Charru Sharma, Ph.D.

Fulbright Visiting Faculty at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania from the University of Delhi, India.
Former Officiating Principal of a college and as an Associate Professor of Human Development and Childhood Studies at the University of Delhi. 

Email: charrusharma@gmail.com

Dr. Sharma is working closely with educators, teachers, school administrators, and children. She is seeking to integrate creative drama, meditation, and self-reflection techniques to enhance the social and emotional development of elementary school children. The project also brings on board education policymakers so that they can experience the value of creative drama, meditation, mindfulness and compassion in improving the mental well-being of children, teachers, and school administrators.

She was at the Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania as a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow in 2013. After which she was awarded the Shastri Indo Canadian Award at the University of British Columbia, Canada. She was a Commonwealth Fellow at the University of Reading, UK. She received the Research Award from the University Grants Commission. She was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Indian Council of Social Science Research in 2008 and 2011. The was awarded the Doctoral Fellowship to conduct a pioneering research on drama and children’s development by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. 

She was awarded the second position for the best paper presentation at an International Conference. Dr. Sharma has conducted over 50 international workshops and delivered lectures globally. She is on the editorial board of several international journals. Her publications include a book edited by her, Drama and Theatre with Children: International Perspectives, which was published by Routledge, UK, in 2016.

Dr Sharma completed the Compassion Integrity Training course. She is a certified instructor for Yogasanas, Pranayam and Meditation. She is trained into acupressure and is a certified Reiki practitioner. She enjoys practicing Vipassana meditation, and mindfulness. 

She has been initiated into Kriya Yoga from the lineage of Paramhansa Yoganandya ji. Her spiritual journey encompasses courses like the Inner Engineering with Sadguru from Isha Foundation, Bhaava Spandana and Shoonya Meditation. She has participated in the Raja Yoga and other courses with the Brahma Kumari Centre.

Her publications include books under publication titled: 

  • Drama and Theatre with Children; Creating Drama in Primary Schools. Dr Sharma is the co-author of the book An Integrated Approach to Human Development; Manav Vikas: Ek.Parichay, 2007. Dr Sharma’s paper ‘Creating active learning spaces in primary classrooms: A module using creative drama’ is under publication in a book Qualitative Research on Illness, Well-Being and Self-Growth: Contemporary Indian Perspectives to be published by Routledge. A paper by her entitled-Transforming Passive Indian Classrooms to Creative Learning Spaces through Creative Drama was published by the National Drama International Journal Vol 2, No1, 2011. Her paper titled Creative Drama for Humane Education: An Indian Experience was published in 2007 in the book Universal Mosaic of Drama and Theatre: The IDEA 2004 Dialogues.
  • Invoking Creativity in Pedagogy through Creative Drama- a paper by her was published in the book Excellence in Home Science: Contemporary Issues and Concerns, 2007. Her paper titled – Use of Creative Drama in the Development of Children was published in the Indian Council for Child Welfare Journal in 2002; Creative drama for development of children in primary schools was published in National Council of Educational Research and Training Journal, The Primary Teacher Vol. XXVIII Number 3, July 2003; Why do children lie? was published in Teacher Plus Journal, Vol. I Number 4, July/ August 2003.

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