Puppet shows: A new way of teaching in schools

Deepika Pasham
Hyderabad

The Covid-hit local puppetry shows are bouncing back in schools. These are replacing the way of teaching in the institutions. However, not all schools are opting for this artistic type of teaching. A few have found that learning outcomes are positive in children. The puppetry teacher also asks parents to decrease the screen time and encourage children to inculcate in arts.

Sphoorthi Theatre for Educational Puppetry Art and Craft (STEPARC), which is training the students and teachers with the puppets, says that it also helps the students grasp the concepts easily compared to the monotonous teaching in the classrooms. These organisers are receiving feedback from the parents as children get back home and keep remembering the stories naming the puppets. Children also ask for specific toys to be brought by the teachers.

Padmini from STEPARC said, “Not only as part of classes, but these shows are also being encouraged for competitions and educators are overwhelmed that they are picking up the old local tradition of teaching children stories. We adapt stories from the textbooks and make stories. We teach the subjects English grammar, Mathematics and Science concepts. Later, we are contacted again by the management as children are showing positive study outcomes.”

“For instance, the place values in mathematics start for Class III and as they cannot understand the infinite value of zero, we try demonstrating to them how once a number is placed after zero it gives units and tens form. Need for sessions on these shows is on the rise,” she added.

The puppetry helps children not get distracted with mobile screen time because nowadays the parents keep the rhymes on mobiles to feed the children. Instead they can learn or teach the child with innovative puppets to build creativity while teaching valuable stories.

The only negative aspect has been observed is that unless the schools have been approached for free conduct of puppetry shows, they are allowed but once. When the organisers ask for a fee, then the institutions ignore them.