Some children arrive at the Academy for the first time and don’t want to participate because of the fear of failure. Unfortunately the negative view of failure is so fed into children by our education system which sees mistakes as a red mark rather than a green light for a learning experience - these children cannot do anything new, push boundaries, without worrying what the teacher or the others in the class think.
We need to be providing many opportunities for children to take risks and try new things without the worry of making a mistake.
Adrian Voce is director of Play England says: "At real play, children are in charge, instinctively making hundreds of decisions as they assess and determine the levels of risk they want to take, physically, emotionally and socially: mastering, day by day, an increasing repertoire of skills, adding to their bank of experience.
Throughout the animal kingdom, the play of the young is commonly observed to be a rehearsal of life skills, fundamental for species' survival. Human children are no different, needing the make-believe world of play to experience and master the fullest range of challenges – and their emotional responses to them – as a series of lessons for the world they will eventually have to negotiate for real."
Principal of the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy in Cape Town, Duncan Rice, says: ‘Our international drama programme allows children many opportunities to experiment and take risks, particularly on the social level. Making mistakes in speaking and interacting with others very quickly helps children to know the difference between good conversation and bad. Children very soon learn alternative ways to deal with conflict and thereby they learn how to talk and listen with respect to each other. Mistakes are seen as a good thing in the Academy and this allows children to deepen their educational experience.’
The Academy runs after school drama classes and school drama programmes throughout Cape Town. It is one of the largest drama schools in the world with over 3000 children attending classes in the Cape Town area.
The Academy runs in three locations on Saturdays: Newlands, Mitchell’s Plain and Atlantis.
Here you can see our Newlands class in action at the Athenaeum in Cape Town with their teacher, Debbie.
For more information about our classes, contact us on 021 6747478
Website: www.dramaafrica.com
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