Drama and theatre : a bridge between old and new education in Nigeria
Date
1982
Authors
Lyndersay, Danielle M. (Danielle Madeleine)
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Abstract
The purpose of the study was to design a broad programme of drama/theatre activities to help meet the changing educational and cultural needs of primary school children in Nigeria. The Programme was devised with the National Policy on Education enunciated by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1981 and the needs of Nigerian children in mind. This policy defined primary education as "education given in an institution for children aged normally six to eleven plus," but, in reality, it frequently includes teenagers.
In order to provide a firm philosophical base for the use of such a programme a study of the historical and theoretical background of play and drama in education was undertaken and definitions and working theories of "creative dramatics" in the United States, "drama-in-education" in Great Britain and "developmental drama" in Canada were explored. A study of the social and cultural background of Nigerian children and their educational needs was undertaken and methods for integrating drama into the curriculum developed. The use of drama by the classroom teacher in language arts, literature, social studies, art and music was emphasized. Specific teaching strategies involving drama and Nigerian content were designed.
Comparisons between the concepts of informal classroom drama and formal performance-oriented theatre were drawn. The history of the Children's Theatre movement as a universal twentieth century phenomenon was outlined and its more recently developed forms of "participation theatre" and "theatre-in-education" cited. In addition, four alternative forms of theatre, all of which included elements of drama as well as theatre and developed by outstanding artists (Keith Johnstone, Maxime Klein, Augusto Boal and Jonathan Fox) were analyzed. From a study of these models and the concepts of classroom drama, the writer devised an alternative theatre form entitled Educative Theatre for use in Nigerian schools. Educative Theatre refers to a drama/theatre event presented for an audience of children by adults and utilizing "walket-puppets" and audience participation.
The implications of this study are many. First, the suggested programme would involve all members of the educational community--the children as audience members and active participants, the secondary and university students as actors, the teachers in training as teachers and the parents and community leaders as resource personnel for Nigerian content. Second, the programme would provide a bridge between the formal rote-memory learning methods and the more modern learning concepts. Third, the program me would involve many of t he traditional Nigerian cultural at tributes which would make learning a more enjoyable activity.