(1) _Dramatization often is in very poor form_. The result is not the
important thing, but the process. And sometimes teachers have
understood this to mean, "Hands off!" and left the children to their
crude impulses, unaided and unimproved. When the child shows _what_ he
is trying to do the teacher may show him _how_ he can do what he wants
to do. By suggestion and criticism she may get him to improve his
first effort, provided she permits him to be absolutely free when he
acts.--The place of this absolute freedom in the child's growth has
been emblazoned to the kindergarten by the Montessori System.--Also by
participating in the play as one of the characters, the teacher may
help to a better form. Literature will be less distorted by
dramatization when teachers are better trained to see the
possibilities of the material, when through training they appreciate
the tale as one of the higher forms of literature, and respect it
accordingly. Also it will be less distorted by dramatization when the
tales selected for use are those containing the little child's
interests, when he will have something to express which he really
knows about. Moreover, as children gain greater skill in expression in
construction, in the game, in song, in dance, and in speech, the parts
these contribute to the play will show a more perfected form. Each
expression by the child grows new impressions, gives him new sensory
experiences. Perhaps if the high school would realize the
possibilities in a fairy tale such as _Beauty and the Beast_, work it
up into really good artistic form, and play it for the little
children, much would be gained not only towards good form in
dramatics, in both the elementary school and the high school, but
towards unifying the entire course of literature from the kindergarten
to the university. Using Crane's picture-book as a help, they might
bring into the play the beauty of costume and scenery, the
court-jester, and Beauty's pages. Into the Rose-Garden they might
bring a dance of Moon Fairies, Dawn Fairies, Noon, and Night who, in
their symbolic gauzy attire, dance to persuade Beauty to remain in the
Beast's castle. There might be singing fairies who decorate the bushes
with fairy roses, and others who set the table with fairy dishes,
singing as they work:--
See the trees with roses gay.
Fairy roses, fairy roses, etc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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