‘Intervention on a String’: What is the impact of puppetry as an intervention tool on the communication, social skills and self-esteem of children, including children with disabilities and additional challenges?

This research project sought to examine puppets and puppetry in the education domain, to see if their inclusion helps to raise levels of student engagement, socialisation and participation. Moreover, this project sought to understand how and why puppets, as pedagogical tools, might foster communication and social skills that help build relationships and potentially increase self-esteem in young people. Puppets have been used throughout the ages for entertainment as well as for the transmission of cultural stories, histories and traditions, and have been described as an effective means of communicating with children (Bernier & O’Hare, 2005; Blumenthal, 2005; Sposito et al., 2016). However, an extensive examination of the literature surrounding puppets and puppetry in education showed that there is little research-based evidence surrounding their educational impact and benefits (Krögera & Nupponen, 2019). Using a mixed method embedded research design, this project examined and analysed the impact of puppets in the classroom to assess changes in the self-esteem, communication and social skills of participating students. Qualitative data included observational field notes, logbooks and a 10-week puppet play-building intervention that included puppetry, puppet design, story writing and play-building. Quantitative data were gathered via two surveys that bookended the project. Findings from this project revealed the use of puppets in the classroom enriches holistic growth in young people. In fact, almost all participating students grew in confidence, which was an unexpected finding. This small-scale study produced promising results, that warrants further investment in longitudinal, larger scale research studies.