Ten days in Kathmandu: An IOE Global Engagement Funded Project

A post by ReMap associates Rebecca Wilson and Theo Bryer. Rebecca and Theo have collaborated for many years developing creative approaches to working with digital technology. In 2017 they visited Bengalaru and worked in schools and a children’s home making films with young people,  and here they write about their research trip to Kathmandu, Nepal in March/April 2025 working with teachers, MA students and primary school children. The project was  funded by a grant from the IOE Global Engagement Fund. The above image features teachers from the University of Kathmandu working with Theo and Rebecca on drama and film-making through re-presentations of the birth of Frankenstein.

We arrived in Kathmandu to find ourselves in the aftermath of a violent demonstration and in the midst of an evening curfew. After a long detour we finally arrived to the peace and tranquility of our traditional Newari style guest house in Patan, on the outskirts of Kathmandu. 

After this dramatic beginning and despite the air quality being the worst in the world during the time we were there, the next ten days unfolded as planned. We participated in course development meetings and co-taught a series of practice-based workshops, with MA Education students in Kathmandu University and at a local school. These workshops were co-designed with our academic colleague Mr Sushrut Acharya. He lectures on similar teacher education programmes to us and was interested in the creative pedagogies proposed in Theo’s chapter: Multimodal meaning-making through digital media [Bryer, T., Pitfield, M., & Coles, J. (2024). Drama at the Heart of English: Transforming Practice in the Secondary. Routledge.

Our aim was to focus on what 

Sushrut refers to as ‘transformative teaching methods’ that the students, who were all teachers, might adapt in their school contexts. These involved students exploring the potential of digital production and drama to teach aspects of literary texts but with a broader application to cross-curricular teaching too. We invited them to engage in a series of drama activities and then to shoot and edit very short films inspired by an excerpt of Chapter 5 from Shelley’s Frankenstein; a response to the question: How do we know the creature is alive? 

… the rain pattered dismally against the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive motion agitated its limbs. 

Three short film examples: Birth of Frankenstein, Alive, The Creature 

We were also fortunate to have the opportunity to run a drama and digital photography workshop with some amazing primary pupils and their teachers in the Genuine Secondary School in Bhaktapur on the outskirts of Kathmandu. We worked on a drama inspired by a traditional story exploring bravery, tenacity and focus with a class of enthusiastic 10-year-olds. 

Our ten days collaborating with teachers and academic colleagues was an inspirational experience, and our active learning approach was welcomed and co-developed in this very different context.  

This collaboration will continue to develop, exploring the possibilities of future international partnerships supported by the Prospero.digital platform. We are also in discussion with our UCL Nepali colleague Dr Ranjita Dhital (Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Health Studies, Arts and Sciences BASc) about developing digital arts and drama-based interventions in Nepal and the UK.  

We were interested in aspects of the performative culture that we encountered in public spaces, including dancing and music-making that was often being recorded. The Botanical Gardens and Garden of Dreams provided a filmic backdrop to these activities. The teachers and children that we worked with seemed very responsive to working with digital technology in creative ways.  

What inspired us most was the ethos of the teachers and academic staff that we engaged with; the ways that relationships and care clearly sustained them in challenging circumstances, expressed through sharing of food and many acts of kindness. This experience gave us a significant perspective on our own work and context. 

Rebecca Wilson has worked for over 20 years as part of the Initial Teacher Education programme at the IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society – the team rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2024. As part of the UCL Digital Education Team, Rebecca continues to promote the creative use of new technologies as a teaching and learning tool and seeks to develop the skills and knowledge of UCL staff and students.  

Dr Theo Bryer runs the English with Drama PGCE and the Creativity from Theory to Practice module, part of the MA English Education and MA Digital Media: Education to which Rebecca also contributes. Theo researches the relationship between live and recorded drama and the ways that assuming a role can support learning.