Teaching Through Creative Process: Drama in Education Practice in Ghana

The pedagogical approaches selected and employed by educators can make or mar a learner's potential. This realisation has informed a diversity of approaches to teaching over the years. One such set of approaches are sometimes grouped under the overarching notion of creative teaching. Within the nation of Ghana, creative teaching is not a new phenomenon, where the storytelling tradition has always been used as a primary source of education in social orientation and was in use long before the introduction of formal education. Nonetheless, formal, teacher-centred approaches have dominated education there since colonial times. However, in 1964, in response to the worldwide evolution of instructional methods in formal institutions, the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ghana, Legon, introduced Theatre in Education, which was later changed to Drama in Education. Efua Sutherland later introduced the Children's Drama Development Project to rejuvenate creative learning among children. Since then, a range of Drama in Education forms have been employed as pedagogies in Ghana. This paper traces the history of Drama in Education in Ghana, outlines its successes and describes the challenges it continues to face, particularly within formal schooling contexts.