On Friday 11th September, Pupperoos ran a workshop on “Creating a Dynamic Literacy Classroom with Puppetry“. It was part of the Future Directions in Literacy Conference hosted by Sydney University’s Division of Professional Learning in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, and held at the Harold Park Function Centre in Glebe NSW. This 2 day conference aims to stimulate professional conversations about future developments in literacy pedagogy and practice in a national and international context. The program also aims to:
- provide an opportunity for teachers, academics and policy makers to share concerns as well as potential solutions to the current challenges facing literacy educators
- thematically link keynotes to other presentations and workshops to clearly establish links between theory and practice. This will be modeled through the work of successful research-based partnerships
- add fresh perspectives on current issues
Under this context, Pupperoos ran a Practical Demonstration and Evidence-based Research Case Study on using puppetry with literacy. Kay Yasugi was joined by Stage 1 (Year 1 and 2) teacher Kate Roberts from Homebush West Public School in delivering this workshop, which aimed to help teachers to explore the many ways that puppetry can be used to stimulate enriched literacy projects and act as a springboard for other engaging learning experiences. The session included demonstrations on making simple puppets, showing a variety of puppets (and their various roles), making and performing with newspaper puppets, and discussing some theory behind using puppetry in education. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, this workshop also gave real-life examples of using puppetry in the classroom within the realities of a crowded curriculum and the pressures of today’s teachers.
