The effect of drama-supported creative writing practices based on collaborative learning on teachers' personality traits, knowledge levels about writing, anxiety, attitudes, and self-efficacy

This study examines the effect of drama-supported creative writing practices based on collaborative learning on teachers' personality traits, knowledge levels about writing, anxiety, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The research was conducted using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In the quantitative dimension, a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test control group was employed, while the qualitative dimension adopted a phenomenological approach. The participants of the study consisted of 60 Turkish language and literature teachers working in the central districts of a province located in the Çatalca-Kocaeli subregion of the Marmara Region. A 24-hour program was implemented with the experimental group of 30 teachers, while no intervention was conducted with the control group. The research was carried out as a project in collaboration with the district directorates of national education, where the volunteer experimental group teachers were employed. Data were collected through instruments including a creative writing academic achievement test developed by the researcher, a writing anxiety scale for teachers, a writing attitude scale from the literature, a writing self-efficacy scale, and an adjective-based personality test. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interview forms designed by the researcher. For the analysis of quantitative data, the normality of the data distribution was checked using the Shapiro-Wilk test. In cases where data were normally distributed, independent samples t tests and one-way repeated measures ANOVA were used. For non-normally distributed data, the Mann-Whitney U and Friedman tests were applied. In cases where significant differences were observed, Bonferroni and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for pairwise comparisons. Qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis. Quantitative results showed that, post-intervention, teachers in the experimental group experienced significant and sustained improvements in openness to experience, agreeableness, extraversion, writing self-efficacy, attitudes, and knowledge, alongside a lasting reduction in anxiety. Qualitative findings supported these results, with participants offering uniformly positive evaluations and recommending a longer duration, greater material diversity, and wider dissemination of the program.