An Exploration into Teachers' Perceptions of Drama Education and its Potential Influence on Children's Literacy Skills.

Abstract

Despite the rise of technology in today's day and age, research has indicated that traditional literacy is a fundamental requirement for societal participation in the twenty-first century. Although Ireland may be ahead of several of its neighbouring European countries, with regard to literacy levels, statistics reveal that there is still a need for change, with 45% of young people having low literacy skill levels in Ireland (Central Statistics Office, 2013). In recent years, the value of drama education as a pedagogy has become increasingly popular in primary education. The study carried out was a qualitative study, in the form of semi-structured interviews with mainstream primary school teachers. The purpose of the study was to gain an in-depth insight into teachers' perceptions of drama education and the influence they feel it may have on the literacy skill development of children. The study found that although the cohort of teachers believed that Drama had a place in the Primary Language Curriculum, they nonetheless felt ill equipped to teach or integrate the subject, with several teachers feeling as though a background in Drama is necessary, in order to have the confidence to teach it. This highlights the vital need for more training and CPD in the area of drama education, in order to tackle the issue at hand. Future studies could focus on teacher training colleges in detail. This could be executed by investigating if the root of the confidence problem stems from the quality and quantity of training that teachers receive in the subject of Drama, while in college.