The Effect of Perceptual, Emotional, and Cognitive-Based Creative Drama Education on Children's Perspective-Taking Skills

Abstract Drama activities can be used as a tool for the acquisition of perspective-taking skills which help individuals build positive social relationships with others in the society. As drama activities give a child an... [ view full abstract ]

Abstract

Drama activities can be used as a tool for the acquisition of perspective-taking skills which help individuals build positive social relationships with others in the society. As drama activities give a child an opportunity for role playing and taking on different roles, they enable the child to develop a more mature skill, a shift from self-centered ideas towards understanding others’ perspectives. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of perceptual, emotional, and cognitive-based creative drama education program on perspective-taking skills of preschool children at the age of 5. In this regard, perceptual, emotional, and cognitive-based creative drama education program consisting of 16 sessions was planned and applied to these children. The study was carried out by using a pretest-posttest experimental design. The study group was composed of 28 children attending two different preschools (14 in the experimental group and 14 in the control group). Perceptual, emotional, and cognitive-based creative drama education program was applied to experimental group two times a week for a period of eight weeks. In this study, children’s perspective-taking skills were determined by the “Perspective-Taking Test” that was developed by Kurdek and Rodgon (1975) and adapted to Turkish by Şener (1996). The effect of creative drama education program on children’s perspectives was interpreted by considering different variables, such as gender, duration of preschool attendance, etc. The present research study revealed that the perceptual, emotional, and cognitive-based creative drama education program had an effect on children’s perspective-taking skills.

Key words: creative drama, perspective taking skills, early childhood, preschool education