CHILDREN AND DRAMA

Drama guidelines
for preschool education

2017
Dear Colleagues,

Teachers from four European countries joined in Erasmus+ partnership “Valuing Play” with
the aim to learn from each other, to share experience, and to create teaching resources
that would help teachers in bringing the great miracle of Theatre closer to children from
early childhood. How? By implementing short drama episodes, fairy tales and games that
make child’s everyday life in preschool more colourful and interesting as well as create
opportunities for the development of creativity and fantasy. We, teachers form Romania,
Macedonia, Italy and Latvia hope that the ideas and conclusions expressed in these
guidelines will provide encouragement and ideas how to implement drama in everyday
pedagogical process in preschool and how to encourage children for creative self-
expression.

Annotation
Drama guidelines is a methodological teaching resource addressed to preschool teachers. It
consists of a brief theoretical basis on the use of drama in early childhood education as
well as the methodological recommendations. Drama guidelines highlight the importance
of dramatization in child’s development as well as show a form how to integrate cross-
curricular activities like play and drama into the daily educational process. Therefore, a
methodological approach to implementing drama with preschool aged children that is not
focused on the result but the continuous child development by participation in games,
drama activities and exercises is offered. This approach allows the teachers to flexibly use
drama elements in everyday teaching activities with children even if the teaching goal is
not connected with dramatization. It is possible to include drama activities that encourages
imagination and fantasy as well as promotes motivation to learn through playful approach
in each preschool theme.
 Introduction
Theatre is an incredibly ample world in which each of us – both children and
adults – can create our own understanding of what exactly theatre is and what is
its value in our lives. Meeting the art of theatre, we naturally are looking for the
facets and characteristics of theatre that attract us with its philosophical
background, stylistics of the means of expression, selection of themes and images.
World of contemporary theatre is characterized by a broad diversity and as one of
the cultural forms of modern society, it is welcoming more and more new
spectators, as well as actors, producers and other professionals from the
generation that is getting to know the theatre through the perspective of us,
adults, - parents, teachers. The new spectators we are talking about here are
children.
Are we educating personalities who get pleasure and enjoyment from
creative self-expression through art of theatre? Are we educating new audience of
theatre? Are we using the opportunities means of expression through theatre offer
often enough? Do we, adults, feel skilled and confident enough when playing
theatre ourselves, presenting publicly and teaching children how to do that? This
reflection highlights the scope of questions in connection with theatre in preschool
education.

Statement that current preschool practice is often far from implementation of

theatre in preschool education in a way that is based on modern scientific
theoretical knowledge about a child as a subject in pedagogical process, a child as
an individuality, a child who is fully acting in the play and learning environment
each moment according to personal experience and needs not because of the goal
to prepare for school, work and life, is based on theoretical research and many
years of empirical experience. When teachers are asked to describe how they view
children who are playing theatre, the most common answers are “creative’’,
“natural”, “spontaneous”, “not waiting for instructions”, “ready to fantasize”.
Deliberately or not, this view is often in contrast with the principles used in
organization of everyday pedagogical practice.

Theatre in preschool is a platform on which preschool classroom teacher,

music teacher and support staff meet and contribute. Let us look at this from a
broader perspective! Where in this collaboration is the child? What is the child’s
own input? While we, teachers, will think that the child is not able to think, that
the child needs instructions because of lack of experience, we will continue to
represent normative education that is looking at the child as an object. Object can
be affected unilaterally, can be taught and drilled. Let us instead remember the
words “encourage”, “inspire”! These are the key words to make theatre for each
child become a preschool activity where the child is fully participative by
suggesting own ideas, making individual choices, influencing the preparation of the
theatre presentation. This way theatre becomes the process and result of
collaboration of two subjects – child and teacher.
If a child needs a lot of instruction, it is possible that the dramatization
material we have chosen is not appropriate or we have not had enough
preparation activities for the child to understand the core and motivation of the
character, the environment in which this character acts.

Theatre contributes in child’s development only when we, adults, can give up
the idea “only this way”, allow the child to open up, ask questions, clarify, make
mistakes, fantasize. It requires everyday practice of encouraging desire to do, act
and participate, courage to express the most unbelievable and daring ideas and
turns of the story; laughing together while creating stories and continuing the story
started as a song; philosophizing “what if..”; simply to adhere to an equal play-
based routine and collaboration process between the child and adult. As a rule,
preschool teacher often lacks such time for free-play and collaboration. We tend to
remember about the theatre when a special event on theatre or Christmas is
approaching. The performance produced in a hurry often becomes an assembly of
directions “Stand here!”, “Move this way!”, “Say these lines!” What does the child
get from this experience? It is important for teachers to accept that “the
uninteresting, precocious, often exhibitionistic level of most children's
performances does not stem from inability to understand and learn theater on the
part of the child. Rather, it reveals the absence of a method of teaching which
presents material to the child that will permit him to utilize his own creative
potential within the medium” (Spolin, 1963, 278).

