Kendry Ortiz
Professor Ewan and Adams
FIQWS
April 1 2019
Research Proposal:Puppetry Teachings In Early Educational Proposal
Puppetry has sparked a amount of controversy all over the globe and has gained the eyes of the public in different ways. For example puppetry have been used to symbolize everyday life and hidden meaning that are shown in society like in Bread and Puppet theater.
My thesis question is what are the effects of puppetry on the learning capacity children in early education? The information on this topic varies as there are many different sides to it. Puppetry has been around since some of the earliest civilizations like ancient Egypt that primarily used them for entertainment. One source I found about puppetry in early education is Mirella Forsberg Ahlcrona’s “The Puppet’s Communicative Potential as a Mediating Tool in Preschool Education” which talks about puppets who are used in preschool as a beginning for children to interact and communicate better in school. As puppets were mainly made for entertainment as was said before they were able to grab the attention of the preschoolers and have them enjoy learning numbers instead of paying less attention to the lesson then to the puppet.
I chose this topic because I think education is one of the most important things in someone’s life. It lets people grow and being in early education as a child it’s your first steps to becoming something. As a preschooler I wasn’t always the paying attention in my classes because they were always boring since there was never any content that interested me. I chose the topic because I’m wondering what could come out of putting puppets in schools. another question that has surfaced is can puppetry be able to help in therapeutic environment or can it trigger a response that might send children to therapy?
Another source is an article called “Puppetry And Problem Solving Skills” by Charles A. Smith. Puppetry has shown what it can offer to early education it showed. Children tend to give their full attention to the puppets that have been introduced to them in their classes. These sources showed me that puppetry can actually help children to learn problem solving skills and help them interact and communicate. This is what the authors of these articles have showed me that the topic has made choose my side.
I think that puppetry can affect early education because of the evidence in the sources of how those teachers introduced puppetry to their kids. They also have seen that it improved their social skills while learning basic subjects like math. Also those sources have made it simple for me to explain that puppetry while for entertainment it can also be used in school to have kids prepare socially and academically. Others may argue that puppets might be in the way of the learning itself.
Expository Essay on Puppets in Early Education
Puppetry has been very influential in many cultures throughout the world and has gained a lot of attraction from many different types of ways. For example puppetry have been used to portray problems in society like in bread and puppet theater with their controversial opinions on government. Puppetry has also made a stage for itself in education which gives a sense of the effects that puppetry has on the learning capacity of children in early education.
Many people have found that puppetty has effect on the minds of young children in schools. Most of the people that were curious of what is the outcome of introducing puppetry to children. Teachers and researchers wanted to try this method to see if there was any change to how well the children paid attention to the lesson or questions that were presented to them. In a article by Ahlcrona, Mirella Forsberg. “The Puppet’s Communicative Potential as a Mediating Tool in Preschool Education.” Ahlcrona who was a teacher made a puppet who was used to teach her kids basic arithmetic. “I made a glove puppet in the form of a bumblebee, and named her Hedvig. I also made a several flowers. The children were 3–5 years old. The main purpose for using the puppet was to introduce the children to basic mathematics.” As a teacher you have to make the lesson a bit interesting to grab the students attention and ahlcrona did that, she was able to teach the children basic maths using her very own puppet.
Children at an early age aren’t the best in social interactions and communication which puppets might help children to overcome their fear of speaking in public and make it easier to communicate in social arrangements. A text by Charles A. Smith “Puppetry and Problem-Solving Skills.” states “Finally, puppet interactions can help children develop causal thinking, the ability to relate one event to another over time.” Puppets can have an effect on how children think in situations and make it easier for them to figure things out. As Charles stated as the children interact with the puppets their
Additionally, Other questions that surfaced from this topic were what were the effects of puppetry in a clinical setting. The results that were found have given more insight of how puppetry was able to give different type of effects on other setting and not only education. Puppetry if put in a clinical setting has various ways on how puppets can affect clinical settings. Puppetry is not only helpful in a educational setting it help children cope with chronic illnesses. In a text by Ruth Nutting. “The Strength of Children Externalizing the Effects of Chronic Illness Through Narrative Puppetry.” “Narrative therapy, along with puppetry, is a dynamic way to foster the externalization of chronic illness. Externalization in narrative therapy focuses on objectifying the problem (illness) from children so that children can view problems (illness) as separate from themselves (White, 2007). Beyond externalizing chronic illness, narrative therapy allows for the conversation of unique outcomes.” Puppetry as Nutting stated, can be a method to help children who are either mentally or physically suffering. Children who are in need, have to learn that what they are going through
As an example, puppets could also deal with emotional situation for example if a child is distraught and maybe suffering from aggressive behavior from outside problems. In a text by Sue Butler, Jeffrey T. Guterman, and James Rudes. “Using Puppets with Children in Narrative Therapy to Externalize the Problem.(PRACTICE)(Report).” Where a 8-year-old kid named Eric was called for counselling for disruptive behavior and put into therapy and as coping with his aggression they used puppets to identify what’s causing the problem. “Through the use of the puppet, the annoyance became a thing, an entity—in effect, an objectification of the problem—which, in turn, enacted the externalizing process. Toward the end of the first session, the counselor asked Eric and his mother if they would like to take the puppet home between sessions.” The counselor chose to make the puppet symbolize Eric’s problem, so they can be able to observe on how Eric uses the puppet and how that correlates to his aggression to pinpoint the cause of his outbursts.
