Developing Children’s Socio-Emotional Competencies Through Drama Pedagogy Training: An Experimental Study on Theory of Mind and Collaborative Behavior

Authors

  • Macarena-Paz Celume
    Laboratoire de Psychologie et d’Ergonomie Appliquées (LaPEA), Université de Paris, Paris, France; Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity, Paris, France
  • Thalia Goldstein
    Social Skills, Imagination and Theatre Lab, Department of Psychology, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA
  • Maud Besançon
    Laboratoire de Psychologie: Cognition, Comportement, Communication (LP3C), Université de Rennes 2, Rennes, France
  • Franck Zenasni
    Laboratoire de Psychologie et d’Ergonomie Appliquées (LaPEA), Université de Paris, Paris, France

Abstract

Drama pedagogy training (DPT) is a drama-based-pedagogy focused on socio-emotional-learning (SEL) development, over academic or artistic. This study aims to see if DPT promotes theory of mind (ToM) and collaborative behavior in 126 French children aged 9-10 years old, randomly assigned to an experimental group (DPT), either a control group for 6 weeks. Post-tests showed large effects of training on ToM, F(1, 124) = 24.36, p < .001, η² =.16, and collaborative behavior, F(1, 124) = 29.8, p < .001, η² = .19. T-test showed significant differences on ToM (t = -4.94, p < .001) and collaborative behavior (t = -5.46, p < .001), higher for DPT. Effects of type of school and grade are discussed. Results confirm the hypotheses.