The purpose of this study was to create and evaluate the effects of a creative drama curriculum for English Language Learners. It was hypothesized that drama would be helpful in lowering the affective filter--psychological attributes that can impede language acquisition. A group of third graders who had good comprehension of English, yet, were reluctant to speak, and a group of sixth and seventh graders with fledgling English skills participated in the study. Participants' response to the drama curriculum was measured by pretest-posttest, observations, and interviews with both participants and their teachers. Results of the study revealed that drama was successful in considerably reducing the third grade participants' anxiety and increasing their confidence and motivation towards speaking English. There was evidence of positive benefit of the drama with the sixth and seventh graders, but there was little change in participants' anxiety, confidence and motivation towards speaking English.

This study investigates Japanese primary school students’ and teachers’ responses to educational drama as a pedagogical tool in their English language classes. Along with the participants’ responses, the applicability of educational drama as a teaching method for the Japanese teachers is also discussed. The study was conducted in Japan as ateacher-researcher using participatory action research methods. The participants of the study are three Year Six classes and their teachers in a public primary school in Japan. Educational drama is introduced as an alternative teaching and learning method to these participants who have had no experience of drama in education.

No description available.

In this paper, I have conducted a study of what perspectives educational drama has in theory and practice. The study aims to show an example of how and out of what perspectives educational drama is a part of the school’s activity at a geographically distinct school, from kindergarten on to primary and secondary school years. The general attitude of the faculty and their arguments for and against drama constitute the major aspects of this study, which has been carried out through qualitative interviews at a school in Skåne. The results were that pre-school focuses on teaching drama to develop communicative abilities amongst the students (art educational perspective) while secondary school seemingly abandoned this approach and focuses more on using it for personal development, increasing empathy and understanding of other people by taking it to a more emotional level in order to affect for example moral values of the students. Though I find that the faculty in general has a positive attitude towards drama, they expressed they do not wish to increase it either as it would steal focus from the traditional “core” subjects. It is a fact that the national school plans for kindergarten, primary and secondary schools (LPFÖ98, LPO94) do not give any specific guidance on to what extent drama should be used in practice or any directions on how to bring in drama as an integrated part in any particular subject. This, in conclusion, leads to that the responsibility to use drama as an integrated part lies solely on the teachers and drama is used in the education at their discretion, which in turn tend to weaken drama as a prioritized subject. In a highly competitive global environment it is of great importance that the Swedish school system adapts and focuses on progressive and dynamic tools such as drama to inspire pupils and student to higher ambitions.

I den här studien har jag undersökt hur tre dramapedagoger arbetar med AKK (alternativ och kompletterande kommunikation) inom dramapedagogisk verksamhet. Frågeställningarna som studien utgår från är: på vilket sätt och i vilket syfte tillämpar dramapedagogerna alternativ och kompletterande kommunikation i dramaverksamheten? samt hur kan dramapedagogernas syfte och tillvägagångssätt med alternativ och kompletterande kommunikation i dramaverksamheten tolkas utifrån ett designteoretiskt perspektiv? Studien har genomförts med en kvalitativ metod och genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det teoretiska ramverket som använts för att analysera resultatet utgörs av ett avgränsat designteoretiskt perspektiv där de huvudsakliga begreppen för analys har varit den närmaste utvecklingszonen, scaffolding, multimodala resurser samt transformation.  Informanternas utsagor kan delas in i kategorierna Inkluderande fokus, Visuellt fokus och Språkutvecklande fokus. Resultatet visar att samtliga dramapedagoger är positiva till metodernas samverkan. Dramapedagogerna tillämpar tecken- och bildstöd som alternativa multimodala resurser i syfte att arbeta förstärkande, förtydligande och förhöjande. Informanterna i denna studie upplever det som tacksamt att implementera AKK i dramapedagogisk verksamhet då metoderna delar syftet att tydliggöra visuellt och förstå genom att visa. Det förberedande arbetet och utövandet i sig kan vara krävande och det praktiska förhållningssättet som AKK kräver kan påverka eller distrahera upplevelsen av flow. Den generella uppfattningen hos dramapedagogerna i denna studie är dock att verktyget uppmuntrar till olika uttryckssätt, stärker språkutvecklingen och främjar delaktighet i dramaverksamheten och i dramapedagogiken som metod.

