Persona Dolls Workshop

Date Released: Fri, 28 January 2011 15:53 +0200

CSD recently hosted a very successful Persona Doll workshop as part of the Level 5 Early Childhood Development Course presented by Ruth Nombewu. The workshop was presented by Sue Rosie, a facilitator at Persona Doll Training. The Persona Doll approach has been used extensively in many countries and was brought to South Africa in 2003. The dolls are a practical tool to promote the psychosocial development of children, encourage empathy and to address issues of diversity and inclusion. Each doll has their own identity, life history, likes and dislikes fears and abilities and each one has a story to tell conveyed through positive messages. 

How the dolls work. Meet Joyce. She is 8 years old living in Grahamstown with her grandmother. She was unable to walk and spends her day in a wheelchair. The teacher can use Joyce to teach to her Grade 1 learners about people with disabilities. The teacher gets the class talking and helping Joyce to “deal” with a problem by asking: “How do you think Joyce feels because somebody teased her about her wheelchair?” During the discussion that follows the teacher gets an opportunity to correct misinformation and reinforce values and attitudes.

The students enjoyed the workshop immensely and commented on how useful it will be in their classrooms.