As a result Eric made more progress by giving his problem a voice he internalizes in his puppet, he was able to talk about his problem more and open to the counselor. “Eric then remembered that during the week a classmate called him a bad name at school and he did not erupt in his usual way. The counselor asked Eric, “How did you manage to not let that situation to get you?” Eric was not able to account for how he maintained control.” He was able to control his emotions and not cause an altercation with his classmate from his experience with the puppet he has gone a while without lashing out. Even the counselor was surprised when they learned this. The puppet is working to better Eric’s aggression and subconsciously making him control his anger compared to before the sessions. A text by E C Irwin. “Puppets in Therapy: An Assessment Procedure.” talks about how a kid named Billy has problem with his family and why he is so aggressive. “Often the disguise of the puppet play offers psychic “protection”; because it is “just a story,” the child can safely pretend.” A child making a puppet can be a door opening to the therapist etc because it becomes a safe place for the child and would make them feel safe and open up easier. As Billy continued the puppets he was able express his feeling and progress through them.
Some people may think that puppetry can damage children’s ability to take their lessons seriously and being distracted that they don’t retain the information they learned. People might say that puppets are meant to be used just for entertainment. As teachers used the puppets in their classrooms they might scare the children and develop pediophobia. Pediophobia is a fear dolls an article by the name of “Macy, and Schrader. “Pediophobia: A New Challenge Facing Nursing Faculty in Clinical Teaching by Simulation.” which talks about the effects of pediophobia in the clinical setting which could prove that it could be damaging because for example if a nurse in training has pediophobia, they won’t be able to finish the training since they have to practice on a mannequin. This fear can be caused by a traumatic experience with dolls. “Laura disclosed at this time that as a child she was taunted by her siblings after they found out she did not like to play with dolls that cried or wet their pants.” This was the trauma that caused Laura to be afraid of the mannequin that was in her class. As Laura is training to be a nurse she has to go to meeting and counselors to try to make her fear not interfere with her training. Puppetry can be damaging to peoples lives because they can trigger an odd reaction to them. While many think puppetry can be a problem for children, others have made studies and found that puppetry is able to help children grow as individuals. When children interact with puppets they are able to develop their problem solving skills and if they were suffering from something serious puppets would help them. Even Though puppets are often distracting to children and can have them not pay attention to their lessons.
Puppetry seems to have various effects on early education and on therapeutic/clinical settings. While most of the effects are mainly good there were some bad ones like that they are able to distract the children in lessons. They can also make it harder for children to retain information that they learned from their classes. The effects that count the most are the good ones, puppets can help children control their anger as it can be a base to improve their mental health. Puppetry can be used to observe children behavior and try to identify what is going on that they are producing the behaviors. As the evidence shows puppetry is able to bring out good results from kids but might affect kids in a bad way. Kids could develop a fear of dolls and would be difficult to even be in the same room as one. Children with an illness are able to keep themselves calm when they are using puppets. The children can become more freaked out about their situation. Puppets are a great help to kids as they could help children open up about what’s bothering them. The puppets help the counselors that are trying to resolve the child’s problem.
They can even help in their studies as they are in their classes. Teachers can use puppets to help their students learn basic math and other subjects. They can help with communication so that children are able to talk to other children and critically think and solve problems.
Additionally, puppets are able to do many things for children that prove that they are beneficial to the children. The thesis question had a lot room for improvement as the evidence could be found in different aspects of the question. So there are many effects that puppetry has on the learning capacity of children in early education. Puppetry is very useful as it can improve children’s ability to express themselves. Puppetry is very beneficial to the learning capacity of children in early education.
Annotated Bibliography
Puppets as a Learning Tool
Author:Nancy Quisenberry and Margo Willis
This source offers examples of what puppetry can have an effect on early education if practiced right. Also that it would be beneficial for the puppets to be in classrooms and around children. The ways that children improve their habits and expand their minds when having something that isn’t only boring.
Puppetry and Problem-Solving Skills
Author:Charles A. Smith
This text tell us that puppetry can be linked to teaching kids from a younger age to have problem solving skills. Charles also talks about socially be able for kids to communicate with each other with problems among themselves. I found this text to sum up the points that the topic question has in regard to how can puppetry effect in early education. Young Children 34.3 (1979): 4-11. Web (https://onesearch.cuny.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=TN_ericEJ201825&context=PC&vid=cc&search_scope=everything&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US) JSTOR. 4/7/19.
The Puppet’s Communicative Potential as a Mediating Tool in Preschool Education
Author: Mirella Forsberg Ahlcrona
This text talks about how puppetry can be used to make the hard task of communicating and to help them grow socially with the other children. This also talked about how well the children got used to the puppet. This is a text that also summarizes what puppets can do to improve children learning. International Journal of Early Childhood 44.2 (2012): 171-84.Springerlink Web(https://link-springer-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/article/10.1007/s13158-012-0060-3).4/7/19
One Screen, Many Fingers: Young Children’s Collaborative Literacy Play With Digital Puppetry Apps and Touchscreen Technologies.
