Saraswathi Priyadarshini Theatre Teacher
Character Education and the Class room
Character education and social emotional learning is an integral part of Theatre-in-Education. Virtues such as kindness, gratitude, compassion, generosity are critical skills to be honed as we teach our students how to be more human. Empathy is one such soft skill that needs to be shared, it is important and crucial that we provide our students with opportunities to have relationships that foster empathetic connections. Merely stating the definition of empathy which is ‘understanding and sharing the feelings of others’ is not going to cut it. With the younger students practical exercises and involvement is critical. At the primary school level most of the lessons in literature and moral education provide excellent opportunities for involvement and discussions. One such example that stood out for me, was about 7 years ago when a lesson in grade two about Helen Keller was enacted. Helen Keller as we know was an American author, disability rights advocate, political activist and lecturer. Miss Keller had lost her sight and hearing after a bout of illness at the age of nineteen months. The lesson was about her early years and challenges. In the drama I involved many children to portray and enact various other disabilities and challenges, as the title music of “Taare zamein pe” played in the background, there
was not a dry eye as students and teachers of grade two watched the brilliant heart touching performances of young budding actors, the role of Helen Keller was played by Surabhi Sridhar with great involvement, she is now in grade 9 and her acting skills have evolved immensely. I remember her eyes closed trying to walk around the living room on stage bumping into furniture and her other classmates, she turned around and said to me “ma’am it’s very hard to be blind”. That’s it. That was the entire purpose of this. To see the audience connect and emote and to evoke the deep involvement of the actors. My very supportive colleagues would often tease me at the end of such shows saying “are you happy now, you made everyone cry”. Helen Keller was also the first deaf and dumb person to earn a college degree. After every drama, we have a very insightful and deep discussion with the students, the interaction is rich and most memorable. Helen Keller’s story of hope and endurance highlights her resilience, that the students can draw from in times of personal adversity much later in life. Empathy is not a fixed trait, it can be fostered. It has to be encouraged and cultivated by parents and teachers. These are a few ways I have tried to teach the social emotional skills in my classroom MARCH 2021 - 025
