The role of theatre in the spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents in the era of digitalisation

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to get the opinions of teachers in order to determine the role of creative drama in the spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents in the age of digitalisation. The research was carried out in the phenomenology pattern, one of the qualitative research methods. The participant group of the research consists of 40 teachers who teach in various primary, secondary and high schools in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the 2021–2022 academic year. The data collection tool of the research is the semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. As a result of the research, the vast majority of teachers stated that they benefited from creative drama activities and digital creative drama activities several times in the spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents. The majority of the teachers participating in the research stated that they found themselves somewhat inadequate regarding the use of digital creative drama activities in the spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents. Teachers participating in the research categorised the advantages of digital creative drama activities in the spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents as practical, learning situations and assessment-oriented advantages. In-service training programmes should be organised to improve this situation, since teachers benefit from creative drama activities and digital creative drama activities several times in the spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents and find themselves a bit inadequate.

Keywords: Creative drama, spiritual and moral education, teacher opinions;