More Drama Please!

Sir Ken Robinson said in an interview : I believe that the arts should be on an equal footing in schools with the sciences, humanities, languages and physical education.

I agree with him. As I had already emphasized the importance of storytelling in my previous post, I think drama is another way of developing critical thinking skills amongst the learners. They are encouraged to think in a non-linear fashion when they enact a character.  By enacting a role, the learners learn about different characters, their emotions, line of thought & responsibilities.  It also helps in engendering empathy (which now a days belong to the category of 'endangered emotion'). With the globalization, there is a strong need for everyone to be empathetic towards each other so that harmonious existence is possible. 

Besides this the various characters played by the learners, encourages them to think beyond the normal line of thinking and develops their language skills.  By participating in the drama, the learners learn to be cooperative with each other and there is a strong likelihood of decrease in self-centered attitude of many of them. It has also been a general observation that self-esteem of participating kids increases tremendously and it leads to improvement in their academic achievement as well. Once the sense of self-worth of learners increase, it automatically leads to the development of positive habits like sharing and patience.  I feel all these traits and skills are very necessary for Generation Z kids to become good global citizens and most importantly they will help them to become good human beings.

References:

Image of drama Retrieved November 15,2011 from http://images.yourdictionary.com/drama