Asia-Pacific Journal of Research in Early Childhood Education

Article

Student Teachers’ Reflections on the Use of Drama in Education to Motivate Young Children’s Science Play

Author
Ya-Ling Chen,Lee-Feng Huang
Information
pp. 9~30 / 2022 Vol.16 No.1
e-ISSN2233-5234
p-ISSN1976-1961
Metrics Views 0 / Downloads 0
PDF

Abstract

This study explored student teachers’ reflections on the use of drama in education (DIE) to motivateyoung children’s science play during a course, “creative science activity design for young children,” ata teacher development program in southern Taiwan. The participants comprised 21 student teacherswho took the course taught by both researchers. Participants designed science play activities using DIEstrategies and implemented the a for a group of preschool children. The data sources employed in thisstudy were observations, interviews, and collected documents. The data were analyzed qualitatively.The findings revealed that the DIE strategies adopted by the student teachers included warm-up,improvisation, and story roleplaying. The results indicated that the student-teachers considered dramato have aroused the children’s motivation to engage in science play. Advantages and challenges relatingto the application of DIE strategies in science play were presented. Suggestions for futureimplementation of and research on DIE strategies in science play are presented herein.

Keywords

Early science education teacher development children’s science play drama in education (DIE)