Actor Mita Vasisht interacts with Chitkara varsity BEd students int’l school teachers

Chitkara University’s college of education in association with Chitkara International School, Chandigarh, organised an educational webinar on ‘teacher as an artist for its bachelor of education students and in-house teachers.

Actor, director and writer Mita Vasisht joined the session that was moderated by Niyati Chitkara, director, Chitkara Schools. The theme of the session was the emerging relevance of theatre and performing arts in quality education.

Vasisht spoke on how theatre-based education, with a strong focus on non-verbal communication, self-expression, voice-over and voice modulation, body language, dialogue and content delivery, and creativity on the part of instructors can be useful in the classroom.

She emphasised the extensive functionality of ‘role-play’ as a tool for teaching and learning, the contribution of theatrics towards the development of student’s communication skills and cognitive abilities, the role of cinema (Edutainment) in changing the educational landscape for the better, and the significance of theatre in instilling the virtues of compassion, cooperation, authenticity, and responsibility in the youth of the nation. Touching upon her journey as an educationist and her experiences of playing a wide range of characters in movies and television such as Teeba in City Stigma, Trishna in Kahaani Ghar Ghar Ki and Mandira Mathur in Criminal Justice, Vasisht reiterated and reaffirmed her faith in supplementing the traditional classrooms with activities based on performing arts, theatre and cinema.

Madhu Chitkara, pro-chancellor, Chitkara University, said, “Evoking a passion for learning in students requires teachers to be creative, ingenious and positively offbeat in a way that captivates the interest of students and addresses the varying needs of all kinds of learners. Theatre-based education could very well be employed for targeting all kinds of skills with and beyond the cognitive ones. In a world as fast as ours, these skills could surely help youngsters in paving their own path to success.”