The Contribution of School Theaters to the Value Development of Kindergarten Students: The Irbid Example

Background/purpose. This research aimed to investigate the Contribution of school theater to the development of values among kindergarten students from teachers’ perspectives in Irbid Governorate.

Materials/methods. A descriptive-analytical approach was adopted using a questionnaire of three dimensions (psychological, social, and aesthetic). The study sample comprises 108 kindergarten teachers. To obtain the study results, means and standard deviations were used, along with multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA).

Results. Findings revealed a moderate role of school theater in developing social, aesthetic, and psychological values among kindergarten students. No statistically significant differences were found in the impact of school theater on the development of psychological, aesthetic, and social values, attributable to the years of experience variable. Similarly, no statistically significant differences in the psychological dimension were observed due to academic qualifications. The findings also indicated statistically significant differences in the aesthetic and social dimensions of the impact of school theatre on the development of values among kindergarten students, with a preference for those with a bachelor's degree.

Conclusion. Based on the findings, the study suggests that, considering the theater's proven substantial benefits for children's psychological, social, artistic, and cultural development, school theatre should be better incorporated into the curriculum for kindergarteners. The study’s findings are limited to a sample of kindergarten teachers in Irbid and a three-dimensional questionnaire, which restricts the generalization of the results, and responses may have been influenced by subjective factors.

Keywords: School theater, values development, kindergarten, social dimension, aesthetic dimension, psychological dimension

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