E epidrase tes dramatikes tekhnes sten ensunaisthese paidion proskholikes elikias
Drama is considered to be an incredibly valuable tool on the teaching process. It has been proven that engaging into drama related activities can enhance a student's social, expressive, mental and emotional abilities. The research that has taken place, focusing on the positive effects of drama is limited and it's easy to assume the lack of research regarding the effect of drama on the empathic skills of young students. Hence, the present study examines the effect of drama on the empathy of preschool aged children. The action study took place at the National Childcare Institution of Kallithea. The Childcare setting functions as a caring unit for children in need of protection. Moreover, the facilities of the institution include a daycare centre, available for children who live in the institution as well as for children from the nearby areas of Athens who wish to attend the institution's preschool or nursery classes. The selected age group for the present study was children between 4 5 years old, pupils of the pre kindergarten class. The daycare runs nursery, preschool, pre kindergarten and kindergarten classes. From the above mentioned classes only two were selected to participate in the study. One of the two, served as the experimental group and the second one as the control group. The sample of the research consisted of 39 preschool aged children. 19 Children formed the experimental group and 20 the control group. The researcher completed 11 dramatic context interventions, specifically designed to improve the empathy of the participating students. In order to collect the necessary data that would allow us to conclude safe assumptions regarding the improvement of our participants' empathy, qualitive and quantitive methods of research were used in the study. The triangulation method of research was applied in the current study. The tools used for the data collection were the following: The Empathy Questionnaire (EmQue) interviews and observations of the researcher that were noted on the researcher's diary/journal. The questionnaire evaluated three different categories, that are considered related to children's ability to empathize. More specifically, the three categories were the following: the emotion contagion, attention to others' feelings and prosocial actions. In both of the groups, the questionnaire was given prior to the interventions and afterwards. Hence, we ensured that the final results remained undependable of any unpredicted variables or differences on the synthesis of the two groups. The quantitive data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package, version 23 and the t student and wilcoxon programs. In addition, we performed the Cronbach alpha criteria to check the reliability of the questionnaire's items. From the quantitative data analysis it was found that there is not a statistically important improvement between the pre and post test in the experimental group. However, the qualitative means of the study, such as the interviews and the researcher's personal observations, suggest that the drama interventions have had a positive effect on the empathy and the socio emotional skills of the students. We reckon that children 4 5 years old, are experiencing a crucial borderline point of their empathetic development and externalization, thus the expression of empathic actions are not as apparent as in older stages. Moreover, we believe that the experimental group was in need of more interventions in order to present a more obvious change in their empathetic skills and also preserve the positive effects of the program. Considering the above mentioned reasons, it's easier to explain the insignificant difference between the pre test and post test of the experimental group. Drama has contributed incredibly in today's education and it's considered as a very useful educational tool, which can positively affect all aspects of education. Key words: empathy, early years, pre kindergarten class, drama, education, research