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INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD SCRIBNER AMES 1

CHAPTER

INDEX 161

A SHEPHERD Frontispiece

FIGURE PAGE

INTRODUCTION

BY EDWARD SCRIBNER AMES

This book is its own best commendation, for it is a most convincing record of an important experiment in education. It is the more interesting because it is a real contribution to educational method from the field of religious education, which too often only appropriates and imitates what has been achieved elsewhere.

This experiment is founded upon the powerful dramatic impulse of children and upon the educative value of the natural expression of that impulse under the mutual self-criticism of the participating group. The function of the leader has been that of an unobtrusive member of the group contributing such suggestions from a wider experience and deeper insight as would naturally elicit and guide that criticism. That this fine art of teaching has been realized with unusual skill in this experiment will be apparent to the discerning readers of this record, as it has been by those who have watched the progress of the work itself.

The latter will appreciate the frank portrayal of the early and cruder efforts of the children and their own critical reactions due to further reflection and experimentation. These will understand something of the ability and patience that Miss Miller has employed in allowing the native impulse to develop naturally and to mature through the reactions of the children themselves. They will realize that the little people actually formulated the scenes and the lines of the dramas even if it required many weeks in some cases to do so; that it is better for the actors to make their own costumes and stage properties, however simple they may be; that it is more educative for each child to be familiar with all of the parts, and thus with the drama as a whole, than to be coached ever so cleverly to impersonate a single character; and that facility and power in dramatization are thus attained which are permanent sources of pleasure and understanding.

It need scarcely be added that the biblical stories are exceptionally well suited to such use and that when so employed they yield their profound religious quality directly in deep and lasting impressions. The children who have been so fortunate as to belong to this dramatic club not only "know" these stories, but they have lived them in an intimate and durable experience.

EDUCATIONAL AIMS IN DRAMATIZATION

Dramatization is not commonly recognized as a means of vitalizing the religious education of children. The public school has found it to be one of the most effective methods for enriching the pupil's ideas of given units of subject-matter and for leading to the establishment of permanent interests and of habitual modes of action.

The use of dramatization in the school in order to accomplish these ends finds its justification in certain fundamental principles of teaching. Subject-matter is so presented that the important ideas stand out clearly. These ideas are mastered by utilizing them in some form of activity which leads to self-expression on the part of the children. Judgments are formed and conclusions are reached when children enter actively into a situation which presents a problem; ideas become their own through experience. Through dramatization children give expression to these ideas in the light of their own interpretation. The formulation of standards, the placing of values, and the realization of truths and ideals follow as direct results of actively entering into the life-experience of others.

From a psychological point of view ideas and ideals, whether religious or secular, are developed according to the same general laws. Furthermore, the principles of teaching which are effective in the daily classroom must be equally significant in religious training. It follows, therefore, that dramatization and other forms of self-expression are as valuable in attaining the aims of the Sunday school as they are in teaching the curriculum of the day school. Through dramatizing a Bible story children come into a comprehension of the life-experiences of a highly religious people; they are forming their own standards and ideals through meeting and solving the simple life-problems of the Hebrews. Each child has as great an opportunity for self-expression through dramatizing a Bible story as that afforded through dramatizing any other story. He not only develops his individuality, but through this kind of work he must necessarily come into the realization of his place within the group, as is the case in all well-directed dramatization.

The period is rapidly passing in which dramatics is looked upon by church members as being sinful and not in any way to be connected with the church. This view is a relic of a conception of religion in which all forms of freedom and pleasure were considered evil. People interested in religious education are now realizing that dramatization is not an activity foreign to children, but that it is an outgrowth of the play interest which is natural to all children. They are aware of the fact that dramatization becomes evident in the earliest stages of childhood through the desire of children to imitate in play the surrounding social activities. Many churches have already made use of these natural tendencies by incorporating organized play as one of their activities. Since dramatization is but a specialized form of organized play, and inasmuch as it can be used very effectively in vitalizing the religious training which all children should receive, it deserves a wider recognition and adoption.

