Roll up! The circus comes to school
An innovative programme teaching performance to pupils in Galway is helping them build essential life skills. Kim Bielenberg reports
IN fifth class at Mercy Boys National School in Galway, lessons can sometimes be a bit of a high-wire act. For the teacher it involves a lot of juggling around — and, for once, the class clown finds that he can be the highest achiever in the school.
Mercy Boys is one of a number of schools in Galway where children have undergone a full programme learning circus skills.
They don’t have to run away with the circus because for over two months it becomes a subject taught in the classroom.
Ready Steady Circus! is a 10-week curriculum-based programme for primary schools which aims to help children build life skills through circus art.
They might be juggling balls, balancing as they walk on a cylinder, or forming an occasionally precarious human pyramid.
And, of course, there is also some clowning around, which is actively encouraged.
Led by Ulla Hokkanen, the leader of Galway Community Circus, the innovative programme is based on the idea that in the digital era, learning physical literacy skills is just as important as learning to read and write.
The circus provides its programme in a number of schools in Co Galway and also runs after-school workshops.
“Circus skills are a great way of teaching hand-eye coordination, and if you take a skill like juggling you are using the left and right side of the brain,” says Hokkanen.
“One of the problems is that kids nowadays might be sitting at a desk, and at home they might be playing with a phone or iPad. So their movement is very linear.
“There is not much variety in the way people are using their bodies. Juggling is a skill that everybody can acquire, but it is something that involves a lot of challenges — and there are mathematical skills involved.”
Developing a sense of balance and good posture is taught through walking on a high wire.
Children also learn calculated risk taking, a skill that has declined in our more protected childhood environments.
“Often children are protected from taking physical risks,” adds Hokkanen. “When we were kids we used to be climbing trees and playing outdoors much more.
“Now children do not have so many opportunities to learn what their bodies are capable of doing.
“If you are walking on high wire there is a great sense of achievement when you do something that is scary — you manage your fears and you get to the other side.”
Children learn about teamwork and mutual trust through acrobatics and building a human pyramid.
“It improves the team atmosphere in the class when you build the pyramid. Everybody is needed and everybody has to coordinate it together.”
There is even educational value in acting the clown, according to the circus skills teacher.
“It helps performance skills and, in general, it is about celebrating failure — and that it is okay to make a mistake.
“It teaches you that if you try something the first time, if you don’t succeed, you can try it again.”
She believes it is helpful to put yourself in a position where people might laugh at you in a safe and fun environment. “It can help confidence when they are in front of an audience and when they are being looked at. It helps build confidence in making a public presentation.”
Hokkanen herself grew up steeped in circus culture back home in Finland. She became involved at the age of seven when a circus came to her town, even though she said she was a shy child.
“My parents were school teachers and when a circus came to our town, we enrolled in a camp.
“My mother and father were so impressed by how circus can help learners of all types that they set up their own youth circus in the town. My family was very involved for 10 years.”
Hokkanen worked in social care before combining her two passions to make real change for youth in the local community in Galway.
Galway Community Circus has quadrupled in size over the past five years, giving performances and offering lessons to 500 children and young people every week.
Hokkanen believes that by using a circus arts model to stimulate learning, students learn skills that are transferable. She says the art of the circus can help to build resilience, confidence, teamwork and improved physical health.
“Circus skills can be part of creative education — learning to solve problems, be adaptable to new situations and work as part of a group. These skills are now essential in the modern workplace.”
In Ireland, we tend to think of circus as an old-fashioned and declining form of entertainment, frequently involving animals.
But across Europe, the use of circus skills in education is highly developed. Students can do degree courses in circus education.
She is hoping that a degree course for youth and social circus teachers will be offered at NUI Galway in the near future.
The principal of Mercy Boys National School, Brendan O’Dwyer, was impressed by the professionalism of the circus programme in his school and hopes it will return.
“It is well structured and introduces pupils to a lot of new challenges — things they would not have done before, like tightrope walking and balancing on barrels.
“It incorporates part of the PE curriculum with its emphasis on movement, balance and spatial awareness.”
The principal liked the fact a lot of the skills involved teamwork and the programme was inclusive.
“Everybody was involved, including children with special needs,” says O’Dwyer. “Pupils benefited because it enhanced their confidence and they loved the activities.”
At the end of the programme, the pupils gave a performance for the whole school and parents.
Circus skills are a great way of teaching hand-eye coordination, and if you take a skill like juggling, you’re using the left and right side of the brain