The road to the development of openness and creative self-expression

through theatre is like a mosaic that we are creating by putting together regular
everyday activities – simple movement improvisations with or without the
accompaniment of music, games for encouragement of attention, concentration
and communication, encouragement of philosophizing and free play. Let us
integrate these simple activities in the process of learning reading or mathematics;
make the acquisition of new song a fun activity where children can choose moves
that represent the content of the song; encourage presentation of animals, birds or
scientific processes discovered during our simple science experiments using sound
and movement. Only then, we can present with confidence our simple
improvisations at the Theatre Day marathon that is often organized in number of
preschools where each preschool group is presenting publicly. Let us use in these
presentations the most familiar and beloved everyday activities. If we choose to
stage a theatre performance where each child has certain role, actions and lines,
evaluate carefully each child’s ability, desire and motivation to learn the lines and
psychological readiness to present publicly. Every time we ask a child to present a
poem or role in public in front of a large group of adults, try to imagine your own
stress and rosy stressed cheeks in similar situations when you, teacher with higher
education and solid life experience have to present in front of the same audience!
Do all of us feel confident and present attractively every time? Of course not..
Let us turn parents from “opposed”, assessing audience to partners in
collaboration by involving them at the performances, creating surprise for children,
acting together with children. Let us stage performances where children combine
and flexibly change the roles of viewer and participant, creator of the
performance!

Dear Teachers, let us be open to creative diversity theatre art offers! Let us
theatre become part of our everyday work! May the theatre provide joy in our
work!
 Theoretical framework
In the context of preschool and school we are usually talking about drama as
a teaching method, unlike theatre as cultural phenomenon. In the meantime, it is
important to highlight that drama as a method is not focused on the acquisition of
acting skills but is setting goals for the general development of the personality.
Drama is a teaching method for acquisition of cognitive behaviours, affective traits
and kinaesthetic skills, is an art education area for creating an integrative and
aesthetic understanding primarily education of senses, and is a discipline
describing the life process experienced with its explanation and control capabilities
(Köksal Akyol, 2018). The purpose of drama is to create an interactive and positive
learning environment in which the participants' construction of knowledge and
learning takes place through creative and interactive social relationships (Toivanen,
Halkilahti, & Ruismäki, 2013).
Research shows that drama has significant and diverse role in child’s
development if this method is used purposefully and systematically. It is known
that drama has positive influence on children’s social, cognitive development and
development of personality, it broadens child’s vocabulary of native language and
improves skills of expressing own ideas and emotions in verbal and non-verbal way.
Undoubtedly, drama encourages children’s creativity and imagination at the same
time broadening horizon and provides new experience, creates situations and
conditions for the use of critical thinking. Therefore, drama provides individual
benefits for each child’s development, helps to raise child’s well-being in family and
preschool. Research confirms that when children have experience in drama,
especially at early ages (i.e., 3–8 years), those children demonstrate greater
academic achievement and higher test scores than children who have not
participated in drama (Barry, 2010).
 Along with individual benefits, drama is a method that focuses on the
development of collaboration and raises the quality of collaboration between
children as well as between child and adult. During participation in drama activities
or preparation for the public presentation, child meets peers, learns to
communicate in a positive and meaningful way. During collaboration between
children, it is important to show initiative, express own ideas and suggestions, as
well as listen to other children, express empathy and tolerance. In turn, during
collaboration between adult and child, drama activities encourage broadening of
perspectives and flexibility in accepting social roles and positions, which is often a
dilemma and challenge for both adult and child. More often both child and adult
take the traditional role of relationships and collaboration where teacher initiates
activities and directs them in line with own pedagogical goals and personal views,
but the child fits into the “frame” created by teacher. As drama method invites for
flexible change of the roles of initiator between child and adult, children and adults
become equal partners.
Child creates characters, interprets situations, suggests ideas to continue the
storyline of the fairy tale and transforms imagination into real actions, based on
smaller or larger personal experience. Teachers often highlight the fact that
children do not have enough material for imagination as they have very small
experience. However, scientific conclusions emphasize that drama provides
children with the opportunity to reach new knowledge by means of imaginary
activities and experiences (Köksal Akyol, 2018). Drama activities give an
opportunity to the participants to examine various social roles and problems and
thus help children to understand the society and social relations (Tombak, 2014).
While imitating actions and language in this imaginary environment, children are
solving problems and developing comprehension of themselves and the world
around them (Szecsi, 2012).
Drama method emphasizes drama process over the child’s action aimed at
achieving specific result, like presentation of a play or poem. It is highlighted that
process drama is a most powerful learning tool in early childhood education and
contributes to all aspects of early learning and development, while nurturing
excitement about schooling and a lifelong love for learning (Brown, 2017).
Research proves an important correlation between children’s involvement in non-
performance-based drama and educational achievement.
“A child can make an honest and exciting contribution (…) if he is allowed the
personal freedom to experience. He will understand his responsibility; he will
involve himself, develop relationships, create reality, and learn to improvise and
evolve theatrically valid scenes” (Spolin, 1963, 278).
 Summarizing the benefits provided by the use of drama method in preschool
education, it can be concluded that:
 drama increases the creativity and imagination, the decision making skill,
skill of thinking independently and the motivation to discover;
 during the process of drama, communication skills are developed by talking
to friends and bringing out ones inner voice;
 drama contributes to self-perception of the children and to the
development of positive self-concept;
 drama develops the feeling of cooperation with a group because there is
group work, develops social sensitivity, sense of responsibility, and social
skills;
 while increasing psycho-motor skills, drama creates coordination and
balance in organs, flexibility in movements, and agility;
 drama should have a place in pre-school education since it contributes to all
the fields of development of preschool children (Tombak, 2014).
Recommendations
Dear Teachers,
During the project implementation we developed a set of teaching resources
addressed to early childhood education settings consisting of an e-book of drama
exercises and games, a collection of videos, a collection of fairy tale dramatizations.
We hope that they can help those teachers who find drama challenging as well as
all of us who are ready to get new experience by using drama.

