Theatrical play and social skills development: teachers’ perspectives on educating autistic students

Abstract

The pedagogy of theatrical play is a relatively new educational approach within the school system. Aim is to examine teachers’ opinions of theatrical play as a method which can provide opportunities for students with autism to interact with others in a fun and supportive environment. Twelve teachers who are selected by purposive sampling (M = 40.6 years) are teaching students with autism in general primary schools in Northern Greece and participated in semi-structured interviews which lasted 45 minutes. The protocol of interview consisted of 13 open-closed questions. The answers were collected through a recording device. A depth-analysis of teacher’s responses was used to analyse their patterns and relationships. Teachers believe that theatrical play with appropriate curricular decisions and knowledge can hold an essential place in the classroom and supported the hypothesis that it is especially effective in developing and improving the duration and frequency of autistic students’ social interactions.

Keywords: Autism, teaching, theatrical play, school, social skills.