Windows to Imagination : the Art of Puppetry
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WiNDOiniS TO IMAGINATION: THE ART OF PUPPETRY Anne McKinnon Gibson B.G.S., Simon Fraser University, 1990 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (EDUCATION) in the Faculty of Education 63 Anne McKinnon Gibson 1992 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1992 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. 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APPROVAL Name: Anne McKinnon Gibson Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Windows to Imagination: The Art of Puppetry Examining Committee: Chair: Robin Barrow Stuart Richmond Senior Supervisor &&~anley-~asimir Professor Michael Ian Foster Professor Visual and Performing Arts in Education The University of British Columbia External Examine; PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE 1 hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay WINDOWS TO IMAGINATION: THE ART OF PUPPETRY Author: (signature) Ann~McK! nnon Gibsnn (name) Auaust 10. 1992 (date) ABSTRACT In what ways do puppets encourage and enable children to work imaginatively and creatively in an integrated arts setting? To answer this question this study draws educational implications from detailed pictures of classroom life, using an integrated arts project with puppets. Eisner's (1385) model of art criticism is used to focus the narrative vignettes, record judgements, and evaluate and interpret the educational experience firsthand. The study is divided into scenarios. The educational criticism of each scenario comprises three major dimensions, based on Eisner's model:. descriptive * interpretative evaluative. Following Eisner, the attempt is made "to create a rendering of a situation" (p. 179). In this rendering, a role has besn assigned to the researcher -- that of "teacherNVizard". As Wizard, the teacher operates as both observer and purveyor of "magic" (imagination). The study thus conveys a strong sense of the creative setting in which imagination is freed and encouraged to flourish. The narrative format avoids the use of technical jargon, which may obscure what actually happens in the classroom. The study presents a particular perspective on the reality of an environment where children who think freely, achieve much of what they wish to know, and their educators wish them to learn. Students are observed as they work and play imaginatively in both a siruclured and unsiruciured way. The observer noies changes ihat occur on a continuum -- from inhibiiior? and self-coiiscioiisi7esscionss to creativity, imagination, communication, sense of fun, self-confidence and self-discipline. iii Interspersed throughout this study are children's comments about what they are doing. In making an academic interpretation of !he educa!iona! experience, these comments allow us to continuously assess its success from the children's point of view. implications from the study are used to develop a rationale and a set of practical suggestions for using puppets in the classroom. DEDICATION Dedicated to my family and my 1992 class of grade three and four students. 'ION Mountebanks and ministers, anthropologists and aborigines, philosophers and Philistines have long been entranced by the world of puppetry -- by the special mystery of objects made live. Set into motion by the simplest of means -- hands, rods, strings -- the animated object becomes a puppet not when the operator assumes complete control of it, but at the infinitely more subtle moment when the object seems to develop a life force of its own. This life force that puppeieers create and discover within their objects lends credibility to the magical and fantastical transformation of objects into creatures. (Malkin, 1980, p. 9) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere thank you to the following for their gracious assistance in performing the puppetry activities, in providing research materials, ideas, directioa, encouragement, building stages, writing and editing techniques and typinq:- My 1992 class of grade three and four students, The Vancouver Guild of Puppetry, Dr. Stuart Richmond, Dr. Michael Manley-Casimir, teaching colleagues, parents, Paul Gibson, Mary Gillis and Shirley Heap. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page .. Approval Page .............................................................................................................. i i Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ..................................................................................................................... V Quotation .................... ... ......................................................................................... v i Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... vii ... Table of Contents ..................................................................................................... Vlll INTRODUCTION: The Tradition of Puppetry .......................................................... 1 CHAPTER I. Introduction ........................................................................................... 7 Rationale ........................................................................................................... 8 Characterization of Methods .......................................................................... 11 Limitations ......................................................................................................... 15 Terms ................... ..... .................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER li. Literature Review .............................................................................. 17 CHAPTER Ill . Practical Application .. Activities ...................................................... 43 Scenario 1. Releasing the latch on children's imaginations ................. 43 Objectives .................................................................................. 43 Analysis ..................................................................................... 55 Scenario 2 . Making puppets and students come alive ........................... 61 Objectives .................................................................................