The Use of Drama Pedagogy in Teaching Morality in a Chinese Primary School

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore the potential of the drama pedagogy that may contribute to primary children's moral growth in the Chinese educational context. It argues that drama may offer an ensemble-based, dialogic, and narrative pedagogy for teaching morality to complement the didactic traditional model. Design/Approach/Methods The methodological approach is that of case study research, using different methods to assess the effects and effectiveness of the author's teaching. The fieldwork was undertaken in a public primary school in Beijing, in which the drama workshop The Boat was taught to 16 children on a voluntary basis. Findings The study demonstrates that drama can be seen to some extent to assist pupils in aspects of their empathetic attitudes, dialogic thinking abilities, and autonomous thinking capacities. Originality/Value The author hopes the study might stimulate more and deeper research in similar contexts and that this may further extend the understanding of Chinese teachers of this resourceful new pedagogy.