Making Puppets – TEALS case study
Background
The plan of action
Developing the brief
Implementing the plan of action
Evaluation and assessment
The plan of action
The first gateway focused on the technological practice of establishing the task and preparing an initial plan of action.
The students were given a brief to design a character puppet that appears to be "alive" when it is manipulated by the human hand. They decided to create a character to help them tell a story to a specified audience. The teacher initiated the unit with a class brainstorm, discussing puppets in general, including video puppets, Punch and Judy, and the Muppets. Next, the students explored the historical development of this art form and researched different types of puppets, their features, and their cultural significance. They made links to the socio-political aspects of characterisation in different societal and cultural eras, and identified and compared puppets used for different purposes, such as storytelling or for satirical cartoons.
Each student then prepared an initial plan of action to guide their pre-development and development work.
Ana had a good knowledge about puppets from her prior experiences. She identified a wide range of common puppet types such as rod, shadow, string, glove, marionette, and mechanical. She also listed more contemporary types such as remote-controlled puppets.
Ana also had a good understanding of the features some puppets may have, such as being strong but light, easy to hold, durable, and flexible. She discussed size in terms of handling and how puppets need to be specifically designed for their audience. She identified different characters that puppets could represent (human, real and imaginary animals, and cartoon characters) and a range of expressions they could be designed to portray, such as happy, sad, angry, cunning, mischievous, cute, and grumpy. She also identified a number of purposes where puppets are commonly used, such as in education, in storytelling, in shows, and for children's recreation.
After the class brainstorm, Ana expanded her knowledge by carrying out extensive research, exploring the different types, materials, and features of puppets from different countries and cultures, their purpose, and the techniques used to handle them. Using a range of sources, she also researched the contemporary uses of puppets, particularly the technological practice of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, and the history of their development, and the relevance of puppets in present day New Zealand.
She translated what she knew about puppets into a wide range of initial design ideas, explaining how a range of mechanisms and structures allowed for different joint movements. She also explored the idea of natural lines versus symbolic designs, evaluating the feasibility, degree of difficulty, and impact on an audience of both design styles in terms of construction techniques and ease of manipulation. The wide range of annotated reference materials relating to construction techniques that she gathered assisted her in selecting a focus on dragons for her own puppet development.
Although Ana had a reasonably good understanding of how a design process could be used in undertaking technological practice, she had not previously heard of the term "plan of action". She did, however, understand some of the concepts underpinning one. For example, she knew that research was an important component in the development of a solution for a given brief. In previous situations, she had demonstrated an ability to work and think independently and she had good problem-solving skills.
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