Author: Elana Shyong

First full week of work back after the holidays, and already planting seeds for what’s next. Weekly recap 👇 🎭 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴! My first few days of the year I attended a 3-day Playback Theatre intensive in Nanjing. Storytelling, deep listening, and improvisation, and plenty of ideas already brewing for future work. 🤝 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴…

Happy new year everyone! Hope that you all had a restorative holiday season, and are starting the new year with renewed energy and creativity. Lots of new project ideas and collaborations in motion… excited to see what this year will bring! My word for this 2026 is 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣. What’s yours?

Because last I checked, we all have bodies! Last week I had the joy of facilitating the Christmas event for ATTIKA Fitness, with the intention of deepening connection within their community and exploring the different strands that make up Attika. What I love about applied theatre and embodied, play-based practices is their adaptability. When we…

What a week it’s been – the last before I travel home for the holidays. Below is my week recapped: 🌱 Wrapped up a week-long course on the 21st-century 4Cs with participants from Czechia, Italy, Romania, and Norway. Lately I’ve been deep in conversations about growth mindset and Carol Dweck’s power of “yet.” We’re not…

💡 Big groups: energising or overwhelming? I’m in the midst of a teacher training course with one of the largest groups I’ve had in a while, and I’m being reminded just how different the dynamic becomes. With big groups, some things get easier: ✨ It’s obvious what’s landing, and what isn’t ✨ The collective energy…

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀. Here is my week recapped 👇 ✨ 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗮 𝗿𝘂𝗻 and officially have my Chinese visa in hand. I’m so excited to share my work in drama-in-education across Asia over the next few months. Every time I’m there, the energy,…

𝗡𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗜’𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. Last month’s Conveying Confidence at Work workshop with Agora Circle was so moving, I am still feeling inspired, grateful, and recharged. A heartfelt thank you to Kate Deckman and Monica Rodriguez for inviting me into this space. Agora Circle has…

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗢𝗜 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗦𝗘𝗟 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 I just wrapped up a powerful week leading the ERASMUS+ Key Action 1 Staff Training course on Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), one of my favorite courses! The comment from one participant perfectly illustrates the ripple effect of this training: “All of…

𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙨 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚. Yesterday, I found out that a quick comment I made at the end of a class – a throwaway moment, without context – almost made a student want to stop coming altogether. It hit his self-esteem in a way that…

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨… 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮? Last month, I had the joy of speaking at the 11th EEPEK (Scientific Association for the Promotion of Innovation in Education), a gathering of educators, researchers, and practitioners from across Europe, hosted by the University of Thessaly in Greece. My talk, “Play…