first is to coordinate the testing and implementation of a series of evaluation instruments. These instruments, based on the ENACT Method created by Executive Director Diana Feldman, were developed by leading experts in the field, particularly Dr. Terry Baker, a senior research scientist at the Center for Children and Technology of the Education Development Center. The second is to continue to assess best practices. And, the third is to develop teaching strategies based on research results, and direct the training of ENACT Teaching Artists.

In a mid-year report recently released by ENACT, Ward and Feldman summarized the essence of the organization’s work as “the creation and development of ‘the container,’ a carefully constructed safe space that provides the optimal conditions for expression and growth.” This space, which includes not just the physical working environment, but “the processes, relationships and activities ENACT uses throughout our work,” gives its student participants “opportunities for self-reflection and an increased self-awareness,” which, in turn, show them how to “bridge internal experience to external learning,” or connect actions and consequences to the emotions that drive them.

Throughout the research process, ENACT has consulted with an interdisciplinary advisory board—including Robert Landy, Ph.D., professor and program director of drama therapy at New York University; Linda Lantieri, a conflict resolution specialist from the organization Resolving Conflict Creatively; Sarah Suatoni, a bodywork specialist; Mark Weiss, a former school principal and conflict resolution specialist; and Martha Eddy, Ph.D., a movement therapist. These professionals have helped identify key indicators from their areas of expertise.

All research findings are quickly passed along to the ENACT Teaching Artists so the organization can continually improve its own practices. But, its results and implementation strategies could have broader applications. As Ward and Feldman suggest in the report, “We are confident that the concepts behind our practice of creating and maintaining the container can serve other practitioners as a behavior management system, regardless of their subject area.”

Professional Staff Development

To bring the benefits of its programs to a wider audience, ENACT offers Professional Development workshops, which help teachers in grades K-12 integrate ENACT techniques into their classroom and teaching strategies. The workshops provide comprehensive, hands-on instruction to school staff, enabling them to:

Past workshop topics have included:

ENACT offers a co-teaching series, as well as three-day and one-week training institutes, and will tailor programs to the specific needs of each school. For more information, or to have ENACT create a program for your school, call us today at 212-741-6591.