Story, Play and Enchantment: The Importance of Drama for Children in the Early Years of Education | DaTEAsia Vol. 5

APA Citation

Winston, J. (2015). Story, play and enchantment: the importance of drama for children in the early years of education. The Journal of Drama and Theatre Education in Asia, 5, 11-26.

This article is based upon a keynote address I was invited to give at the “International Conference for Drama Education for Young Children” which took place at Nanjing Normal University in June, 2014. In addressing the theme of the conference – Drama, Dream and Children – I chose to refer to two practical examples. My intention was to provoke some thinking about specific ways that drama can contribute to children’s social, moral and language learning, not in any exhaustive way but by drawing attention to some important considerations. In particular I wished to focus on the kind of drama work young children enjoy and are capable of and the crucial role of pedagogy in enabling this to happen.