Drama as Learning Medium in Young Children Essay

Drama as Learning Medium in Young Children - Essay Example Since there is active participation of children in drama, learning takes place spontaneously, which leads to later learning of higher order. The theories of educationists like Jean Piaget and Jerome Bruner contribute to the use of drama as a learning medium. According to Jean Piaget, the child goes through several stages of development, one of which is the Preoperational stage from ages 2 to 7. At this stage, the child is acquiring motor skills. Magical thinking is foremost at this stage. He appreciates drama and relates to it. A child at this stage learns quickly from the dramatized version of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ or â€Å"The Lion King†, elements of vocabulary, arithmetic and a little geography. Since at this stage of the child’s development his egocentricism has begun, he can relate to the central character of the drama. But, according to Piaget, he cannot conserve or use logical thinking yet, which he starts using in the next stage of his development. The next stage of development in children is the ‘concrete operational stage’ which spans the ages from 7 to 11. At this stage of their development, children have started thinking logically, and concretely, but they need aids for conserving and thinking logically. Higher order thinking is beginning and they are helped by drama at this stage of learning. After the age of 11, children start to think and conserve abstractly. Here, they appreciate and learn from drama based on detective stories such as Sherlock Holmes. Piaget explains that the child ‘s perceptions of notions of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ , and ‘valid’ , ‘proper’, and ‘necessary’ develop during these stages.