Abstract
The Differentiated Didactic Approach to Teaching the Arts (D.D.A.T.A) is a modern teaching approach in the field of Special Education. Its main goal is to teach in a differentiated manner Music and Dance to artistic ensembles such as an orchestra or dance group comprising mentally disabled members. It has been implemented and taken shape successfully within the framework of the clinical work carried out by Dr. Ioannis Makris on a sample of 100 individuals with mental disabilities during the period Oct 2012-Jan 2020. The main reason the D.D.A.T.A. model has been so successful does not rely solely on the differentiating teaching itself. It also hinges on being able to create the appropriate positive psychology for mentally disabled individuals with a view to empowering them to attend the training program suitable for them. The following were observed during the implementation of D.D.A.T.A.: the mental and physical health of the mentally disabled participants improved and was reinforced; their various strengths were further developed and honed; their ability to forge and/or sustain interpersonal relationships improved; and the personal goals they had set were accomplished. All of the areas in which improvement was observed constitute key goals of Positive Psychology. Thus, the goal of the present study is to examine how Positive Psychology relates to the D.D.A.T.A. model which is addressed to people with mental disabilities. The group under study is the Ichochroma (Timbre) Orchestra which was established by Dr. Ioannis Makris. Within the framework of inclusive didactics, the orchestra has successfully and harmoniously collaborated with both professional and amateur choirs at concerts and festivals.
Highlights
The task of creating a musical or dance ensemble by bringing together people with mental disabilities is a complex one (Macri & Makris, 2014a): the type and degree of each individual’s mental disability in conjunction with that individual’s inherent personality and skills either acquired or showing promise of development vary depending on the case (Macri & Makris, 2014b)
The goal of the present study is to examine how Positive Psychology relates to the D.D.A.T.A. model which is addressed to people with mental disabilities
The D.D.A.T.A. model took shape during the period Oct 2012-Jan 2020, within the framework of the clinical work of Dr Ioannis Makris at “Ergastiri” (Makris, 2015a), a workshop stewarded by the Association of Parents and Guardians of Persons with Disabilities, Athens, Greece
Summary
The task of creating a musical or dance ensemble by bringing together people with mental disabilities is a complex one (Macri & Makris, 2014a): the type and degree of each individual’s mental disability in conjunction with that individual’s inherent personality and skills either acquired or showing promise of development vary depending on the case (Macri & Makris, 2014b). If we wish to successfully group an artistic ensemble, such as an orchestra whose members are mentally disabled, we need to touch on a wide range of fields such as music, pedagogy, special education, psychology, and even administration, given that, for an orchestra to function effectively, apart from teaching and artistic interpretation considerations, we need to take into account an orchestra’s organizational aspects as well Those enormous gaps in Special Education are addressed by D.D.A.T.A. The D.D.A.T.A. model took shape during the period Oct 2012-Jan 2020, within the framework of the clinical work of Dr Ioannis Makris at “Ergastiri” (Makris, 2015a), a workshop stewarded by the Association of Parents and Guardians of Persons with Disabilities, Athens, Greece. The D.D.A.T.A. framework enables us to interpret and predict the appearance of various situations at the work level
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