Here are our main suggestions for integration of drama in everyday pedagogical
process in preschool. Think very seriously while reading with a smile!

Use drama daily! Lack of opportunity for drama is not an

obstacle to use drama. Integrate drama elements and
episodes in everyday activities with children!

Use drama often, may it only be some short episodes! In long-

term you will definitely notice positive change in children.

Plan drama activities deliberately to use in your everyday

classes. Later it will become a daily routine and will come up
spontaneously in your communication with children.
 Develop you own drama skills and confidence deliberately,
while communicating with children! Children are the best
audience! They are responsive if we are doing our job from
the heart and forgiving of our mistakes. It is possible that we
will also have our best results in non-performance-based drama similar to
what the scientists have discovered about the children. Our daily activity
will also help in situations when you will have to perform in public.

Children reflect their teacher. It all begins with our

willingness, motivation and openness to drama. Be full of
ideas and model your best example for children. Allow
yourself to fantasize “What if..?’’ and verbalize these fantasies in your life, in
your work and of course, in drama activities!

Allow yourself to be genuine and spontaneous with children!

Get involved in an equal partnership with children and find
balance in yourself between teacher – educator and teacher-
friend! Allow children suggest activities and value their ideas and wishes!

Look for partners in parent community and administrative

staff! Patiently develop their understanding about core of
drama and its beneficial impact on children. If you encounter
too high expectations, be convinced about the long-term benefits and
defend the process-drama priority!
 Be flexible! Sometimes children are unpredictable and you
may need to change the original plan. Be unpredictable by
yourself!

These are our wishes for preschool teachers all over Europe. Let us be creative and
open to drama!

In the name of Erasmus+ strategic partnership “Valuing Play” team,

Skolmeistars ltd Private preschool “Maziņš kā jūra”,

Project coordinator

Riga, Latvia
 References
Barry, N. H. (2010). Oklahoma AC schools: What the research tells us 2002–2007. Volume
3. Edmond: Oklahoma AC Schools, University of Central Oklahoma. Retrieved from
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Brown, V. (2017). Drama as a valuable learning medium in early childhood. Arts
Education Policy Review, 118(3), 164-171, doi: 10.1080/10632913.2016.1244780
Köksal Akyol, A. (2018). Examination of the effect of drama education on multiple
intelligence areas of children. Early Child Development and Care, 188(2), 157-167,
doi:10.1080/03004430.2016.1207635
Spolin, V. (1963). Improvisation for the theatre: A handbook for teaching and directing
techniques. Evanston: Northwestern University Press.
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10.1080/00094056.2009.10523078
Tombak, A. (2014). Importance of drama in pre-school education. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 143, 372 – 378.
Toivanen, T., Halkilahti, L., & Ruismäki, H. (2013). Creative pedagogy: Supporting
children’s creativity through drama. The European Journal of Social and Behavioural
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