Learning to shine

Some of the greatest lessons children will learn this year may well take place outside of the classroom, as child anthropologist Sharon Attard found out.

There is no denying we live in a so-called 'age of technology'. Gadgets and gizmos have slowly but surely seeped into so many facets of everyday life that their absence is often unthinkable.

A child growing up in this environment is hard-pressed to imagine a life without television and/or computer games, given that they are constant and prominent features of their everyday reality. It is a sad fact that children's interactions with these machines, or the priority thereof, have in recent years tended to supersede more social activities whereby attention is more focused on other living beings than on inanimate objects.

As a result, children are being deprived of the face-to-face contact in their play which is so important for their development, to bring out skills and competencies that are integral to their being. Having the confidence to speak out on issues that affect them, or having the courage to ask questions, or merely making their presence felt by others is lacking in some children. They prefer to look inwards for company and resort to living in a self-contained world with electronic forms of entertainment for company.

This situation underlines the need for children to become more actively engaged in activities that bring out their true selves from the little shells in which they are hiding.

Two local drama schools in particular, namely Helen O'Grady Drama Academy and Stagecoach Theatre Arts, have exactly that as their aim, as I was fortunate enough to observe during two months of Masters-level research at both schools. My daily visits to these schools fascinated me, and I was taken aback by the imagination and creativity which went into each individual lesson.

The lessons captured the imagination of the participating children. Rather than passively following instructions given to them by their teachers, the children were invited to actively contribute to the lesson to the point where their participation and originality were the main factors leading to a successful lesson. Rather than focus on simple imitation of what was shown to them, the children were often made to look into themselves and to bring their own personal elements to their drama scenarios.

The focus in these lessons constantly remained on the children themselves, and each child was clearly treated in a unique and individual manner which gave importance to their personal progress and development. The lessons I observed on a regular basis were specifically tailored to the children for whom they were intended. The children were given the opportunity to shine in their own unique way, in a manner that was free from any element of competition or undue stress and pressure.

Teachers guided the children to explore and work together, highlighting the spirit of teamwork and integration with one another and bringing these qualities to the forefront of the fun work done in the classroom. The acquisition of these necessary social skills was given high importance, and was subtly incorporated into each and every single lesson in a way which allowed the children to actively learn them in practice and in their interactions with one another.

Participants who had the tendency to cower and hide in the corner in the first few lessons had confidently found their place at the centre stage by the end of the year, marking an astonishing individual journey of personal growth. The enthusiasm and energy at the heart of the programmes was a significant driving force in this, instilling new and original ideas into each lesson and leaving no room whatsoever for boredom or passivity.

Children were free to participate without fear of being reprimanded for making a mistake, and were also provided with a fun, non-competitive and stress-free environment in which their personal and social development could thrive.

There is a recognised need for all children to have access to the kind of holistic education these programmes provide, and any efforts to facilitate their participation should be encouraged and strengthened, particularly in light of the benefits to be derived from it. This was already seen in opportunities given to students from Senglea, Cospicua, and Kalkara primary schools, to name a few . Through the support of key beneficiaries as well as a scholarships offered by the Helen O'Grady Academy, these were able to take part in the self-development programmes run by the academy.

The results were keenly noted, most recently by Sandro Spiteri, director (Quality Assurance) in the Directorate for Quality and Standards in Education, who said the project was an "outstanding success, since it succeeded in reaching targets in language mastery as well as personal and social development that would have otherwise been far more difficult to attain in the context of a traditional curriculum".

New or prospective students, as well as their parents, are sometimes reluctant to being enrolled in drama classes. Some remain doubtful as to how much benefit or enjoyment a few hours of drama can provide, particularly to children who may lack self-esteem or have a tendency to be somewhat unsociable or shy among their peers. These are the very children that such local drama programmes aim to target first and foremost, to bring their social skills to the fore and stimulate their social interaction among other children in a friendly and positive environment.

After witnessing two different local programmes on offer on a daily basis over a period of two months in 2006, my clichéd yet honest response would be that the benefits to be derived from such initiatives is something parents and children have to see to believe. With the start of the scholastic year and with academic pressures start to mount, children are in desperate need of a stimulating and exciting reprieve from studies which is socially interactive and above all, fun.

I would encourage any parent to explore the many options for drama that are available in Malta.

Ms Attard graduated with distinction from Brunel University in 2006 with an M.Sc. in cross-cultural studies of children, child development and youth. She lectures on child anthropology at the University of Malta.