Aichi school uses theater to foster communication skills

Classes that incorporate theater production and performance are gaining traction as a way to foster understanding of others and cultivate group communication skills.

Aichi Prefectural Kariyahigashi High School introduced a new theater-based subject in the current academic year with the aim of establishing an educational method that teachers with no prior theater experience can conduct.

The new subject, called Liberal Arts Japanese, is held for two hours a week for third- and fourth-year students of the school's part-time program during the day.

Although the class incorporates theater lessons, it is taught by three Japanese language teachers. Designed to supplement conventional Japanese language studies, the subject emphasizes practical skills in listening and speaking, according to the school.

In a class held in early November, about 30 students were divided into four groups for discussions on their plays. Each group worked on production based on four different themes — "a teenage girl and her mother," "a woman in her 20s and her mother," "a woman in her 40s and her mother," and "a woman in her 60s and her mother."

They spent a total of four hours coming up with their plays, with each group deciding on such details as time, place and course of events, but intentionally avoiding written scripts so they could make use of improvisation.

Surprise instruction

"You'll now present your plays in numerical group order,” teacher Tomohiko Hyodo, 60, told the students at the beginning of the second half of the lesson. He then made a sudden request.

“Please make the four plays connect into a single continuous story."

The instruction, given just before their presentations, caused murmurs among the students.

As the first group began performing, students in other groups watched intently in an effort to pick up cues. “The daughter’s name is Hinata, right?” a few students whispered, confirming the dialogue as they prepared to link their scenes.

"Adding unexpected settings just before their performances would lead students to take other groups’ plays seriously," Hyodo explained.

“In situations where improvisation is required, the words exchanged are created to suit the conversation with someone in front of you. It's the same as real-life communication in which interactions are unscripted," he said.

During the students’ performances, after one group portrayed the mother as being addicted to pachinko, subsequent groups incorporated the mechanical game into their storyline.

"Seeing the previous group’s performance led us to quickly discuss adding pachinko to our own,” a female student in one of the groups said. “Creating a play together made me feel more connected with others."

Experience optional

Hyodo, who is also the school’s theater club adviser, led the curriculum design for the subject.

Although the school previously integrated theater into Japanese language lessons, he had concerns that lessons dependent on theater specialists don't expand to involve regular teachers and can lose their broader significance

As the school increasingly accepted students from overseas, communication skills became even more essential, Hyodo said. “The role of theater lessons is getting more and more important to equip students with the necessary skills to communicate with other people amid growing diversity,” he said.

The Liberal Arts Japanese lessons focus on one-on-one communication exercises using gestures in the first term before moving on to group theater production in the second term. In the third term, lessons center on "facing loneliness," which integrates reading activities, according to Hyodo.

He emphasized that the subject is not meant to evaluate students' theatrical performance. Instead, the curriculum sets standards for which teachers without any background in theater can evaluate their students, such as dialogue engagement, the ability to communicate in groups and flexibility in adjusting responses according to the situation.

In October, Hyodo co-authored a book called “Communication no Junbitaiso” (Preparatory Exercises for Communication) that summarizes the theater lessons used in his class, targeting junior high and high school students. He hopes to eventually expand this curriculum to other schools.

“Lessons learned through theater plays can build essential skills for navigating the real world. I want to bring these methods not only to schools but to various other educational settings,” he said.

Expanding theater-based education

Since the 2000s, schools in Japan have increasingly incorporated theater into Japanese or moral education classes and have invited theater professionals to hold special lessons.

Gifu Prefecture has held annual workshops in which professional actors are invited to public high schools since 2018. Nagano Prefecture has initiated similar programs in elementary, junior high and high schools, as well as schools for students with special needs, since the 2019 academic year.

Takahiro Watanabe, an associate professor at Tokyo Gakugei University who is well-versed in theater-based education, said that lessons incorporating theater typically involve teachers with experience in the field or those advising theater clubs.

As such, Kariyahigashi High School’s unique approach makes it noteworthy, Watanabe said. “It’s interesting that teachers without extensive theater experience are also taking part in teaching using this method,” he said.

To expand theater curriculum to other schools, Watanabe said, “Desirably, teachers should have the opportunity to feel the joys of theater themselves in a way that makes them want to experience it along with their students.”