Exploring teachers’ experiences in the teaching of drama in early childhood education: a case of Life skills teachers in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

Abstract

Teaching life skills to children throughout the foundation phase (often ages 5 to 9) is crucial for their overall development, but it also comes with unique challenges. The effectiveness of life-skills education may be impacted if these concerns are not properly considered. Schools face many obstacles when implementing the life-skills curriculum, including teachers’ perceptions that the subject is not important; a lack of training to assist and equip teachers with relevant skills on how to teach life skills; a lack of resources, insufficient teaching time, and a curriculum that does not explicitly outline the specialised material needed to teach life skills. This thesis presents an interpretive case study that explores teachers’ experiences teaching drama in five primary schools in the early childhood education/foundation phase. Data were generated qualitatively from ten life-skills teachers through reflective activity, one-on-one semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, and document analysis for triangulation purposes. Purposive and convenience samplings were used in selecting teachers from five primary schools that teach life skills subjects in early childhood education/foundation. Thematic analysis was used to produce both themes and categories. The three key research questions that were formulated for this study include: What are the teachers’ experiences of teaching life skills (drama)? (descriptive); How do teachers’ experiences inform the teaching of life skills (drama)? (operational); and Why do teachers experience the teaching of life skills (drama) in particular ways? (philosophical/theoretical). The literature reviewed shed light on the questions that guided this study. Hence the study sought to establish that experiences are categorised into three levels which include: actual action, consequences, and individual internal intelligence in teachers’ experiences. Through the natural identity framework (NIF) the findings of the study outlined that teachers’ experiences of teaching life skills (drama) are informed by actual action experiences and consequences experiences as teachers implement life skills curriculum. Thus, teachers expressed that teachers must balance curriculum concepts so that life skills (drama) teaching would produce quality results that are expected at the end of the year. The study introduced four key propositions aligned with themes that emerged: Content of life skills (drama) teaching; teaching environment, and resources; roles, responsibilities, and learning activities of teaching life skills (drama); and assessment of life skills (drama) teaching. Based on these propositions, the study outlines a modified framework, the drama teacher experiences (DTE). This framework promotes teachers’ natural drama experiences which are underpinned by reflection, and re-critiquing of teachers’ actions during the process of teaching and learning.