Theater and Storytelling @ the Heart of 21st Century Communication |
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Is the root of literacy the need to be understood or the need to understand? Although the answer is probably “both,” it presents an intriguing way to look at notions of literacy as it relates to education and the arts. The teaching of literacy skills is usually driven by teaching comprehension. (It is also easier to assess comprehension.) This suggests that you need to know how to read first before you express yourself. But is this so? What is the role of intention in becoming literate? Does the need to express ourselves drive the impulse to be literate? What is “literacy” anyway? If we consider how children develop there is equal emphasis on communicating and understanding. A child cries when it is hungry and laughs when it experiences pleasure. A child does not seek to comprehend whether you are hungry or not. Visual art created by preschool children is about what they experience and an exploration of how to “say” things better through the media. They learn to read others’ art using the “language” they have created out of their own experience and understanding. (This notion drives the metaphor of the “100 languages of children” from the Reggio schools.) This session explores exercises in theater and storytelling to help elementary students become better writers. They arise out of the ideas discussed above – that helping children to clarify their ideas in order to tell stories makes them not only better writers but also better readers. The exercises are also based in the group, so that learning is reinforced and supported by peers. A story is told through the words, the pictures, the sounds, the emotions, the movements, the physicalizations – everything. Communication in the last nine-tenths of 21st Century is already a complex mélange and students need to understand and master this. I will also be bringing examples of student work. I would encourage participants to bring in their own exercises and experiences so that it becomes a workshop with the collective experience of the group as a contributor. |
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Dr. Eric Engdahl is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at California State University, East Bay where he teaches visual and performing arts methods to preservice elementary teachers and supervises secondary preservice visual arts teachers. He is also the Director of Art & Public Education at the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts in Richmond. Eric has written an arts-integrated K-8 social studies curriculum for an international charter school firm and worked extensively with The California Arts Project where he directed summer intensive professional development institutes for K-12 teachers including two in partnership with the California Arts Council. He has been an Arts Anchor Teaching Artist in Berkeley and Oakland, a children’s theater author, and was artistic director of several theater companies. He holds a Ph.D. in Theater from UCLA and a MFA in Acting from SMU. |
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