Positivity in Practice
Positivity in Practice is an Arts Council England funded project that ran from April 2024 till February 2025. This website is an outcome of that project, a dedicated networking and learning resource for artists who work in schools and their managers, as well as teachers.
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It originated as a creative proposal aimed at helping school-age children address trauma through creativity, and deepened into a project in which teaching/learning/playing/creating/applauding/sharing/celebrating can benefit everybody involved: artist, pupil, teacher, parent/carer.
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It has devised a flexible, multi-media schools presentation for all ages,
TALKING TROUBLE, exploring trauma through storytelling, rap,
drama, play, discussion and creative games.
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This site will share videos, practitioners' guides,
details of helpful organisations and creative work.
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Devised by Steve Tasane
Steve is a slam-winning performance poet, children’s novelist, playwright,
and workshop facilitator with 30 years' teaching/creating experience.
His critically acclaimed children’s novel Child I (Faber) — exploring stories
of child refugees — was translated into 11 languages. His young children’s
play 10 In The Bed, exploring the same issues, was commissioned by
Half Moon Children’s Theatre and toured in 2024.
His previous children's novels were Blood Donors (Walker) included in Seven Stories DIVERSE VOICES list of the best children's books celebrating cultural diversity from 1950 to the present day, and Nobody Saw No One {Walker) updating Oliver Twist to explore contemporary issues of child exploitation, which was listed in The Guardian's Best Children's Books of The Year.
His memoir Spitting Bricks, about surviving childhood violence, was a finalist
in the inaugural Footnotes/Counterpoint Prize for non-fiction by writers
from a refugee background.
His debut children's poetry collection This Book Roars! (London Poetry Books)
is described by poet Neal Zetter as "a sparkling collection of performance poetry for schools, bubbling over with finger-snapping rhythms and rhymes along with a super-smart use of the English language."
His adult poetry collection, Counteroffensive, has been praised by Joelle Taylor as "blistering spoken word from one of the fiercest founders of the scene.”
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Steve's working practice has also been influenced by years of writing residencies, including for Discover Story Centre's Mighty Mega Club for
children with SEN and disabilities; the Dickens 2012 Bicentennial Celebrations; the V&A Museum of Childhood, Hamleys Toy Shop and Battersea Dogs Home,
as well as hospitals, PRUs and libraries across the UK.
