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M.S.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the pedagogic implications of Being in dramatic and poetic works. Chapter 1 shows the writer's concern that Being, separated from being, is forgotten in a scientific-technological education, Dramatic and poetic studies are in danger of being unfolded in the bracketings of science and technology. Man's suffering at the technology includes loneliness, boredom, frustration and An urgent need arises to develop the pupil's technological capacity and skill, and to actualise his potential, as long as Being is deconcealed. A technology-based education system, mainly for blacks, based on Japan, is being considered. Influenced by science and technology, verbal and nonverbal aspects are separated in drama and poetry. These aspects are integrated in drama and poetry encountered in action, as poetic thinking unites Being and being. Computer education, like writing, focuses on and teievision emphasises nonverbal factors. If pupils participate in drame, their actions are authentic. Mere spectators act inauthentically. A scientifically-influenced literary critic separates the play's parts and ignores nonverbal qualities. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

The researcher has attempted to gain an understanding of how Drama teachers perceive the teaching of the curriculum and curriculum change. The data were obtained through the use of the qualitative mode of engaging in research. The researcher, who is also a Drama teacher had come to experience the need for teachers to be given an opportunity to express their views on curriculum as the area of curriculum is complex and always in need of reappraisal. Also, teachers needed a medium through which they could share their perspectives on curriculum. The researcher collected the relevant information by using the interview context as a means of data collection. Ten Drama teachers responded to questions focusing on curriculum teaching and curriculum change. The Drama teachers' perspectives were recorded and analysed. Marxist theorists like Bowles and Gintis( 1986) view teachers as mere state functionaries and agents of the system. Drama teachers in this study contradicted the view of teachers as technicians within the system. They were not reflective of typical teachers. Rather Drama teachers challenged and mediated the curriculum, they did not accept and abide by the syllabus document and their classroom practice was determined by the immediacy of their particular teaching context. Finally through engaging in this research study the researcher has achieved the following objectives: 1. An understanding of the view that knowledge is a socially constructed concept. 2. Has provided a medium through which the perspectives of Drama teachers are heard. 3. Has provided an invaluable experience of documenting the processes of qualitative research. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

Based on theories from Applied Drama, Dramatherapy and Psychology, this thesis explores the application of applied drama workshops with a group of educators at a school for children with barriers to learning, with a view to not only enhance their personal and professional development, but to facilitate positive outcomes for the children whom they teach, due to their implementation of various applied drama techniques into their teaching programmes. The theoretical focus of this thesis was drawn from theorists including Carl Rogers, regarding the Humanistic approach and Emunah regarding the creative methodology, amongst others, which contributed to the establishment of a practical methodology that provided a process of self- discovery and empowerment through the applied drama workshops. (Emunah, 1994). With Participatory Action Research as the primary research methodology, the thesis used applied drama workshops, classroom application of various techniques, journal entries, questionnaires and interviews for data collection. The longitudinal nature of this exploration took place over a period of eighteen months, with the group being comprised of special needs’ educators. The research found that the workshops were highly successful as the catalyst for positive change in the participants, encouraging sharing and reflection previously suppressed in their professional setting, thus provoking personal growth and empowerment. Furthermore, professional growth and new explorations in their teaching methodology positively materialised. The group gained greater understanding about themselves, one another and the children they were teaching as the workshops heightened their perceptions. Consequently the participants generally became more tolerant and empathic of one another and towards the children. The children in the participating educators’ classes participated enthusiastically, and developed in their socialisation and selfconfidence. Their communication skills improved and they externalised their inner feelings more readily. The participating educators did not highlight any negatives regarding applied drama as a medium in the school. If anything, as the researcher, I was overwhelmed that the results were unanimously so positive, with not a single participant reporting that they felt that its implementation had not been beneficial. The research project thus reportedly had a constructive outcome for all those who either participated or were directly influenced by the project. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2009.

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of occurrences of sociodramatic play behavior during the dramatic play of black male and female children three and four years of age using the six elements of sociodramatic play identified by Smilansky (1968). This study attempted to determine whether there was relationship between sociodramatic play and age among black children and whether the same relationship between age and sociodramatic play was the same for black males as for black females.Sociodramatic play is a combination of all of the elements of dramatic play which include: imitative role play, make believe in regard to objects, make believe in regard to actions and situations, persistence, interaction, and verbal communication. In order to be termed sociodramatic play all of the six elements must be present. Most children engage in some form of dramatic play, but interaction and verbal communication are the two elements that make the dramatic play sociodramatic.Forty-eight black children who were three and four years of age were selected on a convenience basis from three day care centers located in mideastern Indiana. All of the children lived in cities having an excess population of 70,000 people.The children were observed individually as a member of a group of four, in a structured play setting. Two observers made narrative records of the play behavior of the same child systematically every thirty seconds for five minutes, in order to have a total of 20 observations, 10 from each observer, per child, per day for each of six consecutive days. The child's actions were recorded on the specimen portion of the instrument and, after analysis, were later transferred to the checklist portion of the instrument.The C.W.S. (Chirstman, Werton, Schurrr) Observation Instrument was an adaptation and refinement of the instruments used by Smilansky and the Ohio State University Research Group (1970). The two observers who participated in the study were trained in the use of the C.W.S. Observation Instrument. The application of the Pearson Product Moment Correlation technique produced an interrator reliability on scoring of the play behavior of .94 for the six days of observation.A univariate analysis of variance has been applied to the collected data. Sex and age of the child constituted the independent variables. Each of the six elements of sociodramatic play have been treated as a dependent variable.Testing the hypotheses on the variables of sex and age produced no significant differences at the .05 level of significance although several of the dependent variables approached the level of significance.Eleven of twenty-four three-year-old black children did not engage in all six elements of sociodramatic play. Five of twenty-four four-year-old black children did not engage in all six of the elements of sociodramatic play. The remaining thirty-two of the forty-eight black children in this study did engage in all six of the elements of sociodramatic play.Consistent differences appeared in both the age of the black child in regard to the six elements of sociodramatic play and sex of the child, but these differences did not prove to be statistically significant.

