What Do Basic Education Teachers Participating in Creative Drama Instructor/Leadership Program Think about the Creative Drama Method?

This study aims at revealing how basic education teachers, as the foundation of the educational system participating in the Private Creative Drama Instructor/Leadership Program, comprehend the creative drama method and their experiences with this process. The study was designed using the phenomenology qualitative research pattern. The participants consisted of nine teachers (six female and 3 male teachers), working in different branches who completed the first two stages (96 hours of training). Data were collected through unstructured interviews and participant diaries. The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Criterion sampling was preferred in the formation of the study group to include situations that meet the determined criteria in the study. The first criterion was that the teachers had taken the first two stages of the drama course as they understood the nature of drama. Participants emphasized the strengths of using creative drama as a method at the end of the course. The findings revealed that drama education and applications contribute to skills such as language, decision-making, and expression skills and have a positive effect on personal development. In addition, getting to know each other in the group is significant in creating a convenient and appropriate setting in drama practice.