With the inclusion of children with special needs in primary schools, there is a need for new professional skills, new ways and new methods of teaching. One of the areas, with its process, is certainly an art therapy. Drama therapy is a part of it. With dramatic expression and process in the presence of a drama therapist teacher many for child important life areas can be improved, and thus child can be more fully developed. The purpose of the drama therapeutic treatment of a group of primary school girls, which I present in this paper, is to help the girl with a selective mutism and also support, understand and accept her problems, encourage her, enable her with opportunities to calm, reduce stress, express creatively and learn strategies for dealing with everyday hardships. I investigated three interrelated areas, communication, emotion and behavior within the group, as well as their productivity.
The starting point of the research is a qualitative case study of a group that follows the model of action research. The study includes six girls aged fourteen to fifteen years. Five girls joined treatment by performative drama model AV and method on their own initiative, the sixth girl - a girl with a selective mutism was included as a pupil with additional professional help of a social educator and a teacher. I did the work of a social pedagogue and at the same time I was a member of the expert group that prepared and implemented her individualized program. I therefore worked with her one and a half hour per week as a social pedagogue and performer of art therapy according to my own assessment and as a student of drama therapy, drama direction. Study involved all members of the expert group, including the girl’s parents. The hearing consisted of thirty meetings, two lessons each. At the beginning, I didn’t have a lot of information about five girls but I obtained all available information about the girl with selective mutism. I used this data to design drama therapy, which followed model AV. After the realization of each performative method AV I analyzed the videos, wrote my observations and conclusions. Changes and progress were continuously shown in the process of action research and by comparing the initial and final state. The survey confirmed the positive impact of the drama therapy.
The study gives us some useful information regarding different approach to improve communications, interpersonal relationships, productivity, student’s emotional and behavioral images which include information on drama therapy and the possibilities of its use in primary schools.
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