The purpose of this study was to describe the levels of sociodramatic play among three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children by determining the frequency of sociodramatic play behaviors of these children. In addition, this study was designed to ascertain whether children's sociodramatic play behavior differed according to the sex of the child and the age of the child. The statistical design of this study also allowed for the investigation of Mexican-American migrant children to determine if they differ in occurrences on sociodramatic play behavior when placed in different play group combinations: same age, different sex; different age, same sex; different age, different sex.Forty-eight three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children were observed to determine the amount of sociodramatic play displayed. Children, in groups of four, were observed in a structured play setting for a total of 30 minutes over six five-minute periods. During each of the five-minute sessions, two trained observers focused attention exclusively on one child and recorded specimen observations of his play behaviors.The two observers, trained during four in-field training sessions and who also participated in four field testing sessions, were employed in the study to observe Mexican-American migrant three and four year old children to determine if any of the six elements of sociodramatic play identified by Sara Smilansky, Ohio State University, 1968, were present. The six elements of sociodramatic play are: (1) imitative role play, (2) make-believe in regard to objects, (3) make-believe in regard to actions and situations, (4) persistence, (5) interaction, (6) verbal communication.An observation record designed for the study was employed by the two observers to record specimen records of the child's play behaviors. Following the recording of play behaviors, frequency of play behaviors for each of the six elements of sociodramatic play was determined for each child in the study. A total play score across the six sessions were ascertained for each subject.Frequencies of play behaviors were descriptively analyzed to describe levels of play and statistically analyzed to determine the significance of differences in sociodramatic play according to sex, age, play groupings, and interaction effects among these variables.The statistical technique used was an analysis of variance performed on transformed data.The frequency of sociodramatic play among three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children appeared to be low. The following percentages were computed by comparing frequencies of occurrences with total possible occurrences of behavior: three year old males engaged in some aspect of sociodramatic play 2.6 percent of the total possible time; three year old females, 7.4 percent; four year old males, 9.8 percent; four year old females, 9.8 percent. When comparing sociodramatic play between Mexican-American migrant males and females, females scored significantly higher (p <.02) than males. When comparing differences in sociodramatic play between three and four year old Mexican-American migrant children, four year olds scored significantly higher than three year olds (p <.02). Although some differences did occur when children were placed in different play group combinations: same age, different sex; different age, same sex; different age, different sex; the differences were not statistically significant.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the pedagogic implications of Being in dramatic and poetic works. Chapter 1 shows the writer's concern that Being, separated from being, is forgotten in a scientific-technological education, Dramatic and poetic studies are in danger of being unfolded in the bracketings of science and technology. Man's suffering at the technology includes loneliness, boredom, frustration and An urgent need arises to develop the pupil's technological capacity and skill, and to actualise his potential, as long as Being is deconcealed. A technology-based education system, mainly for blacks, based on Japan, is being considered. Influenced by science and technology, verbal and nonverbal aspects are separated in drama and poetry. These aspects are integrated in drama and poetry encountered in action, as poetic thinking unites Being and being. Computer education, like writing, focuses on and teievision emphasises nonverbal factors. If pupils participate in drame, their actions are authentic. Mere spectators act inauthentically. A scientifically-influenced literary critic separates the play's parts and ignores nonverbal qualities. / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Philosophy of Education)

The study adopts a case study examination of three student reflective joumals written about class and field based applied Drama experiences over one year. The journals were written as part of a curriculum outcome to develop reflective practice, for one Drama Honours paper (Educational Drama and Theatre) at Rhodes University Drama Department, South Africa. Based on a narrative inquiry approach, the study documents the changes in identity, discourse, and representation of self and other, which emerge through the journal writing process. The research analyses how identities are constructed through reflective writing practices, and how these identities might relate to the arguments for the development of reflexivity. The development of reflexivity is seen as integral to contemporary educational policies associated with lifelong learning, and the skills required of graduates in South Africa's emerging democracy. These policies centre on means of preparing students for a world characterised by change and instability, or what Barnett (2000) has termed a "supercomplex world". The research findings suggest that journal writing within a Drama Studies curriculum, allows students to construct subjectivities which support Barnett's claim that "the main pedagogical task in a university is not that of the transmission of knowledge but of promoting forms of human being appropriate to the conditions of supercomplexity" (Barnett, 2000b: 164). In addition, the development of different writing genres within a Drama Studies curriculum allows students to develop disciplinarily relevant ways of discussing and researching artistic processes and products. A reflective journal is a potential site for students to interrogate and construct emerging identities which enable them to negotiate diversity, thus preparing them for their lives beyond the university.

This work examines the author's experience in teaching A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen to students in the course Play Analysis, THEA 2440, at the University of North Texas in the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 semesters. Descriptions of the preparations, presentations, student responses, and the author's self-evaluations and observations are included. Included as appendices are a history of Henrik Ibsen to the beginning of his work on A Doll House, a description of Laura Kieler, the young woman on whose life Ibsen based the lead character, and an analysis outline form that the students completed for the play as a requirement for the class.