Can Theater-in-Education Promote Early Childhood Language, Perspective-Taking, and Imagination Development?

• In Event: 72.049 - Situated Learning in the Arts

Abstract

Drawing on research traditions from three disciplines—language development, cognitive development, and educational theatre and drama—this mixed-methods study investigated the effect of a preschool theatre-in-education (TIE) program on the language and cognitive development of 155 children enrolled in 12 Head Start sites in New York City. Specifically, this quasi-experimental multi-site study used a pretest-posttest design with a treatment group and comparison group to explore children’s vocabulary, narrative, theory of mind (ToM), and imaginative development. Instrument modifications to enhance the evaluative potential of future drama research and intervention modifications to maximize drama intervention effects will be discussed.

Author

• Wendy K. Mages, Mercy College