Abstract:

Drama games pedagogy is an active methodology working with the internal world of participants and focusing on the process of learning over the artistic result (Garcia-Huidobro, 2004). This methodology is also a game based pedagogy focused on the development of social and emotional competences, as collaborative skills among others. In the past decades, numerous studies have shown positive effects of drama games on children (e.g Hammond, 2015; Joronen et al. 2011) some of them presenting several outcomes in enhancing wellbeing (Moore and Russ, 2008; Barnes, 2013) and collaborative behaviour (Garaigordobil, 2003). Nevertheless, this kind of studies is been realized mostly in Anglo-Saxon or Spanish school contexts, with no clear immersion in french schools. In order to corroborate this results with a french sample, we developed a drama games pedagogy training as a result of an adaptation of a Spanish Game Program (Programa Juego, Garaigordobil, 2003, 2016) adding some activities from other published drama games programs (e.g. Garcia-Huidobro, 2004; Boal, 1989, 2014). The participants were 159 school-aged children recruited in priority, public, and private schools (mean age = 9.7; SD=0.7). We tested a pilot program based in drama pedagogy games in order to improve collaborative behavior and positive emotions. Children were divided in control and experimental groups. Positive emotions were measured by SAM scale, collaborative behaviours through an adapted version of prisoner's dilemma. In line with our hypotheses, regression analyses show that drama training improve both theory and mind and collaboration (sometimes depending on the initial levels of empathy and collaborative skills) .

References:
[1] Barnes, J. (2013) Drama to promote social and personal well-being in six- and seven-year-olds with communication difficulties: the Speech Bubbles project. Perspectives in Public Health, 134, 2, 101 – 109
[2] Boal, A. (1989, 2014). Juegos para actores y no actores (Vol. 60). Alba editorial.
[3] Garaigordobil, M. (2003, 2016) Programa Juego. Juegos cooperativos y creativos para grupos de niños de 8 a 10 años. Madrid: Ediciones Pirámide.
[4] García-Huidobro, V. (2004) Pedagogía Teatral. Una metodología activa en el aula. Santiago de Chile: Ed. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
[5] Hammond, N. (2015) Forum Theatre for Children. Enhancing social, emotional and creative development. London: IOE Press.
[6] Joronen, K., Häkämies, A. & Astedtkurki, P. (2011) Children’s experiences of a drama programme in social and emotional learning. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 25, 671-678.
[7] Moore, M. & Russ, S. (2008) Follow-up of a Pretend Play Intervention: Effects on Play, Creativity, and Emotional Processes in Children. Creativity Research Journal, 20, 4, 427-436.

Keywords:

Drama games pedagogy, innovative pedagogical method, wellbeing, collaborative learning.