Author: Wohlwend, Karen E.
This article talks about how children learning can also be developed with apps on their devices. One of the apps that the young children used was a puppetry app where they were able to move the puppets around and use sound effects. Karen says that this app revealed coordinating storying coordinated storying, digital literacy learning, multimodal production, and play negotiation. This article gives us another side of puppetry the more technical side where it’s easier for children to access.Wohlwend, Karen E. “One Screen, Many Fingers: Young Children’s Collaborative Literacy Play with Digital Puppetry Apps and Touchscreen Technologies.” Theory Into Practice 54.2 (2015): 154-62. Web.EBSCOhost.(https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=fcc00453-3390-4e6c-a7f8-df146cd74843%40sessionmgr120&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=102276155&db=a9h).4/7/19
Puppets talk, Children Listen
Author: Christie Belfiore
This articles talks about how children act when their teachers use the puppet because they get intrigued. She also states that when children are the ones using the puppets they will use their creativity to make their puppets do anything. Using a puppet in a lesson makes it easier for information to stay will the kids.Belfiore, Christie. “Puppets Talk, Children Listen: How Puppets Are Effective Teaching Aids for Kids.” Teach (2013): 9-11. Web.EBSCOhost(https://web-a-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=4103cc62-4a21-4a62-96d8-947c7ab81eac%40sessionmgr4009&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=91631978&db=eue)4/7/19
The strength of Children Externalizing the Effects of Chronic Illness Through Narrative Puppetry Illness
Author: Ruth Nutting
Ruth talks about the effect that puppetry has to children when they are either in mental, emotional or physical pain. She adds that puppetry can help the child get distracted from their illness and release any stress that they might be experiencing. Puppets are able to comfort the child as they are dealing with the coping of the illness and often can lead to them feeling like they don’t have anything wrong with them. Nutting, Ruth. “The Strength of Children Externalizing the Effects of Chronic Illness Through Narrative Puppetry.” Journal of Family Psychotherapy 26.1 (2015): 9-14. Web.EBSCOhost.(https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/resultsadvanced?vid=1&sid=e55bfd41-f4aa-4f57-a3be-0f0711e78a6d%40sessionmgr120&bquery=AN+101854591&bdata=JmRiPXNpaCZ0eXBlPTEmc2VhcmNoTW9kZT1TdGFuZGFyZCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d)4/7/19
Using Puppets with Children in Narrative Therapy to Externalize the Problem.
Author: By Sue Butler, Jeffrey T. Guterman and James Rudes
This text talks about children coping with trauma which could lead to distress and aggressive behaviour. The authors explain that when adding a puppet to the mix it can improve the state at which the child is in for example the child might give the problem a voice via puppet. Puppets could also be a gateway for the child to express what’s actually bothering them and instead gives those bottled up emotions the space they need to be let out. Butler, Sue, Guterman, Jeffrey T., and Rudes, James. “Using Puppets with Children in Narrative Therapy to Externalize the Problem.(PRACTICE)(Report).” Journal of Mental Health Counseling31.3 (2009): 225-233. Web. EBSCOhost (https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/resultsadvanced?vid=3&sid=da11bd71-c084-459f-a5a5-8b43dc4792ef%40pdc-v-sessmgr06&bquery=AN+44087983&bdata=JmRiPWV1ZSZ0eXBlPTEmc2VhcmNoTW9kZT1TdGFuZGFyZCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d)4/7/19.
Puppets in therapy: an assessment procedure
Author: Eleanor C. Irwin
Eleanor writes about the same topic which Sue Butler, Jeffrey T. Guterman and James Rudes wrote about. The puppet showed results of progress with child it was given to and made it easier on the kid to open up. While giving an answer to what was bothering them they felt a sense of safety.Irwin, E C. “Puppets in Therapy: An Assessment Procedure.” American Journal of Psychotherapy39.3 (1985): 389-400. Web. EBSCOhost (https://web-b-ebscohost-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=7c4b5155-1313-4ca5-8e9f-faafeabae8e7%40pdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=4051057&db=mdc)4/7/19
Pediophobia: A New Challenge Facing Nursing Faculty in Clinical Teaching by simulation
Author:By Macy, Rosemary ; Schrader, Vivian
Pediophobia is the fear of dolls which includes puppets. This article talks about pediophobia in clinical teaching and how it can affect the faculty. Pediophobia can hinder people that have it weak as they learn the roads of becoming nurses. This fear can be a challenge to face because most nurses in training have to learn how to to treat real patients by training with dolls.Macy, and Schrader. “Pediophobia: A New Challenge Facing Nursing Faculty in Clinical Teaching by Simulation.” Clinical Simulation in Nursing 4.3 (2008): E89-91. Web.
ScienceDirect(https://www-sciencedirect-com.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/science/article/pii/S187613990800011X)4/7/19