No description available.

<p>This examination paper is about educational drama and is implemented from a participant oriented perspective. The main purpose of this study is to find out what conceptions and experiences the children actualize when participating in educational drama exercises. The reason why I choose to write about this subject was because of my own fascination and experiences of participating in drama exercises. On account of my further profession as a teacher, I want this study to take direction in school.</p><p>The theoretical frame in this examination consists of literature that describes educational drama as a subject. I also present and discuss some earlier research in this area. At last I describe four educational drama-exercises and explain the purpose with its work.</p><p>The empirical base of the study consists of qualitative interviews and observations in two fifth grade classes somewhere in the middle of Sweden. As a methodical starting point three educational drama exercises were created and carried out. The exercises were about conflicts that could appear in the children’s everyday school reality.</p><p>The results show that there are different aspects of what the pupils gave their attention to in the work with the exercises. My conclusion is that one conception is directed at the drama itself, one conception is directed at role-playing, one conception is directed at solving the problems in the exercises and one conception is directed at the emotional part of the drama.</p> / <p>Detta examensarbete handlar om pedagogiskt drama och tar sitt fokus på deltagarnas perspektiv i övningarna. Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på vilka upplevelser och erfarenheter som barn/elever bär med sig i och med deltagandet i dramapedagogiska övningar. Orsaken till att jag valde att skriva om det här ämnet var på grund av min egen fascination och erfarenheter av att delta i dramaövningar. Med anledning av min kommande yrkesroll som lärare har jag valt att rikta undersökningen mot skolan.</p><p>I den teoretiska delen av arbetet tar jag upp litteratur som beskriver pedagogiskt drama som ämne. Jag presenterar även tidigare forskning inom detta område. Slutligen beskriver jag fyra dramapedagogiska övningar och hur de går till samt vilka syften som finns med dem.</p><p>Den empiriska delen av undersökningen består av kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer som jag utfört i två klasser i årskurs fem, någonstans i Mellansverige. För att samla in data till min undersökning har jag skapat tre dramapedagogiska övningar i form av forumspel, som mina intervjuer och observationer utgått ifrån. Övningarna behandlar konflikter som skulle kunna ha utspelat sig i elevernas egen skolvardag.</p><p>I undersökningen framkommer det att det finns en påtaglig variation i elevernas tankar om forumspelen. Det finns också en variation i vad de riktar sin uppmärksamhet mot i arbetet med övningarna. Uppmärksamheten riktas bland annat åt själva teatern i sig (roligt med teater, roligt att spela teater). Ibland riktas uppmärksamheten åt själva rolltagandet (att få agera, att vara i roll). Det framkommer även att det riktas uppmärksamhet år själva problemlösandet och känslouttrycken i spelen.</p>

<p>The dissertation deals with the issue of reflection, democracy and educational drama. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to investigate whether educational drama may be perceived as fostering democratic values in the literature and curricula.</p><p>The dissertation shows that, based on various different theoretical and philosophical values, an interplay does exist between the goals for an activity and the choice of content and work method, which creates a number of opportunities for reflection in the various different perspectives of educational drama. It also indicates, however, that attitudes towards educational drama shift in the different curricula, where the artistically oriented perspective is the one most sought after. As a result, education in democratic values, which does not necessarily problemize social and political issues, is demanded from educational drama.</p><p>The literature analyses made in the dissertation reveal four perspectives. Within <i>the artistically oriented perspective,</i> a democratic potential exists in giving the individual tools with which to learn both how to achieve and to create knowledge. Every performance is a story about life and, for every performance the individual takes part in, his knowledge of art and human problems at different times and in different situations increases.</p><p>Within <i>the personal development perspective</i> the individual. acquires tools to understand himself in relation to others and to understand the connection between various dynamic processes occurring at individual, group and community levels. The aesthetic form as well as the participant s' own experience of life gives cause for adaptation and reflection.</p><p>The democratic potential contained in <i>the critically liberating perspective</i> are that the individual acquires the necessary tools to investigate both in word and deed power relationships in society and how such power relationships are made apparent in concrete human situations. </p><p>The idea of fostering democratic values contained in <i>the holistic learning perspective</i> is characterised by acquiring tools with which to understand the universal human significance behind every problem. In the communicative process, the varying language skills of the individual are developed, skills in which artistic expression is fundamental for understanding complex human situations.</p>

