Teachers’ Perceptions on Drama’s Role in Enhancing Young Learners’ Developmental Domains

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate teachers’ perceptions on drama’s role in enhancing young learners’ developmental domains. The sample consisted of (133) cooperative- teachers chosen upon availability from the collaborating schools with the Classroom Teacher and the Early Childhood Education Practicum Courses in the University of Jordan. The cooperative-teachers’ perceptions data were collected through a questionnaire designed by the researcher based on the literature review related to drama as a teaching tool. The instrument included three main domains; the social-emotional, linguistic-communicative and cognitive domain. The findings revealed that drama highly enhanced young learners’ developmental domains, in which the social-emotional domain came as the highest score according to the teachers’ perceptions. The results also revealed that both the specialization and experience variables proved not to cause any statistical significant differences on the cooperative- teachers’ perceptions about the role of drama in teaching young learners. Further studies were recommended on investigating teachers’ actual practices in applying drama in their teaching actions.