How do we know that Breaking Through works?

A major outcome of the project was to successfully train over 30 secondary teachers and counsellors from rural and urban Victoria as Facilitators of BT’s adaptation of Theatre of the Oppressed (TOTO). This accomplishment is a first in Australia and possibly also internationally.

There have been over 50 successful theatre performances by participating schools to over 3000 students, staff and parents. These performances dealt with a broad range of health and social issues, and subsequent community discussions involved more parents, teachers, professional service providers and other community members.

A website developed by VCE students was used to gather stories of discrimination and resilience from school and community participants. It is still receiving anonymous contributions. The website has been a source of material for ‘Making a Difference’ booklets and has supplemented the information gathered directly by schools about bullying in their own community.

The BT project was evaluated over 2003-2006, using data gathered from interviews and focus groups with students, school staff and parents, and feedback from the secure website. The evaluation demonstrated both innovative curriculum changes in schools and attitude change in participants in response to the program.

Overall the project delivered a variety of significant outcomes for the BT performers, for the schools and organisations involved and for the Facilitators themselves. Some of these outcomes are summarised below.