Educators’ views on teaching drama in Maltese primary schools, with reference to the national curriculum

Abstract

This study investigates the teaching of drama in three primary schools in Malta (State, Church and Independent), with a focus on drama education, the views of educators and exploring how drama is taught and/or experienced. The research also refers to the subject of drama within the National Curriculum and analyses the educators’ perceptions and beliefs about this. The research examines the ways in which drama is experienced in each of the three schools. The study found that the Church school and the Independent school employ specific teachers to teach Drama as a subject. In the State school within this study, there were no drama sessions being held, at the time, even though in State schools it is usually the peripatetic drama teachers from the Drama Unit that visit the school for a number of sessions, and, primary teachers may or may not be involved in drama education. The research also highlighted a number of themes which are: the educator’s role, the subject of drama/methods of learning, skills, misconceptions, resources, the subject within the curriculum, and the idea of fun and enjoyment. These themes were then analysed and discussed within this study.