DRAMA AND POETRY - A GOOD INSTRUMENT FOR BETTER EDUCATION

WHAT IS DRAMA ?

Although all the people of the world whether primitive or civilised have always had drama as part of their culture, drama in its modern understanding is a product of Greek civilisation. Accordingly, the Greek word "drones" (drama) means the "thing done", while the Greek word "treason" (theatre) means the "viewing place" (Brown, 1985). Simply defined, therefore, Drama is something acted or performed before an audience in a viewing place.

According to Aristotle (Poetics, 1967), the drama has many characteristics: it is imitative, recreative and a dynamic mode of communication. Drama gives order and clarity to human experience. For the basic elements of drama - feeling, desire, conflicts and reconciliation - are the major ingredients of human experiences. When these elements are reorganised into understandable patterns on the stage, the audience sees them in the meaningful new light.

Over the years, dramatic artists have sought to use their works for a dual purpose: to entertain and to educate. As a medium for entertainment, drama provides human being a respite from their daily chores. As a vehicle for education, drama provides an avenue for societal value clarification. Through stories, songs and spectacle, the dramatic artists try to educate the audience with the intentions of making the society a better place to live in.

Today, many nations still use drama to explore, interpret and solve the complex political, economic and cultural problems in their society. It is the suggestion of this paper that if properly harnessed, the drama could well be the most effective instrument of a moral revolution in Nigeria.

What is Moral Education?

There is an abundance of literature on the subject 'of morality and moral education (Blishen, E., 1970), Bull, N. (1969), Frankena, W. (1976), Philips, M (1978). For our purpose, we shall present a resume. In a paraphrase of William Frankena, (1976) morality includes or consists of judgments (rules, principles, ideas) that pronounce actions to be right, wrong, good or bad. These; judgments are important because of the effects they have on the feelings, interests, and ideas of other persons or because of their effects on humanity. Morality is to be presented to students according to John Wilson (1976: 46) as a systematic way of thinking out decisions and judgments by which they can make explicit use of the principles of considering the interests of others. Moral principles enable the students to collect available information about the effects of an action on people's interest and weigh the benefits and harms as impartially as possible, before arriving at a judgment or decision.

Moral education, on the other hand, comprises the complex of influences that promote the moral and social development of the child from the egocentricity of the baby to the responsible maturity appropriate to the adult. It is a process of nurturing the development of right behaviour in the youth (Edward Blishem, 1970). Moral education is different from religious morality or religious education. Unlike religious education, moral education develops human autonomy, it develops in a person sufficient insight breath and understanding of moral issues, so the person is able to make a rational moral judgment and take appropriate rational decisions. Morality is more than what one believes, it is what one does. The over-all aim of moral education is to bring about an individual who is able to discern the good from the bad, the right from the wrong and possesses the willpower to do what he knows to be right. Drama addresses moral issues at both the intellectual and practical levels.

REFERENCES

Achebe, C. Things Fall Apart. Ibadan: Evans Nig., 1959.

Achebe, Chinua. "the Role of the Writer in a New Nation" in African Writers on Africa, edited by Killian, G.D. London: Heinemann, 1973.

Alison, A.F. Drama and Education. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1961.

Akinpelu, J. A. "Value in The Nigerian Society", in New

Perspectives in Moral Education (NdukaUheoma (ed.). Ibadan: Evans, 1983.

Aristotle: Poetics, translated by Gerald F. Else Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1967.

Bayart, Jean Francios, IVFtgLen Afrique: La politique du Ventre. Paris, Fayard, 1986.

Bishan, Edward (ed) Moral Education. N.Y. Philosophical Library, 1970.

Bull, Norman. Moral Education. London: Routledge and KeganPaul, 1969.

Brown, J.R. Drama London: Heineman's Education Books, 1985.