Palásthy Ildikó
I have been researching the psychological aspects of
drama pedagogy since 1981. I wrote my
doctoral dissertation as bachelor of arts in 1984, as well as my PhD thesis on
the basis of examining the effect mechanisms of drama plays – in the Department
of Psychology of the Debrecen University.
Theoretical
conception
Drama pedagogy is interdisciplinic,
with its chararacter of having the effects of more sciences and arts - like
theatre, psychology, and pedagogy - mingled within itself.
From them we are interested in the
psychological references to deal with. Psychological roots are to be found
among the group psychoterapies, in the psychodrama. The common character of the
psychodrama and the drama play is that they both use the means of expressions
of the dramatic presentation. Their aim is the same, and it is the developement
of the personality, the changing of the attitude and behaviour of the
participants. All these are achieved within the safe framework of the group.
Elements and grades of the effect
mechanism are the same as well:
emotionally affected relationship,
introspection of the situation,
dramatic ventillation,
catharsis.
They have mutual ancestors (Moreno, Mérei) to be
referred to, the exercises and techniques are the same, as well.
In the same time the psychodrama is much more
conscious: it is examining group dinamic progressions, proceedings
of effects, mechanism of effects, and is keen on
controlling itself. In case of the drama group, the dramatic and the
sociometric level appear from the layers of the group proceedings, their conscious
ideation depends on the age.
The psychoterapic level of the group can not, of
course, be undertaken by pedagogues.
Therefore the drama plays work rather by the theory of
the dramatic ventillation. Spontainity is an important element of theirs, but
e.g. in case of lower grade starting groups direct leadership is necessary.
Drama group
works on the basic condition of dependence, inherent in the teacher-student
situation structure. Children expect being directed, the teacher is regarded as to fulfill this
function in the everyday life. Due to this fact, exercises are more determinant on these drama play sessions.
With the terminology of psychoterapies, drama group
can be regarded as a self-recognitive group and a training group as well.
It is understood, that the personality developing and
socializing character of the drama play is considered to be the most important
thing.
The conception we accepted is based on the fact that
drama play is able to connect children with themselves and with others, and to
revitalize and introspect the realities and possibilities of human life. That
is to say, we regard drama play to be a socializing activity.
Drama pedagogy is a means of personality developing
processes, which enables the individual to increase his knowledge, skills,
abilities, social connections in a group work through dramatic activities
directed by the educator. The means of drama pedagogy are the drama plays.
Drama session is not an extroverting dramatic
performance. The playing participants here study to remember, imagine, performe human experiences.
The dramatic activity is using time and space as well, its strength is to
discover manyfolded meanings through a unique action as a dimension, and, by
simulating and symbolizing human behaviours, it can create applicable modells
for the community and the individual to be used in the present time and the
future .
In the drama play children very actively go through
various life situations in their mind. The regular playing activity becomes a
practicing ground: it gives assurance in behaviour, gives chance to practice
how to handle stress, participants gain knowledge of situations and
self-behaving. Participation in the games has an effect on the social position
and the sociability of the participants, it developes their empathic ability
and tolerance. Drama play is also a means of self-expressing. It helps to
develope creativity, meanwhile gives chance to beeing introduced with
arts.
The
methods and material of the executed examinations
Our aim was to examine the effect mechanisms of the
participation in drama play sessions. As one of the meanings of the world effect has the aspect of result
in itself, on one hand we regarded it our task to study the result, the effect
caused by the drama play, on the other hand we, since the world effect
has the aspect of activity as well, undertook the analysis of the
nature, the source and the continuity of the coures of effecting.
Our
hypotheses were:
-
we assumed that
central subject matters gradually tend to be more characteristic in the group
proceedings,
-
general
statements are more frequent at the beginning, and tend to deminish as group
time passes by,
-
regarding
personal statements, a counter-direction process is to be expected: during
group proceedings we may assume their number will increase
-
in the experiment
we assumed furthermore that children participating in the drama play sessions
will study to react in a more adaptive way in situations of frustration,
-
their
self-reflecting image and their relation to themselves will be more
beneficient.
We formulated our working hypothesis that the
methods suitable to analyse the effect mechanisms in psychodrama and group
therapy courses will be suitable – due to their similar characteristics – to be
used in the drama pedagogical proceedings as well, and thus we will have the
opportunity to measure qualitative apparitions with
quantitative methods.
Methods
applied
1. Course examinations
Methods examining group proceeding:
-
summing up of the
content of the sessions, contouring the central
topics
-
describing the
focal conflicts as the hidden content of the group
dinamics
-
determining the
self-distance of the statements given to the central topic
During
the sessions we kept the minutes of the proceedings in official reports. We determind the central topics of the group
sessions with a content analysing system, based on the manifest and verbalized
group content. The central topic is a unity of content of the session, which is
a clearcut problem the group was interested in or involved with. We regarded
the sentences articulated during the sessions as basic units for the content
analysis.
We discovered the focal conflicts
of the group through analysing the statements given on the central topics,
using the model of Stock-Whitaker and Lieberman. The focal conflict is the
hidden problem behind the manifest group proceedings. The conflictuous group
situation has two different characteristic features: a disturbing motif
(inclination, desire) and a hidden motif (fear). The group, after having
struggled with these forces, will bring forth the solution.
