Research Proposal: Teaching young kids using puppetry
Puppets have been used in education for years now. There are many different ways to teach children and because we are all different we all learn differently as well. However is using puppets in education the best method for teaching kids with behavioral problems or disabilities? The DOE has made accommodations to make learning for these kids much easier and efficiently but can puppetry help enhance this method?
When puppets were created they were derived from toys that children played with. Some of the first learning experiences that children have are with their toys. Meaning, whatever experience a child has with their toys are very important, it could impact them greatly. And although puppets weren’t made for just kids the majority of puppet use is for children.
I believe that use of puppets for child could be very beneficial for children. I think that it helps intrigue them more than an adult speaking at the front of the classroom. They are most likely to be more engaged in the work when a puppet is the one telling them to do it.
This method of education most likely also helps kids with disabilities. Kids that have disabilities such as ADHD or ADD. Kids that have ADHD are always on the move. They are very energetic. It is really difficult for them to stay in one place. Kids with ADHD need something like an activity that is really engaging and interesting in order for them to stay still. Because they can’t, it is really hard for them to learn in a regular classroom environment. Puppets can be a useful method of keeping them focused in order to learn.
Although the answer may seem straightforward, there are some questions to consider when trying to change this aspect of teaching in the classroom. Some of those questions are as follows; How can the improvement of children learning from puppetry be measured? What things could the puppets possibly teach the children? How many schools use puppetry in their lessons, how are those students doing academically? How do these students compare to the students who don’t have puppetry in their education? In what other ways have puppets helped kids to learn, besides in the STEM aspect? How do kids with disabilities learn with puppets? Are puppets on TV majorly just considered entertainment or do they teach kids valuable life lessons?
Puppetry and Education: Teaching Young Kids And kids With Disabilities
Throughout the years people have found new and creative ways to do many things. The car was invented so that people wouldn’t have to walk or ride a horse for hundreds of miles in order to get from one place to another. In order to communicate more efficiently people now use cellphones and computers instead of writing handwritten letters and waiting weeks for a response. We have made so many changes to improve human life. However, there is one thing that we haven’t changed all that much: the way we teach children. For centuries students were taught in classrooms where they would read books and hear lectures. This may be an effective way for some kids to learn but others require a more engaging method of teaching. One method that has proven more than successful is puppetry.
One way Puppetry has proved to be helpful in the classroom is by helping students develop life skills. Skills such as, communicating, expressing, and collaborating. In many of the texts I read, they all spoke about the use of puppetry has helped the kids learn more effectively. Forsbergs’ “Using Puppetry in school Education”, is an article talking about the different types of puppets are and how they each different convey different things. She explains how the root of the word puppet comes from the Latin word ‘pupa’. The word ‘pupa’ means small creature (Forsberg 44). One of the main points that Forsberg tries to get across is the idea of puppets being used as an educational tool. She states “Children’s performances and games with the puppets conveyed the children´s attempt to make sense of situations, where imagination and narrative played important roles” (Forsberg 47). By using puppets the children were more inclined to figure out any issues that they had. The children used their imaginations to create to create stories for the puppets. After she had seen the way the children improved, she came to the conclusion that by adding puppets to the school curriculum it helped the children work out their issues with their words and allowed them to apply their knowledge from previous experiences to help them make decisions.
In another article by Forsberg titled “The puppet’s communicative potential as a mediating tool in preschool” she speaks about the research studies that have been conducted to conclude if puppetry is a good method for school teaching. She also speaks about how in some Indian schools they are open to the idea of having puppets in their classrooms. She says “The use of puppets in education, is in some countries, an established methodological practice, and the puppet as a teaching tool also appears in research studies” (Forsberg, The use of communicative…) The studies have to do with seeing the interactions between the puppets and kids. Many of these outcomes showed that kids shared their feelings, thoughts and intentions. If those children are taught to express themselves in this way, than so can others.
Although the school Forsberg visited had an open puppet curriculum some other Indian schools aren’t so accepting. In the article “Collaborative learning in technology education: D&T unit on puppetry in different Indian socio-cultural contexts” by Chunawala, Khunyakari, Mehrotra, and Natarajan they speak of the importance of collaboration in the school education systems. They explain the issue with the Indian education system. They state that the Indian school curriculum does not include things like design and technology and speak about the need for collaborative learning in the classroom. Another issue that came up was the unfortunate matter of inequality. The National Curricular Framework organization is determined to help girls, special needs kids, and other disadvantaged groups get the equal education they deserve. The paper shares the results of an experiment made by the design and technology unit. The experiment has children work with puppetry and technology to prove that collaborative learning is better than the way India is running their schools now. In the experiment “Borden and Perkins have proposed a collaboration checklist that includes leadership, planning, decision making,..”( Chunawala et al) and many more outstanding qualities. The experiment had was successful and showed that student work better when collaborating using technology and puppets.
Puppetry has been talked a lot about in the Indian culture but it can also be used in areas such as religion. In Levy, B. Marks’ article “Some uses of puppetry in Jewish education” he talks about how puppets can be used to teach children lessons about the torah, holidays, and other jewish traditions. Levy explains one of his first experiences using puppets in education. He describes how he was a Hebrew tutor for a six year old girl. The girl was very resistant to doing any of the work and Levy had no idea how to get her to be engaged. One day the little girl was waiting to be picked up noticed her happily playing with her dolls. At that time levy realized what he needed to do. The next session he had with the little girl he used a puppet named Nosher. He explained to the girl that Nosher could only speak Hebrew so if she wanted to play with him she was going to have to try and learn. After that he explains how “the duration of this lesson just seemed to fly by”(Levy). He also says “When I arrived for the next lesson the mother, told me that my young student had used a lot of her spare time making flash cards to help Nosher learn english and to be able to converse with him in Hebrew”(Levy). By using Nosher, Levy was able to convince his young student to be more engaged in her work. After using the puppet, Levy saw an amazing improvement in the young child. Although Levy only speaks about the outcomes of puppets in Jewish education it is easy to see how puppets could be used to teach other religions and subjects.