The dissertation deals with the issue of reflection, democracy and educational drama. The overarching aim of the dissertation is to investigate whether educational drama may be perceived as fostering democratic values in the literature and curricula. The dissertation shows that, based on various different theoretical and philosophical values, an interplay does exist between the goals for an activity and the choice of content and work method, which creates a number of opportunities for reflection in the various different perspectives of educational drama. It also indicates, however, that attitudes towards educational drama shift in the different curricula, where the artistically oriented perspective is the one most sought after. As a result, education in democratic values, which does not necessarily problemize social and political issues, is demanded from educational drama. The literature analyses made in the dissertation reveal four perspectives. Within the artistically oriented perspective, a democratic potential exists in giving the individual tools with which to learn both how to achieve and to create knowledge. Every performance is a story about life and, for every performance the individual takes part in, his knowledge of art and human problems at different times and in different situations increases. Within the personal development perspective the individual. acquires tools to understand himself in relation to others and to understand the connection between various dynamic processes occurring at individual, group and community levels. The aesthetic form as well as the participant s' own experience of life gives cause for adaptation and reflection. The democratic potential contained in the critically liberating perspective are that the individual acquires the necessary tools to investigate both in word and deed power relationships in society and how such power relationships are made apparent in concrete human situations. The idea of fostering democratic values contained in the holistic learning perspective is characterised by acquiring tools with which to understand the universal human significance behind every problem. In the communicative process, the varying language skills of the individual are developed, skills in which artistic expression is fundamental for understanding complex human situations.

This examination paper is about educational drama and is implemented from a participant oriented perspective. The main purpose of this study is to find out what conceptions and experiences the children actualize when participating in educational drama exercises. The reason why I choose to write about this subject was because of my own fascination and experiences of participating in drama exercises. On account of my further profession as a teacher, I want this study to take direction in school. The theoretical frame in this examination consists of literature that describes educational drama as a subject. I also present and discuss some earlier research in this area. At last I describe four educational drama-exercises and explain the purpose with its work. The empirical base of the study consists of qualitative interviews and observations in two fifth grade classes somewhere in the middle of Sweden. As a methodical starting point three educational drama exercises were created and carried out. The exercises were about conflicts that could appear in the children’s everyday school reality. The results show that there are different aspects of what the pupils gave their attention to in the work with the exercises. My conclusion is that one conception is directed at the drama itself, one conception is directed at role-playing, one conception is directed at solving the problems in the exercises and one conception is directed at the emotional part of the drama. / Detta examensarbete handlar om pedagogiskt drama och tar sitt fokus på deltagarnas perspektiv i övningarna. Syftet med undersökningen är att ta reda på vilka upplevelser och erfarenheter som barn/elever bär med sig i och med deltagandet i dramapedagogiska övningar. Orsaken till att jag valde att skriva om det här ämnet var på grund av min egen fascination och erfarenheter av att delta i dramaövningar. Med anledning av min kommande yrkesroll som lärare har jag valt att rikta undersökningen mot skolan. I den teoretiska delen av arbetet tar jag upp litteratur som beskriver pedagogiskt drama som ämne. Jag presenterar även tidigare forskning inom detta område. Slutligen beskriver jag fyra dramapedagogiska övningar och hur de går till samt vilka syften som finns med dem. Den empiriska delen av undersökningen består av kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer som jag utfört i två klasser i årskurs fem, någonstans i Mellansverige. För att samla in data till min undersökning har jag skapat tre dramapedagogiska övningar i form av forumspel, som mina intervjuer och observationer utgått ifrån. Övningarna behandlar konflikter som skulle kunna ha utspelat sig i elevernas egen skolvardag. I undersökningen framkommer det att det finns en påtaglig variation i elevernas tankar om forumspelen. Det finns också en variation i vad de riktar sin uppmärksamhet mot i arbetet med övningarna. Uppmärksamheten riktas bland annat åt själva teatern i sig (roligt med teater, roligt att spela teater). Ibland riktas uppmärksamheten åt själva rolltagandet (att få agera, att vara i roll). Det framkommer även att det riktas uppmärksamhet år själva problemlösandet och känslouttrycken i spelen.