“Feeling” their way to the arts
“When experiencing art, feeling is extremely important,” says Miss Hua Hua. “When there’s no feeling or passion, learning becomes boring, and one becomes less motivated to learn.” She is concerned about children growing up in an era of information explosion. Many parents want their children to cultivate an interest in the arts but don’t know how to begin. “After teaching for so many years, my biggest wish is to see children feel and then express themselves, even if it’s just to convey a simple sense of happiness,” she says. She explains that in the classroom she focuses on listening to children’s responses and doing her best to praise them, so that each and every one gains the courage to express themselves. Today the pace of life is so fast that it’s easy to overlook one’s feelings. Consequently, she teaches them to first stop and feel before advancing to understanding and appreciating.
Miss Hua Hua speaks from personal experience about how important it is for children to find where their own interests lie. In high school she studied baking. After she graduated, because she liked children, she found a job teaching in a kindergarten. She was surprised to find that her childlike vibe made it hard to gain the parents’ trust. The school ended up firing her. Thinking back on it today, she says, “That was an excellent setback.... I would later discover that my true interest lay in early childhood education, so I went on to enroll in a program in it.” After graduating, she got an internship at the Hsin-Yi Foundation, where she had her first contact with children’s theater and found she really enjoyed that way of teaching.
She was very fortunate to meet a few directors who worked for Ifkids Theatre, who introduced her to Teach for Taiwan, an organization that was founded to stem the tide of teachers leaving rural communities. Her religious faith taught her that she had a responsibility for children in rural communities, so she aligned her actions with her beliefs by finding employment as a substitute homeroom teacher at Xiayun Elementary School in Taoyuan’s Fuxing District. In addition to her classroom teaching duties, she has also founded a drama club at the school.
Now 33, she still has a childlike presence. She took a roundabout path to finding out what she likes to do. She hopes that children will be able to find what interests them as they study. She explains, “I am very fortunate to be a teacher of these third-grade children. Atayal children in the mountains also have their own mother language. I’ve had them create a play adapted from Cinderella that explains the importance of road safety. We made the costumes and props ourselves, and entered the play in a competition.” She says that some of the children lack confidence. But like the immigrant children she teaches, they all end up finding these theater classes engaging.
Recently, after enrolling in theater classes for immigrant children, a child discovered she had a passionate interest in performance and at the end of fifth grade was admitted to a Chinese Opera school. Every day at school she performs her stretching and vocal exercises without complaint. Miss Hua Hua finds her story deeply moving. “In fact, many immigrant mothers fully support whatever their children want to do. They have experienced adapting to a new environment themselves, so they can relate to the difficulties their children face.”
Children’s theater is like a magical charm that allows children to momentarily forget their concerns, cultivate appreciation and broaden their horizons. These classes also allow children to better understand themselves, to know their own likes, and to turn on their emotional radar, thus opening the gateway to the world of the arts.
Multiculturalism is a cultural asset that belongs to all second-generation immigrants, and the diverse methods of learning taught in these children’s theater classes are avenues by which parents and children can grow closer. (photo by Chang Su-Ching)