School teachers in the Bethlehem area are involved in a drama course taught by an Exeter University expert in which the theatre techniques are used to help children with learning disabilities.
The stage on one side and the public on the other, the action begin with gestures, dialogues, sounds and expressiveness, above all much expressiveness. What better than a play to tell stories and pass on knowledge? And if people do not think so they should ask Dr John Somers professor at the University of Exeter in England who taught drama to several teachers from the Bethlehem area a few weeks ago.
The idea is for teachers to use theater to help children with learning disabilities to assimilate knowledge and thus follow the lessons normally.
The techniques are easy; you just need to be open to new teaching methods.
The participants in this drama workshop were teachers from primary and secondary schools as part of the agreement “Improving the quality of primary and secondary education in the Palestinian territories” financed by the AECI and implemented by the University of Bethlehem along with the FPSC in the West Bank. For a week Dr. Somers opened new horizons for teachers to develop new skills to attract the attention of those students who need more help following and learning lessons. “They are great techniques that not only will help my students become more interested in the subject, but we are really going to get them involved in the development of their own learning”, one of the teachers who attended the drama workshop assured. On the other hand Brother Robert Smith Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Bethlehem expressed his enthusiasm for these new teaching techniques, which fall within the scope of the agreement dedicated to special education, still unexplored field in Palestinian Territories.