Harnessing Children's Imagination: A Teacher's Experience of Dramatic Approach in Teaching Preschool Science

• In Event: AERA Virtual Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Topics Affecting Early Childhood Teachers, Children, and Families

Abstract

Although research has proven the effectiveness of using dramatic approaches in creating an authentic learning environment in which learners develop their cognitive and affective skills better, there still exists a gap between known benefits of the dramatic approaches in education and their actual application for science teaching and learning, especially in the preschool setting. The purpose of this study is to examine how the dramatic approaches shape science teaching and learning in a preschool setting. A preschool teacher’s integration of two dramatic techniques in her science teaching, and the preschool students’ engagement in the lesson, will be described and analyzed. The potential of the drama-based approach as a teaching pedagogy for preschool science teaching and learning will be discussed.

Authors

• Hye Ryung Won, Florida State University

• Ithel Jones, Florida State University