When determining the personal
statments given on the central topics, that is to say: the self-distance
from the central topics, we differentiated between general and personal
statements.
The personal interaction is a
self-involved, self-shared, emotion-embodied statement given on the central
topics.
The general interaction also refers
to the central topics, but it is a distance-emphasizing statement.
2. Result examinations
We have examined the changes in the personality by
§
coping
questionary
§
self-picture
questionary
§
and experience
questionary.
We have prepared a situation-reaction questionary
examining the struggle strategies. There are conditions lead to
frustration (Activating Condition) and negative results (Expected Consequences)
among the situations, the reactions are modelling the types of coping
strategies:
assimilative
(task-orientated)
accomodative
(emotion-focused)
avoidance
(avoiding) struggles.
The persons examined had to judge and refer the pairs
of attributes of a 7
graded
scale of the self-image questionary to themselves.
The persons examined were due to mark the validity of
the items of the
experience
questionary on a 7 graded scale, as
well.
We applied methods of mathemetics and statistics in
evaluating the data.
The subject, the volume and the conditions of the
examination
We were
working with 3rd grade students of elementary school, each occassion
conncentrating on one separate drama group. In lack of qualified drama
teachers, we did not have the possibility to start more groups. Since
statistical verification was not one of our basic aims, we disregarded the
quantitative equality between the examined group and the control group.
Persons involved in the experiment:
1st
phase: 20 persons
2nd phase 25 persons
Persons involved in
the control groups
1st
phase 52
persons
2nd
phase 48
persons
The examinations
were perfectuated in Debrecen. The drama group had been
having meetings
for half a year, once in a week (15
sessions in all).
Summing up of the
results of the examination
The results
of the examination of the group proceedings
The content analysation and the
quantitative analysation of the interactions
in the drama play
sessions verified our assumptions: by underlying the central
topics, it was easy
to discover a thematic trend, which casted light upon the
inner effect course of the group proceedings. Building
up of themes takes place simultaneously with the structuralization of the
group, showing the clear borderlines of the basic periods of the group
proceedings: preparational phase (1st-3rd meeting), elaborational phase
(4th-12th meeting) and finishing phase (13th-15th meeting).
The same structure appears when
applying the focal conflict model. The focal conflicts of the 1st-3rd meetings
deal with the novelty of the situation and the statements of the participants,
the 4th-12th meetings realize the various ways of struggling and solving the conflicts,
while the focal conflicts of the 13th-15th meetings indicate repetative
tendencies.
The work of the drama group, through
the elaborations of the central topics and the focal conflicts, shows up a
periodical structure. Planning 15 sessions proved to be motivated, the group
ran a clearcut route of development, closed a period, with a slight indication
of a possible subject matter for the future.
The results of the examinations of the personal
statements verified our
assumptions,
too. Though we had to face the majority of general statements, the changing
ratio of general and personal statements rhymes with the tendency anticipated
above. The number of statements on the central topics, within the interactions
in the sessions on one hand shows a notable increase, our data on the other
hand verify that with the running out course
time the number of the general statements also decreased, with an increasing number of the self-involved
statements – which this way proves the group became capable of accepting the
intimacies in an open atmosphere, and demonstrates the group has reached a
higher stage.
Results of
examininations in the self-involved group and in the control groups
Our examinations prove a very
significant personality developement of the
children
participating in the drama sessions.
Regarding the struggle strategies,
control groups show an unchanged, firm
coping profile, while members of experimental group,
compared with their previous selves or with the control groups, mastered a
higher level of applying strategies of assimilative, constructive, productive
solutions in finding the stress situations and their results, as well as in
handling problems, within the half year period of the drama session.
The self-image
examination also shows very favourable tendencies.
The self-image of the children participating in the experiment shows a 400%
improvement, and as far as the final result is concerned, their
self-image is much more positive than that of the controle group member`s one.
We think
the two personality projections, the strugle strategy and the self-image cling
very closely together: a competent person who knows and accepts himself can
relate himself to the world in a constructive way, as well.
The children experienced the same, they
could exactly measure the importance of the drama session, its influence in the
interpersonal relations, and they noticed the differencies between the results
effected.
Drama can be regarded as approvable from the aspect of situative self-knowledge and adequate
assimilative situation solution (in case of lower grade students), for
self-knowledge and reaction style are mainly developed in company situations.
With the special exercises of the drama pedagogy, with the simulated
interpersonal actions it is possible to prepare and practice certain manners of
behaviour, it is possible to get accustomed to endure and handle stresses of
the conflicts of everyday life. Participants are all aware of this fact, as
proved by the experience questionary.
The aim of
our examination was to reveal the results of participating in drama plays, what
it causes in the personality, how and which ways this effect is caused by. We
have no informations at all about similar drama pedagogical researches
concentrating on the description and analysation of the activities in drama
sessions. Nevertheless, we think it is impossible to obtain conscious
persenality developing effects without the analisation of the effect
mechanisms.
Forces in
the group, group dynamic actions, mastering the group leadership and group organizing ideas and methods may help
drama teachers to become real catalyzers of the group proseedings in their own
groups.
© Palásty Ildikó, 2002