This book contains a description of a children's dramatic club which has been conducted as a part of the work of the Sunday school of the Hyde Park Church of Disciples, Chicago, Illinois, for the purpose of accomplishing the ends stated above. Before this dramatic club was organized a small amount of dramatization was attempted in certain of the classes during the Sunday-school period. The enthusiastic response from the children to this new phase of the work revealed the need for more of this kind of activity, and as a consequence it was decided to devote one hour each Sunday afternoon to the dramatization of Bible stories. The membership of the club included children ranging from six to fourteen years of age. The average attendance has been from twenty to thirty children each Sunday throughout these four years of the club's existence.

This organization was attempted more or less as an experiment with the hope that definite results could be accomplished. The practical problems which have arisen, the details of method of procedure, and the results which have been secured will be discussed in the following chapters.

Several of the stories are given in the dramatic form which the children have worked out. This is done for the sake of showing what kind of a result may be secured. It is hoped that these plays, as they are written here, will not be given to children to learn and act; such a procedure would be entirely contrary to the spirit and purpose in which this experiment is set forth.

THE METHOD OF DRAMATIZATION

Two very different aims are revealed in the present-day employment of dramatization. Children are often required to give a dramatic production at some entertainment or social event. For this purpose a story is selected which has already been put into dramatic form. The parts are assigned by the leader, and the children are asked to memorize these parts in exact form and order. The children are then trained to give their parts according to directions. Throughout the preparation of the play the finished production is the goal of endeavor. In such instances as this the children are a means to an end, and their own training and development are usually sacrificed in the leader's attempt to secure a highly finished product.

In contrast to the case just mentioned, dramatization is looked upon as an important educational factor in the development of children. From this point of view dramatization is utilized in developing on the part of the child intense and permanent interests in the words and deeds of noble characters, in developing power of natural expression in them as individuals and as members of a group, and in raising standards of action to higher levels by giving forceful expression to worthy ideals. These aims are realized through the use of informal methods which give the children abundant opportunity for initiative and choice. The children themselves prepare their dramatization under the guidance of a leader who has a vision of the results which may be secured and who is skilful in directing the activities toward these ends.

The little dramatic club herein described adopted at the outset the point of view outlined in the preceding paragraph. Its organization was based on the belief that the development of boys and girls is a much more vital consideration than the development of a dramatic production. Throughout its history the chief purpose of the club has been to promote the growth of children through the free, spontaneous dramatization of Bible stories. In order to accomplish this aim, an informal method of working out dramatizations has been used. The public presentation of a play is only incidental to the children; there is no need for them to act out a story that has been dramatized by someone else. Their aim is realized in the joy of actually living the story over each time they play it, though this may result in the highest form of entertainment. That children should "speak lines" given them to memorize for the sake of entertainment is deadly--to the child as well as to the audience.

There is some difference of opinion as to the value of the classic language of the Bible for children, and many advocate the use of modern or simplified versions. If, however, the children have made their own efforts to dramatize the story, using first of all their own words, it is easy to help them to adopt much of the beautiful classic language in putting the work into its final form. The biblical wording helps to give the play its proper dignity and atmosphere, at the same time acquainting the children with the exact language of a piece of good literature.

The method of procedure which is followed in leading children to work out their own dramatizations varies slightly according to circumstances but in the main is as follows:

A story is chosen by the leader which includes the elements essential for a good dramatization, and it is told to the children in such a way that the action or events are emphasized. Direct discourse is used in the telling, and an effort is made to develop simple and vivid mental pictures. The children divide the story into its most important pictures or scenes. They then suggest in detail what should take place in the first scene, and some of them are asked to act it out as they think it should be done. This first presentation is sometimes stiff and more or less self-conscious. The leader raises such questions as, "Which parts did these children do best?" "Why?" "Where can they improve it?" "What would you do to make the part better?" "What do you think should have been said here?" This leads to constructive criticism of the scene by the children themselves rather than by the leader in charge. Each child is eager to offer suggestions at this point and is anxious for an opportunity to give his own interpretation of the part by acting it out. He formulates his words as he acts. He forgets himself in the genuine interest which arises as he relives the experience of someone else. Each scene is developed in a similar manner.

The leader encourages freedom in individual interpretation, yet she is ever keeping before the children the fact that they are trying to give a true portrayal of the characters or conditions. It is often valuable to have a discussion of individual characters for the purpose of securing clear ideas concerning them. After all have tried various parts and have offered many suggestions, they may be led to choose that interpretation which seems most adequate, or they may all work out the interpretation of a part which will involve the ideas of many. After the story has been played through a few times, each child should be able to assume any character. It is an essential part of this method to see that every child has a different part each time.

