| Abstract [eng] |
Urmanavičiūtė V. (2022). Application of drama therapy in the development of self-regulation skills of primary school students. (Joint Master 's Diplomas, Master' s Thesis in Health Sciences). Supervisor: Dr. Rima Breidokienė. Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theater: Vilnius– 82 p. Investigation problem. Drama therapy is an effective tool used to strengthen self-regulation of emotions, behavior, and attention, so it can be an effective tool when working with children with self-regulatory difficulties or disorders. Drama therapy is a new field in Lithuania and is still not applied in schools. There are no studies in Lithuania revealing the effects of drama therapy on children's self-regulatory abilities. It is important to test out how drama therapy can be applied to develop self-regulatory skills. The aim. To reveal the possibilities of applying drama therapy in developing the self - regulation skills of pupils in grades 2-3. Research participants. Primary school pupils in grades 2-3 (n = 5), mean age 8.6. Research methods. Survey data collection tools: video surveillance, PPT document analysis, blogging. Research data analysis tools: video analysis based on Child Behavior Protocol, case study based on Adolescent Behavior Protocol, thematic analysis of art therapist diaries. Research results. An analysis of scientific sources suggests that the regulation of behavior, attention, and emotions should be for the social and cognitive development of children, and that children with self-regulatory difficulties may be used as specialized psychological aids at school. Based on the results of the video analysis, the applied drama therapy exercises proved to be for the development of self-regulation in primary school students. The analysis of the empirical case studies revealed the dynamics of self-regulation abilities during the session: The weakest self-regulation was at the beginning of the session, the strongest - in the middle, which shows that the application of drama therapy monitors students' self-regulation. The thematic analysis of the drama therapist’s diaries revealed that the use of drama therapy for primary school students with self-regulatory difficulties requires clear behavioral boundaries, but requires the therapist’s flexibility in adapting exercises from the group atmosphere of the group at the time. Drama therapy could be a powerful intervention tool used in mainstream schools to develop students ’self-regulatory skills. Further and deeper research on the applicability of drama therapy is needed in the school to reveal the impact of long-term drama therapy on the development of self-regulatory skills. |
