Why is drama so important? Among the many reasons is the link it has to social development and social abilities in youngsters.
As parents, we all want our children to be liked, to be social, to be kind to others and have friends whom they can share the memorable moments of life with. When drama is used in a developmental process we find all sorts of positive outcomes with social development being high up on that list.
As Joyce Wilkinson, a speech and drama teacher in the education faculty at Brandon University states;
"The ability to share, to think of others, to respect other peoples rights is not inborn in any child. It is learned through example, through guidance and by interaction with other people."
Therefore through drama practices children are exposed and guided through social constructs preparing them for the real life experiences they will go through at some point in their lives. This 'practice run' is so important in helping them develop the social skills needed to appropriately and adequately respond to situations and people. Not only are they learning how to respond but through this process they are also exercising their communication skills both verbally and non verbally and by sharing experiences with others this then leads to them understanding how others' feel and learning how to share their feelings and experiences with others, helping them become empathetic individuals. Throughout the Helen O'Grady developmental drama system we not only encourage the students to work with and communicate with others but insist on this aspect and with the guidance from the teachers through this process learners are exposed to socialising with whole group improvisations, dialogue and script development as well as partnerwork through our movement segment.
Our classroom dynamic is one built on respect, kindness and positive reinforcement, where every single student is important to the learning process and every child a "A Star!"😄 This 'family environment' allows all students from various and broad backgrounds to integrate harmoniously: an extremely important skill in the 21st century where emotional intelligence is high on the list of success.
