Children Play Theatre

Children play Theatre

Publications PDF

In “Children Play Theatre” more than 60 theatre plays for children have been developed.
The project has evolved at the University of Duisburg-Essen over a twenty-year period. The work throughout has been characterized by cooperation between the authors and students, as well as the teachers and children who have put the plays on the stage. The focal concept of the series is to create opportunities to treat complex classroom topics – such as tolerance, respect for the environment, intercultural competence – in an active way, involving full participation of the children and young people in the scenes especially written for them. An additional benefit is the boost to the children’s self-confidence and their ability to cooperate in a team, a well-recognized advantage of drama in education. Approximately half of the plays developed in the project are translated into English.

Children Play Theatre sees drama in education as an ideal medium for cross-curricular work and treats a broad spectrum of subjects. There are seven series, each of which follows the concept of a flexible cast, so that the whole class can be involved, and stimulating subject-matter for the children:

- Technology and Natural Sciences Competences -
- Intercultural Competences -
- Respect for the Environment -
- Tales/Myths/Legends....-
- Tales of the Little Hedgehogs -
- Special Occasions -
- Religious Background -
- Tolerance -

The project has been presented to education experts at several national and international academic congresses and sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Research of the State of NRW.

The Potential of Theatre with Children

Children experience the world about them through play. For this reason complex subject-matter can best be treated with especially written dramas for children and young adults. Respect for the environment, tolerance, understanding of other cultures: these and other subjects can be negotiated playfully with suitable drama processes and drama texts. While taking part in theatre children are able to approach other cultures and language through play and through action. Children become involved with the content of the plays, so that e.g. scientific, technical, historical subject-matter can be studied. Beyond this the child’s self-confidence, team spirit and understanding of the importance of being considerate are strengthened. In this way drama contributes to the development of the child’s personality.

The Project in the Public

-A large number of the theatre plays developed in the project has been edited by different publishers.

-The project was presented to the public at the Leipzig Bookfair 1995 and several other educational fairs.
-Furthermore it has been presented in exhibitions at the university library Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen and at the Ministry for School, Youth and Children in Düsseldorf.

Contact:

University Duisburg-Essen, Campus Essen
Universitätsstr. 15, 45141 Essen
Technologie und Didaktik der Technik

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Wolfgang Haupt
Telefon: 0201 / 183-2639
e-Mail: wolfgang.haupt@uni-due.de

Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Wehling
Telefon: 0201 / 183-2636
e-Mail: juergen.wehling@uni-due.de

Yulia Mouraviova, Dipl.-Des.
Telefon: 0201 / 615-9373
e-Mail: hello@yulia.org

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webmaster: designcase.net

- Technology learning by Theatre-Playing 29 KB
- Gender-oriented Technology Teaching 638 KB
- Sustainable Technology Learning by Theater-Playing 71 KB

References

1 -Haupt, W. / Langkau, th. / Wehling, J. : Gender-oriented Technology Teaching and Learning by Theatre-Playing. ( s. Web UPDATE)

2 -Haupt, W. /Wehling, J. /Langkau, Th. :Sustainable Technology Learning by Theatre-Playing.
In : Learning in Technology Education. Challenges for the 21. Century, Volume One. Ed. : Howard Middleton, Margarita Pawlova and Dick Roebuck. Center for Technology Education Research.
Griffith-University 2002, S. 170-177

3 -Langkau, Th. / Haupt, W. / Wehling, J. :Technology Learning by Theatre-Playing. In : PATT-13 (Pupils Attitude Towards Technology ), International Conference on Design and Technology, Glasgow, Scotland, University of Glasgow ( Faculty of Education ), 2003, ISBN : 0-85261-775-5, S. 6-14

Grundschulunterricht/Sachunterricht. Heft 03-2011, S. 32 ff