An International Perspective Bahar Cetinsoy
My expectations before
starting the program…
Eight years of my
teaching career, I have always looked for better ways of teaching and reaching
every child. I have always felt that a
big piece of the puzzle was missing.
The second year of my
career, I was compelled to run English drama clubs as an ESL teacher who had no
experience in teaching theatre. It was the year
that magical dust of theatre was sprinkled on me. Instead of the all
hard work, I was so happy and proud when
I put the first production of my English Drama club. Theatre not only helped me to improve my
teaching skills but it also enabled me to see true feelings, behaviors and
character of my students.
I knew what I wanted to
do. I wanted to integrate theatre more in my lesson and run drama activities
more profesionally. I searched for a program which could combine both theatre
and pedagogy, something not only to teach
about theatre but to teach through theatre. After days of searching, I
found the Educational Theatre program at
the City College of New York which I was
extremely happy and screaming of joy. I
was so timid and hesitant to write to the director of he program, Jennifer
Katona, thinking that I , as an international student, could not be eligiable
for it. Mrs. Katona’s wrote back as soon as I emailed to get more information.
She was very welcoming and encouring.
From that time on, the application
process had begun till the last step of
it, which was online interview with Sobha Kavanakudiyil. Unlike most of the teachers I’ve had , Ms. Kavanakudiyil friendly and understanding attitude eased my
anxiety and helped me express myself better .
Ten days later, my
journey of inquiry started with accaptance letter to the City College of New
York, Educacational theatre program.
Here I was, the first class…
I didn’t know I was the first and the only
international student in the program. Before
my first class started, I was very nervous. I was thinking if I could
grapple with language challange as all my friends were native speakers of English. Meeting my
classmates took all my nervousness away. Everybody had pleasant smile on their
face as if tryring to tell me that they were happy to have me there. They have been so encouraging and collaborative. Whether a teaching artist
or a primary school teacher, everybody brought their experience in to explore the purpose of education and how drama and
theatre facilitate learning in different
settings.
Even though I was
owerwhelmed with the reading load at
first week, I enjoyed all required
reading since I could find answers for
my questions about how education should
be . The more I read, the more I see how
much education needs art and theatre integrated in yhe national curriculum. I
have seen how much students can be
engaged in learning without feeling fail, how much fun they could have while
learning, how they could learn from hands on experience, how a physical
movement rather than a test, could be a
tool to evaluate students’ understanding.
I am at the right place with the right adress
in my hand and proud to be the first
international student in this program which will pave my way with the power of theatre to fulfill my dream
for education.
