Fair Play: How Drama is a Powerful Tool for Social Skill Development

Drama or theatre is built on social interaction and forms a great way of introducing and sustaining social skills. The center of drama therapy is occupied by what is known as “creative drama”, which is an improvisational, press centered form of drama that requires participants to imagine, enact, and reflect upon experiences. Not only does this form of drama facilitate personal growth, but it also contributes towards development of social skills, communication skills, raising self-awareness, and promoting a positive concept of self. As a process, it helps to develop social skills by enabling teamwork, communication, and social interaction. The set of dramatic activities that form a part of such therapy have the experience of the participants as the goal. It provides the participants with a platform for emotional release and the chance to develop and evolve their social skills in a relatively non-threatening environment.

The use of drama to foster social skills has been around for decades. It is an established and powerful tool as it engages participants to investigate and explore issues through mutual cooperation and interaction. According to a study conducted by Smilansky (1990), McCaslin (2000), Yaffe (1989), children at preschool level gain in cognitive-creative and socio-emotional activities through participation in creative drama. Thus, it’s not surprising that drama is used as a tool to facilitate social skill development among children and adolescents in educational settings and institutions. Participation in such activities help children build their self-esteem and enhance affective development that eventually transfers to different domains of learning. Overall, it is safe to say that theatre and drama are powerful tools to help build social skills, especially during the formative years of participants.