In many instances the dramatization needs no further development. None of the words have been accepted as definite, for, although the thought given is the same each time, exactly the same words are never said twice. The story is interpreted slightly differently with each performance. This interpretation, without obtaining a highly finished result, is best for short stories or incidents. Fables and parables may be used well in this way. The action follows continuously with the development of the thought.

In the case of a story which has a more detailed plot and which involves more complicated situations the development may go further: the wording is carefully worked out by the children and the language of the Bible is employed. The words which are finally used by the children may be composite results developed by the group as a whole, or after they have gone as far as they can with them the leader, or a committee composed of several children with the leader, may suggest a final form which is good from a literary standpoint.

Children either volunteer or are chosen by the others to take finally certain parts. There is a marked socializing influence evident in the fact that a child is chosen by the other children for the good of the group and not for self-aggrandizement or partiality toward a friend. It is always the case after a few rehearsals that each child knows every part and can easily adapt himself to the part of any character. There is no trouble about a substitute when one or two children fail to arrive. Each child has lived the story until it has become a very vital part of him. The finished product belongs to the children; they have developed it; it is not the production of someone else which they have learned by heart.

At the final presentation of the play the children invite parents and friends. This is not thought of as a climax toward which they have been working; it is hardly more important than any of the rehearsals; it is simply an opportunity for others to enjoy the story with them. The encouragement of this attitude toward the public presentation of a play is important in that it does away with the self-conscious feeling of a child that he is acting before people, or that people are interested in him rather than in the character that he portrays. Much harm can be done by allowing a child to feel that he is "showing off" on a stage.

This mode of procedure in developing a dramatization illustrates the general method which is employed in order to secure the results herein discussed. It should be helpful as a method which may be varied or built upon according to the circumstances. Detailed descriptions of exact modes of procedure in presenting different kinds of Bible stories to the dramatic club will follow. Costumes and stage settings have always been of the simplest nature and will be discussed at length in a separate chapter.

In order that this method may be of greatest practical value to those who are unfamiliar with it, a summary may give the steps in logical sequence. This outline is not to be taken as unchangeable, but merely as a working basis for the beginner.

At the first meeting the story was told in terms that followed closely the Bible version. The children were asked to select the big events, or pictures, in Joseph's life. They readily spoke of his life in Canaan as a boy; his being put into the pit and sold to the merchants; his life in Egypt with Potiphar; the prison experience and the interpretation of Pharaoh's dream; the change of fortune in becoming ruler of the land; the famine and the visits of his brothers; and, finally, his kindness to his father and brothers in giving them a home in Egypt.

The story was told to the children very much as follows:

Jacob was an old man, too old to care for his large flocks. He sat in the door of his tent day after day, and sent his twelve sons off with the sheep and goats to find grassy fields.

Now of all the twelve sons Jacob loved Joseph, a lad of seventeen years, the best. Joseph was next to the youngest and often stayed with his father while the older brothers went away. Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors and showed him often that he was the favorite. This made the older brothers very jealous of Joseph, and they began to dislike him.

Once Joseph dreamed a dream, which he told to his brothers, and it made them hate him all the more. He said to them, "Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about and bowed down to my sheaf." Then his brothers said to him, "Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou have power over us?"

Then Joseph dreamed yet another dream, and he told it again to his father and brothers, and said, "Behold, the sun and moon and the eleven stars bowed down to me." And his father said unto him, "What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee?" And the brothers remembered what their father had said, and they wished that harm might come to Joseph.

It happened soon after this that Jacob sent his ten older sons with the flocks to Shechem, a place some distance away where there was good grass. Now the brothers were gone for so long a time that their father became anxious and decided to send Joseph after them. He said to Joseph, "Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? Go, I pray thee, see whether it be well with thy brethren and well with the flocks; and bring me word again." So Joseph took money and food in his bag, and his staff in his hand, and went out to find his brothers.

