Study on the history theatre-making for elementary school students aimed at promoting creativity and cross-disciplinary talent development

This paper applies theatre-making for elementary school students aimed at promoting creativity and cross-disciplinary talent development to Rhizome-based thinking. The introduction presents the two study questions on the current status of theatre education in elementary schools and the need for such education. The first question is, ‘Can Rhizome-based thinking be incorporated into theatre education in elementary schools?’ The second question is, ‘What are some examples of Rhizome-based theatre-making for elementary school students aimed at promoting creativity and cross-disciplinary talent development?’To answer these questions, the points where Rhizome-baed thinking could be incorporated into theatre education in elementary schools were reviewed. First, Rhizome-based thinking needs to be incorporated into theatre for elementary students by moving away from theatre centered around text and language. Second, the principles of Rhizome of moving away from the territory must be incorporated into theatre education for elementary schools to constantly generate new things that break away from the mold pf existing elementary school theatre. Lastly, the principles of ‘becoming’ need to be incorporated to focus more on the process rather than the result.In 2018 and 2019 when the researcher was workng as a specialized instructor, there were theatre-making for elementary students. The researcher conducted history theatre-making classes for two years at Elementary School A in Gongju, Korea. In 2018, the performance “The Gongsan Fortress is Alive (I am not alone)” won the gold medla and in 2019 the “The Legend of the Roasted Bean Powder Rice Cake” won the bronze medal in the overall category and two students were given awards for their acting.There are three types of historical theatre-making that incorporats Rhizome-based thinking for elementary school students: The plot and format, design, and collaboration. As for plot, the performances of 2018 and 2019 both added a sub-plot featuring the students’ stories of here and now, to the original narrative. Students became more proactive in the theatre-making as their own stories were added to the historical narrative.In terms of format, a variety of formats was used. Just as in the principle of moving away from the original territory in Rhizome-based thinking, new things were created. The theatre pieces of the two years both used songs to capture the historical narrative and stories. Students were able to learn about history in an enjoyable manner by singing along songs. The theatres of those two years also used various objects, such as desks, fans, small hand-held drums, snap bags and LED light bulbs. For the design, the desk was used, along with banners to have students experience that many elements, in addition to acting, could be used in theatre. In 2019, due to the more affluent budget, a choreographer and music specialist were invited to offer students meet with new instructors and generate new points.Students participated in the composing of the story and the lyrics within the Rhizome-based theatre-making. In 2018, it was only about creating one’s own dance moves and lyrics, but in 2019, it also included creating raps and expressing one’s own opinion about formats. These example show that Rhizome-based thinking where horizontal attitudes are applied to roam, move away from the territory infinitely and recreating new territory, can be applied to historical theatre-making in elementary schools. The researcher hopes that this study will serve as a basis for more varied approaches to the history theatre-making for elementary school students aimed at promoting creativity and cross-disciplinary talent development.