Effects of creative drama on self regulation skills of preschool children

In this study it is aimed to gain self-regulation skills to preschool children using creative drama method. Self-regulation skills include sub- dimensions of the regulation of attention, behavior and emotion and 24 drama ateliers for 12 weeks were applied to develop these sub-dimensions. The study group consists of 42 children, 20 of whom were selected for the experiment and 22 of whom were selected for the control group in the pre-school classes in Maltepe Primary School, a public school, in Çiğli district in İzmir for the 2018-2019 academic year. The study was performed with the method of "easily accessible case sample". In the study, pre-test - post-test control group model was used, which is one of the quasi-experimental models. "Preschool Self-Regulation Assessment (PSRA)", developed by Smith –Donald (2007), adapted into Turkish by Fındık-Tanrıbuyurdu (2012), was used to measure the self-regulation skills of preschool children. The scale consists of two separate parts as "Practitioner's Guide" and "Practitioner's Evaluation Form". While the control and experimental group benefited from pre-school education, the experimental group was also applied a creative drama education based on self -regulation. In the statistical analysis of data, "SPSS" 18.0 computer program was applied. Normality test was performed in the pre-test post-test comparisons of the scores from the sub-dimensions "Attention and Impulse Control" and "Positive Emotion" of self-regulation of Experiment and Control Groups ; upon the observation that data indicated normal distribution, t-test was utilized in the comparisons of two groups. Considering the scores from "Attention-impulse control", the first sub-dimension of self-regulation scale (PSRA), and "Positive Emotion", the second sub-dimension of self -regulation, it has been concluded that the groups did not indicate a significant difference in terms of their comparative pre-test scores and the groups were equal to one another. Considering the scores from "Attention-impulse control", the first sub-dimension of self-regulation scale (PSRA), and "Positive Emotion", the second sub-dimension of self-regulation, it has been concluded that the comparative post –tests of experiment and control groups indicated a significant difference in favor of experiment group. According to these results, it has been concluded that creative drama method is effective in gaining self-regulation skills to pre-school children. Depending on the evaluation of the results obtained in our study, the teachers are recommended to utilize self-regulation skills in their class in pre-school education, and as one of the most effective of these methods, creative drama is mostly recommended.