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Helping students act out
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Although “drama education” is still a new term to many in China, the concept is already being promoted at many local schools. Indeed, education officials, teachers and drama professionals alike are paying more attention to the role of theater education at schools in Shanghai.
In Changning District, students in the Shanghai No.3 Girls’ Middle School take courses on theater education during their first year. Meanwhile, in Xuhui District, Shanghai Middle School is planning to make drama education part of its English curriculum.
Shanghai School for the Blind has also introduced drama into its education program and uses theater as a means to promote communication by its students. The school now has a drama group with 25 current students. More than 80 of the school’s graduates have also taken part in the group.
Unlike traditional theater training, which emphasizes on-stage performance and acting skill, modern drama education is used by many local schools to facilitate students’ physical, social, emotional and cognitive development. With encouragement from authorities, a growing number of workshops, summer camps and training courses are springing up around the country to introduce local teachers to this new approach to education.
Sang Tan, for instance, a music teacher in Shanghai Middle School, participated in a week-long drama education workshop last month in Tonglu, a quiet village in Shanghai’s neighboring Zhejiang Province.
Sang was one of more than 30 participants from across China who took park in the event, which was organized by the Shanghai Drama Arts Center. The workshop brought together teachers, education authorities and drama troupe members from Shanghai, Beijing, Ningxia, Hong Kong, Macau and other places. Each day, participants rose as early as 6am to take part in a range of drama-related activities — including theater games, group performances and script reading — until late in the night.
“The workshop was tightly scheduled but packed with fun,” says Sang.
According to Linda Tong, the head of SDAC’s drama education project, theater education experts from China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as Singapore, the UK and the US are invited to teach at the workshop every year. Drama education experts Kwan Sun-Pui and Yip Seon-Him from Hong Kong were invited to share their knowledge with students at the workshop last month.
“Drama education is a useful tool in teaching and learning. It can not only cultivate students’ character, but also benefit other educational areas,” Yip adds.
Proponents of drama education say it is an effective form of art education, one which increases students’ awareness of the mind and body while also promoting collaboration and empathy.
With China in the midst of reforming its education system, drama education is also seen by many as a tool to facilitate the country’s shift toward a more holistic approach to education. Historically, Chinese education has been criticized for its emphasis on rote learning and test-taking rather than creativity and psychosocial development.
“Our school is planning to import drama education into our English courses, and we’re taking Western drama system as a reference,” says Sang.
Tu Chuanfa, a teacher at the Shanghai School for the Blind who also participated in the workshop said “Drama is really a good experience. It makes students express themselves, listen to others, feel kindness from others, and learn to respect others. This education is beyond knowledge itself.
“Besides, drama education can improve students’ creativity when it comes to communicating verbally and nonverbally,” he added.
Tu and his fellow teachers at the school use more than 50 games and activities with their students. Many of these activities are meant to be both fun and entertaining and also help students develop psychologically.
By using oral speech, body language, facial expressions and other forms of communication, experts say drama and acting can help students expand their minds and discover their inner potential.
“Requests for drama education are blooming on the Chinese mainland,” Yip says. “Compared with mainland cities, Hong Kong and Taiwan are more mature in this field.”
In Hong Kong, the concept of drama education started at the end of the 1970s. Now around 80 percents of schools in the special administration region have their own drama groups and organizations, according to Yip. Many high-school students have theater courses both in Chinese and English.
Nevertheless, Yip believes the future of Shanghai’s theater education looks promising.
The SDAC also sees the current trend as an opportunity to expand the market for youth-oriented theater performances.
Cooperating with local education authorities, the center is launching a tour project designed to bring classic Chinese and Western plays to middles schools, primary schools and residential communities in Shanghai and nearby areas. One aim of the project is to introduce more young people to live theater.
The project, titled “When Tang Xianzu Meets Shakespeare,” started last weekend and will run through the end of the year. Tang (1550-1616) is a renowned Chinese playwright who died the same year as Shakespeare. His masterpieces include “The Peony Pavilion” and “Record of Southern Bough.”
The project will feature Tang’s “Record of Southern Bough” as well as Shakespeare plays including “King Lear,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Othello.”
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