Students with disabilities need an extra help with their studies. Kids with adhd, a disability that makes them hyper and hyperactive have difficulty concentrating on things taught in school. In the article “Effects of Puppetry on Elementary Students’ Knowledge of and attitudes toward individuals with disabilities” by Carl J. Dunst, Dunst speaks about the difficulty for students to read. He says that to help children with disabilities they need “ easy to implement interventions” (Dunst).
Although there are many pieces of evidences that say that puppetry has good results for children many people disagree. Many people think that they children will get distracted and not do work. They think that play and work should not be mixed but as the articles show the puppets helped the children in all positive ways.
Puppetry has helped so many children around the world. In India it has taught them how to be more outspoken and collaborative. In Jewish culture it has helped them learn the language and the Torah. If all these schools can have positive results then with all schools using puppets in their curriculum children will do so much better in school.
Annotated Bibliography
Chunawala, Sugra., Khunyakari, Ritesh., Mehrotra, Swati., Natarajan, Chitra. “Collaborative learning in technology education: D&T unit on puppetry in different Indian socio-cultural contexts.” International Journal of Technology and Design Education, vol. 19, Issue 1, March 2009, pp. 1–14. Springer link, DOI: 10.1007/s10798-007-9037-1. Accessed 5 April 2019.
In this article, Chunawala, Khunyakari, Mehrotra, and Natarajan all speak of the importance of collaboration in the school education systems. They explain the issue with the Indian education system. They state that the Indian school curriculum does not include things like design and technology and speak about the need for collaborative learning in the classroom. Another issue that came up was the unfortunate matter of inequality. The National Curricular Framework organization is determined to help girls, special needs kids, and other disadvantaged groups get the equal education they deserve. The paper shares the results of an experiment made by the design and technology unit. The experiment has children work with puppetry and technology to prove that collaborative learning is better than the way India is running their schools now. I decided to use this article for my paper because it talks about the positive outcomes for young kids when they use puppets in the classroom.
Dunst, J Carl. “Effects of Puppetry on Elementary Students’ Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Individuals with Disabilities.” International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, vol. 4, Issue 3, July 2012, p451-457, 7p. EBSCOhost, URL: https://web-b-ebsc ohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=d90ed8d6-7c39-4821-aa9d-a6f7caf30f85%40pdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=80561867&db=eue. Accessed 5 April 2019.
In this result charts we see the results from two studies that compare the attitudes and knowledge of elementary students on the topic of individuals with disabilities. The kids on the block organization is an organization using life-sized and rod puppets to inform people about individuals with disabilities. The studies showed that the students that experienced the shows had more positive attitudes than those that did not see the show. The student groups were consisted of second, third and fourth grades students. The article is helpful to my paper because it shows how the use of puppets helped the children’s awareness of individuals with disabilities.
Forsberg, Mirella. “Using Puppetry in School Education.” The Learning Curve, Issue 18, September 2012, pp.44-47. Teachers of India, URL: http://teachersofindia.org/en/period icals/learning-curve-issue-xviii. Accessed 5 April 2019.
In Forsbergs’ article she writes about the use of puppetry in India. She focuses on telling the reader that the students learn a lot from the way the teacher portrays the puppet. She speaks of the importance of the teachers’ commitment. She evaluates the use of puppets in one classroom and shows that the puppets helped the students make sense of the situations they were in. This article is helpful to my paper because it helps me prove that puppets in the class curriculum improves students’ collaboration, speaking and expressive skills.
Forsberg, Mirella. “The Puppet’s Communicative Potential as a Mediating Tool in Preschool Education.” International Journal of Early Childhood, vol. 44, Issue 2, August 2012, pp. 171–184. Springer link, URL: https://link-springer-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny .edu /article /10.1007/s13158-012-0060-3. Accessed 5 April 2019.
In this other article written by Forsberg, she speaks mainly about the things she spoke about in her first article. She writes about the collaborative skills that children gain when using puppets in their education. She explains how a puppet could be used as a mediating tool for children in education. She writes about how the puppet is a start for the skills the children develop throughout their lives. She speaks mostly about the skill of communication. This article was helpful for me during my writing because it spoke about the starting skills young kids need for life.
Hoey, R.A. “Puppetry Health Education.” Health Education Journal, vol. 23, Issue 1, March 1965, pp.47-50. Sage Journals, DOI: 10.1177/001789696502300108. Accessed 5 April 2019.
In this article hoey talks about using puppetry in the health education setting.hoey emphasis the need for health educators to use puppetry. He explains some of the methods on how to make such puppets and which puppets they used in the examples of his paper. He described the stories of the puppets that were talked about in his work. This text was useful to me because it helped prove that the puppets that they used helped them in the classroom. They puppets had an impactful experience on the children.
Levy, B. Mark. “Some Uses of Puppetry in Jewish Education.” Journal of Jewish Education, vol. 68, Issue 3, December 2002, p.48-57. EBSCOhost, DOI: 10.1080/0021624 020680308. Accessed 5 April 2019.
In this text levy talks about how the puppets can be a very effective tool because even through the puppets’ personality is not real it is still impactful to the child. He speaks about the physiological relationship that it creates with the children. He writes that by using puppetry to teach the torah and the jewish holidays it helps students see things from another view. This text was helpful to me because it spoke about the need for puppetry in religion education.