At Shechem there were no brothers to be seen. Joseph was wondering what he should do next, when he saw a man coming toward him over the field. "What seekest thou?" said the man. And Joseph answered, "I seek my brethren; tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks." "They have departed from here," said the man, "and have gone to Dothan." Then Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

Now when the brothers saw Joseph afar off, they knew that it was he from his coat of many colors, and they plotted against him. One of them said, "Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come, now, let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say unto our father that some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams." Reuben, one of the brothers, felt more kindly toward Joseph than did the others and said to them, "Let us not kill him, but let us cast him into this pit that is near." Reuben thought that he would come back later after the brothers had gone and help Joseph out of the pit and take him to his father.

When Joseph came to his brothers, they quickly took the coat of many colors from him and bound him and cast him into an old well which was dry. Then they sat down to eat bread. They had hardly become settled when one of them cried out, "Behold, I see a caravan! It is a company of Ishmaelites, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh, going down to Egypt." Then Judah said, "Why do we slay our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother and our flesh." The brothers were content to do as Judah had said. They drew Joseph up out of the well, and when the Ishmaelites came near they sold him to them for twenty pieces of silver. And the brothers went away to kill a goat so that they might dip Joseph's coat into the blood, that their father might think that he had been killed by some wild animal.

Reuben did not know that Joseph had been sold, and returned unto the pit after the brothers had left. When he saw that Joseph was not there, he rent his clothes, and ran after the others, crying, "The child is not, and I, whither shall I go?"

And when the brothers brought Joseph's coat to their father, they said, "This we have found, thou knowest if it be thy son's coat." And Jacob knew it, and said, "It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him." Then Jacob put on sackcloth and ashes and mourned for Joseph many days.

Now the Ishmaelites brought Joseph down into Egypt and sold him to Potiphar, a captain of King Pharaoh's guard. And Joseph was faithful and served the Lord, and Potiphar saw that he could be trusted with great responsibility and made him ruler over his household. But Potiphar's wife grew jealous of Joseph and disliked him, and told Potiphar things which were untrue about Joseph. After awhile Potiphar began to believe his wife and he decided that Joseph was not a good man, so he had Joseph cast into prison.

And it came to pass that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt were put into prison at the same time that Joseph was there, and they were placed in his ward. One morning Joseph found them both very sad and he said unto them, "Wherefore look ye so sadly today?" And they said, "We have dreamed a dream and there is no one to interpret it." Then Joseph said, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams, I pray you." And they told him their dreams, and he gave them the meaning thereof. To the chief butler he said, "Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head and restore thee to thy place." But to the chief baker he said, "Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree." And it came to pass that on the third day Pharaoh gave a feast to his servants, and he restored the chief butler to his place, but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted.

At the end of two years Pharaoh dreamed a dream. He was greatly troubled, and sent for all the wise men of the land to tell him the meaning of his dream, but there was none that could interpret it unto Pharaoh. Then the chief butler spoke to the king and said, "I do remember this day, that when Pharaoh was wroth with his servants and put both me and the chief baker into the prison, that we each dreamed dreams in one night; and there was a young man there, a Hebrew, who interpreted to us our dreams, and they came to pass as he interpreted, for the chief baker was hanged and I was restored to my office."

Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they brought him in hastily out of the dungeon. And Pharaoh said, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it, and I have heard say of thee that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it." And Joseph answered Pharaoh, "It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace." Then Pharaoh said, "In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of a river; and there came up out of the river seven fat cows, and they fed in a meadow. And, behold, seven other cows came up after them, lean and ill favored; and the lean and ill-favored cows did eat up the fat and well-favored cows. Then I dreamed again, and, behold, seven full ears of corn came upon one stalk, and then seven ears, withered and thin, came up after them, and devoured the good ears."

And Joseph said to Pharaoh, "God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do. This is the thing which he is about to do: Behold, there will come seven years of plenty throughout the land of Egypt; and there shall rise up after them seven years of famine, and the famine shall consume the land. Now, therefore, let Pharaoh look out a man, discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt, and let him gather up all the food during the years of plenty and lay it up in the cities, so that the land shall not perish in the famine." And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and he said, "Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the spirit of God is? Forasmuch as God has shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art; thou shalt be over my house, and according to thy word shall all my people be ruled." Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and clothed him in fine linen and put a golden chain around his neck.

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