We released our first impact report from last semester (our first one!), and we are so happy that the results showed that we made a tangible, positive impact on our students. Read the full report here.
We worked with 146 students in 12 classrooms across 6 Philadelphia middle and high schools.
Our students experienced lowered rates of social anxiety, and higher levels of self-confidence and social and emotional self-efficacy.
Reduced rates of social anxiety
Improv has been successfully used to treat social anxiety disorder, which is a
mental health condition in which interactions with others can cause irrational anxiety, fear, self-consciousness, and embarrassment. We found that 15% of students who initially screened positive for social anxiety no longer did at the end
of the program.
Increases in confidence and sense of community
Research has shown that improvisational training is linked to higher levels of
self-confidence in both medical students and student teachers. 88% of students
stated that they felt more confident in front of their peers than they did before our workshop. Having higher self-confidence means that they are better at accepting and trusting themselves as well as better at knowing their strengths and
weaknesses. It also means that they have a more positive view of themselves,
they are able to communicate more assertively, and they can better handle criticism.
In these isolating times, it was important for us to try to create community in the classes which we worked. 92% of students said they felt closer to their peers as a result of our program.
Higher levels of social and emotional self- efficacy
Self-efficacy is a key tenet of social emotional learning and wellness. We
measure social self-efficacy because improv facilitates collaboration and
team-building in a safe, supportive environment. We also measure emotional
self-efficacy because in improv, we work to identify our own emotions as well as
how different emotions manifest in others. We found that social self-efficacy
increased in 65% of students, and emotional self-efficacy increased in 58% of
students.
Better communication skills
Preliminary research suggests that improvisational training can improve public speaking skills for students in secondary school, and 80% of our students stated that they believe they are better communicators than they were prior to the program.
We are so happy to see impact we have had on our students, and we want to thank everyone who has supported The Unscripted Project over the past year. We are so grateful for our team of teaching artists, cofacilitators, and volunteers. We are looking forward to a bright Spring 2021 semester, already underway!
Read our full impact report here.