The activity carried out at the University of La Serena included the premiere of the play “Empezar de Cero” by the ÉTÉULS theater cast.

The result of the First National Meeting of Pedagogical Theater led by the State Universities of Chile, which was held at the University of La Serena, was described as a great success. More than 200 education professionals and students gathered in the Aula Magna of the state school of the Coquimbo Region, with the purpose of acquiring pedagogical tools to implement in the classroom, incorporating theater into their pedagogical practices and trying modify the paradigms of static education in the classroom.

For Hernán León, member of the board of directors of the Network of Arts, Cultures and Heritage, “the opportunity to develop this National Meeting of Pedagogical Theater, here in an institution as relevant for the development of the Coquimbo Region as the University of La Serena , can only give meaning to the rescue of heritage work and to value the constant practices that this ancient art offers us throughout the country, integrating the characteristics of each area and complementing the educational contents both in basic education , middle and higher.”

Furthermore, León highlighted that “the Network has chosen the University of La Serena as the venue for this meeting precisely because of the track record that this university has as a reference in pedagogical theater. The work of this efficient pedagogical tool in teaching mathematics is recognized both nationally and internationally, this marks an important milestone to continue with other universities.”

çFor his part, the Rector of the ULS, Dr. Nibaldo Avilés, valued the holding of this national meeting, pointing out that “as the University of La Serena, the only university of the State of Chile in the Coquimbo Region, it is an honor to host this "type of activities that contribute to the important work that teachers carry out in their different schools and schools."

Five talks were presented at the activity, among which the highlights were: “Training the Present”, by Cristian Keim, head of the Bachelor of Arts degree with a mention in Theatrical Performance at the University of Chile; “Theatrical practice in initial teacher training at the University of Los Lagos: A look towards the dark side”, taught by the academic of the University of Los Lagos, Claudio Yáñez; “Mathematical Theater: a pedagogical tool to recreate mathematics”, by Catalina Cvitanic, Director of Liaison with the Environment and Extension of the ULS; “Didactics of the square meter: pedagogy of space”, by the academic from the University of Playa Ancha, Jenny Madariaga; and the workshop “Pedagogical theater and non-violent communication in the classroom”, by the academic of the Metropolitan University of Education Sciences (UMCE), Claudia Tranchino.

The teachers and different personnel related to teaching in schools nationwide were grateful and inspired by the theme of the meeting and the invitation to innovate in the classroom. “I congratulate you for this activity that for me has been tremendously inspiring and very suggestive professionally, because in pedagogical reality I believe that it is the only way we have, to do true educational work in such a masked system. I feel that those of us who have a real, honest need to educate in the integration of our society. This is a loving and possible path, so I congratulate you and I hope we can have more possibilities to train ourselves, to educate ourselves in this and to recover this dimension of the transcendent that art gives us," said Aydé Tirado, teacher at Pierrot School. .

Premiere of pedagogical theater work

On the occasion, the ÉTÉULS theater cast presented a sample of mathematical theater with the play “Empezar de Cero”, a production by Dr. Catalina Cvitanic that premiered precisely at this meeting and which intends to continue in theaters for next 2019.

“I found the work didactic, very cognitive, it is a work that can be perfectly presented for children from 3rd grade onwards, the language is quite familiar,” commented Karen Gutiérrez, teacher at the “Creativitas” School.

For her part, Ingrid Moris, assistant at the Altué Professional Technical School, highlighted “I found the work fantastic, I loved it, I think these instances are very good for the people who work at the school (…) I work at the school, I am in The support part for the teachers and the work reminded me of things that sometimes are forgotten as a child, and now with this work I clicked again, so if the learning is that significant, the children will not forget it anymore. ”.

Both the attendees and the organizers of this meeting drew positive conclusions regarding the day and valued this meeting of significant experiences. “It seems to me that it is a super good instance, I think it should be repeated, it is super good to share a perspective that is somehow different from the one we have from the Theater School of the University of Chile, which is a disciplined perspective, opening up to a perspective of theater as a pedagogical tool, I think it is a very interesting possibility for growth and cooperation,” highlighted Cristian Keim, an academic at the U of Chile.

Finally, the Director of Liaison with the Environment and Extension of the ULS, who was in charge of the execution of the event, highlighted: "the very positive response from the teachers to this first meeting gives us light that our objective of using "Theater as a pedagogical tool is very well oriented, since today it is necessary to motivate the student in a different way."

Source: DIVEULS press