Suddenly Harry was the focus of media attention and, to her surprise, asked to be a TedX presenter. Her presentation was titled "Theater education is going to save the world."
Monday, October 14, 2019
Using the Arts as a Pathway to Empathy
Suddenly Harry was the focus of media attention and, to her surprise, asked to be a TedX presenter. Her presentation was titled "Theater education is going to save the world."
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Theather education is so important in high school. Yes, it is also beneficial in middle school and lower grade levels but high school is, in my opinion, the most influential on development. My high school and the theater directors were actively involved in raising awareness for theater education in our schools. I went to a public high school with a very good theater program and I think having the perspective of students who were involved in the arts along with those who didn't help me understand how crucial the arts and creative outlets are for high school students. Not to say that those who weren't in theater were miserable, but many of the students lacked valuable skills (like empathy) that couldn't be taught in a STEM class. I'm not very active in other political or social issues but I do continue to advocate for the importance of theather (or the arts in general) in high schools. The technical director of my high school's theater program says "it doesn't matter if you do this for the rest of your life, it matters that you did this for the rest of your life", meaning that it doesn't matter if students go into the theater industry professionally but it matters that students are involved in activities like theater because the lessons they learn will affect students for the rest of their lives.
I have probably written about this several times, but one of my future goals is to spread the theatre education in Japan. I strongly agree with what Rachel points out as what theatre education can do, such as development of one’s own voice and a skill to observe others not to judge, but to learn, and grow in understanding of empathy through finding a character. Moreover, I had also been explaining to people, my friends, family, and teachers, how drama could be considered as a part of educational programs by holding up music and art classes as examples. However, Rachel also highlights a very important and crucial obstacle in spreading the theatre education: lack in the number of drama teachers who are certified art specialists. If this is true in the states, what about in Japan, where having drama department in universities is not common? The Japanese government has been putting an effort in installing English-language education in elementary schools in the past decade. However, they focused only on the curriculum structure to fit English classes, not on the teaching skills of teachers. This resulted in overwork of teachers and poor quality in English education. In order to change the educational system, it is extremely important to consider the ways to educate current and future teachers.
I very strongly feel that theatre education is one of THE most important things that a school could provide children and teenagers with. (Fun fact, I actually just wrote a proposal for additional specialized theatre education at my high school for my final interp project). I watched the video of Harry’s TED talk, and like she explains, theatre is so important because it brings together so many different types of minds. Theatre isn’t just what we see on stage. Theatre is the brainchild of visual artists, technicians, scientists, writers, etc. Learning about this very unique type of collaboration from an early age sets children up to be fantastic collaborators in the real world, regardless of whether they end up pursuing theatre or not. Theatre teaches people how to be more human. And, like the article explains, it’s not just reading information in a history book. Theatre is active—kids aren’t just reading about compassion, they are physically embodying that compassion during a production. It’s real, and it’s almost tangible. At my high school, where academics were always the number one priority, the theatre kids were the athletes, the scholars, the artists, the student government members, the entrepreneurs, the musicians. The theatre became a melting pot of innovative ideas, and the positive messages that we explored were taken outside beyond the theatre and spread into our community. This is why theatre education matters. It teaches people to understand others different from themselves.
Theatre education is so so so important. Take it from me, someone who's high school has a terrible theatre program. That may sound weird, but it's true. My program was underfunded and under-appreciated, not to mention a director who was anything but warm and fuzzy. But, no matter what, the program got me to where I am, which is someone who is passionate about theatre. No number of poorly done shows or verbal attacks from my director could have made me not love theatre. Now imagine a kid who has a better program; it's magical. Passions like mine that are very natural and intrinsic need to be encouraged and the only way to do that is enriching the public education's theatre departments. No, I don't mean fancy private arts schools. Those are absolutely not accessible for the general public and that helps no one. No, I mean the most low-income, rundown public schools you could imagine, like mine. These are really the kids who need live theatre. I think what CMU does with the Tonys is really important! Rewarding teachers who dedicate their lives to educating the next generation of creators is so important!
I may be a little biased, but I think theatre education in both primary and secondary school can be - and is - life-changing for some students. Not only as a means of deciding a career, but also as a social balance in a child’s formative years. Theatre really does help a person to empathise - be they designers or technicians or performers or directors or choreographers or…whatever, really. There is always something to connect with because theatre isn’t real life but, to an audience, it almost always must be (or it at least must become some version of real life, within a decent suspension of disbelief). Theatre education is so important not because it teaches young people how to be human (hopefully, they already know how to do that on some level), but how to be MORE human. Not only does theatre teach a burgeoning adult how to better interact with others on a social scale but, hopefully, on a moral one as well.
Having been fortunate enough to attend a high school with a strong theatre program, I can say with certainty that high school theatre changed my life, and changed who I am as a person. Theatre education teaches you skills and lessons that are nowhere to be found across campus: teamwork, leadership, problem solving, creativity, and human connection. There is no other activity in which you are so actively involved in such a large project, and are faced with unique challenges and problems around every corner. My high school drama director had an enormous impact on my life, and because we spent so much time together collaborating on shows and productions, we were able to help each other grow into the best versions of ourselves. That sort of personal connection with an adult teacher/mentor seems to happen most often with arts educators, since working in the arts forces us to be open and responsive to collaboration and human connection. I will not stop talking about arts education until the day I die, because I’ve personally witnessed the change it can enact on someone’s life.
Like every other commenter has mentioned, theatrical education is one of the most valuable things a high school can provide. My high school had a very involved but underdeveloped theater program and no presence within the academic life of students. This is largely due to the fact that the entire production team for the program is made of adults with other full time jobs, and so the theater program is technically a club. With some more backing from the school I think that the program could grow to become a really valuable resource for the school. In my senior year I began to notice a strong differentiation between the students in the theater club and those outside of it, such as the fact that the majority of the fundraisers and community events held at my high school are run by students in the theater program, and last year a group of students independently produced a show talking about the issues of dating violence, social media, and depression. There is a lot more compassion and activism found in the theatrical community because theater teaches the idea of putting yourself in another person's situation. I think that this skill should be taught universally to students because with many of the social issues we see in the modern world, it appears that a little bit of empathy would go a long way.
At first, this article disappointed me. It felt more like a description of the praise Harry had been given and the good time she had at the Tony's two years ago. I wish that the last paragraph in this article had come far sooner, and that the video of her Ted Talk had been placed at the top. Even while I was watching her Ted Talk, there was a part of me that was thinking "ok, yes, but none of this is groundbreaking or mind-boggling." And then she connected it to how arts and theatre can help change the world we live in given the tools it teaches to empathize, understand, connect, and dialogue with one another. I feel like, as theatre practitioners ourselves, we take this for granted all of the time. We all clearly understand the value of theatre, as we have chosen pretty seriously to dedicate our higher education and early work life to it. Even at the Tony's, I feel like the audience is largely sympathetic and understanding as to why Harry's mission is one to be pursued and enhanced. While my heart warmed to heart her talk about the importance of theatre in in high schools and on young minds, this is a message that needs to go far beyond me and others already in the theatrical atmosphere. This message and these tools need to be brought into adult learning classes for business personnel, workshops for upper management and CEO's, trainings for military personnel and those in the armed services. I think that there is so much good theatre and the arts can do, but we need to make sure that we're being truly diverse in our audience and not just preaching to the choir.
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