This investigation was to conduct an historical study of the development of drama activities in public recreation programs for five years, 1969 to 1974, to ascertain how much drama is included in public recreation programs. / In 1974, a questionnaire was mailed to 171 recreation departments in Florida. The five with the highest number of points from answers to the questions and that responded positively for an in-depth study of their centers were included in this study. / Based on the study the following conclusions were made: (1) Most of the staff recreators who dealt with the drama program could be classified in two groups. One group included those persons who are schooled in recreation/physical education and who know nothing or little about drama. The other group includes those persons who are schooled in drama and know nothing or little about public recreation. (2) Little or no attention is given to record-keeping, and no real sense of continuing programs is in existence. (3) The recreation programs are egocentric. They are based on the philosophy of the person who is in the position of dictating the programs, usually a person in a staff position rather than an administrative one. (4) Available space was not used effectively for dramatic purposes. (5) There is no standardization throughout the programs. The same types of programming are listed under different titles. None of the programs keeps the same kind of records, none of the record-keeping forms is similar, and none of the requirements for being a drama specialist is the same. (6) The drama programs are poorly funded. (7) In some cases drama experiences are second-thought activities, something to fill out the time while the physical education programs were slack. (8) Almost all of the drama activities were held in the summer. (9) Almost all of the drama programming was for ages eight to fourteen, and the greatest number of participants were female. (10) Very little programming was done with the subject interests of all participants in mind. (11) No diagnostic tests were administered to determine the developmental stages of a child. (12) These recreation centers provide programs in drama on participant demand and make no effort for long-range planning. / The following recommendations were made: (1) Written criteria for training persons to lead drama at a recreation center should be developed. (2) An intensive seminar should be developed to provide in-service training to professional recreators who have no background in drama. (3) An inventory instrument, based on minimal standards for an active theatre program, should be developed for testing the drama programming in each recreation center. (4) A drama program should be developed to encourage younger males who are not sports-minded or athletically inclined. (5) Informal diagnostic dramatic activities should be conducted by qualified personnel before participants are grouped into beginning or advanced classes. (6) Drama recreation programs should be structured to contain components essential for personal growth through participation in the dramatic arts. (7) Programs in drama and in recreation should contain a course in drama recreation to prepare workers who can use drama in recreational settings. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-08, Section: A, page: 3328. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74258 |
| Contributors | MCDANIEL, HENRY ARWOOD, JR., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 206 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
Page generated in 0.0093 seconds