📍Theater Education in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
2024.8
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我發現小朋友雖然會傾向於跟自己較熟悉文化背景的朋友相處，但也不排斥其他小朋友，因為他們都共享著屬於越南的文化記憶。我對小朋友印象最深刻的是彼此互相學習、幫助的能力，他們會搞怪、捉弄，但也會相互提醒生活守則跟學習進度。有的小朋友較擅長繪畫，他就會和其他小朋友分享他的創作，有的小朋友比較害羞，其他小朋友會帶著他出去玩。在發展自我的階段，能觀察到其他人的需求是很重要的事情，小朋友從一開始會嘲笑愛哭的小朋友，漸漸去思考為什麼哭很好笑，用幽默的語氣告訴其他小孩大家都會哭啊。肢體訓練的目標為的不是要將小朋友訓練成運動員或是一個厲害的演員，更多是對自我的認識。有的小孩對自己肢體很有自信，大方地展現，有的小孩較沒自信，不願表演，但這不代表前者就比後者更認識自己的身體。認識身體，就像從自我/他者中拼湊出自我的形象，我發現較有自信的小朋友同時也可能是較不願面對失敗的個體，所以在許多課程中，我們鼓勵孩子不要有標準答案的限制，試試看回答這是什麼，感覺是什麼，他還有可能是什麼。這就像在劇場中，我們儘可能地去理解這個角色，為的不是取悅觀眾，而是尊重於人的複雜性。小朋友越認識自己，越能夠講出自己的想法，我們在一些活動時會發現小朋友容易從眾，害怕自己跟別人不一樣，或者講錯，所以隱藏自己真正的想法，選擇講別人已經講過的。越認識自我，他開始願意講出自己真正喜歡的顏色、動物是什麼，也越來越接受每個答案都有他的獨特性。
I noticed that although the children tend to spend time with friends who share a more familiar cultural background, they are not resistant to others either—because they all share cultural memories that belong to Vietnam.
What impressed me most was their ability to learn from and support one another. They fool around and tease each other, yet they also remind one another of daily rules and learning progress. Some children are stronger in drawing and willingly share their work with others; some are shy, and other children will take them along to play.
During the stage of self-development, being able to notice other people’s needs is crucial. The children started off laughing at those who cried, but gradually began to reflect on why crying seemed funny, and would jokingly tell the others, “Everyone cries, you know.”
The goal of physical training is not to turn children into athletes or impressive actors. It is more about getting to know themselves. Some children feel confident in their bodies and express themselves openly; others feel less confident and do not want to perform. But that does not mean the former understands their body better than the latter.
Knowing the body is like piecing together an image of the self through the self and the other. I found that the more confident children may also be individuals who are less willing to face failure. So in many sessions, we encouraged the children not to be constrained by the idea of a “standard answer”—to try answering: What is this? What does it feel like? What else could it be?
This is similar to theatre: we try our best to understand a character not in order to please an audience, but to respect human complexity. The more children understand themselves, the more they can articulate their thoughts. In some activities, we noticed that children often follow the crowd, afraid of being different or saying something “wrong,” so they hide what they truly think and repeat what others have already said.
As they come to know themselves better, they become more willing to share what they genuinely like—what colors they love, what animals they prefer—and they also grow more able to accept that every answer carries its own uniqueness.
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IF Huang
Performer
Taipei, Taiwan