Theatre in the Classroom: Drama, Role-Play, and the Development of Empathy and Language

Theatre in the Classroom: What the Evidence on Drama-Based Pedagogy Actually Shows

A contributing voice from child development | Specialist in curriculum, pedagogy, and school leadership

Classroom drama is one of the better-evidenced and least-used tools in school pedagogy — and it costs almost nothing to start. A meta-analysis of 47 quasi-experimental studies conducted since 1985 found drama-based pedagogy has a positive, significant effect on student achievement, with the strongest results when a classroom teacher leads it directly, across more than five lessons, integrated into language arts or science rather than run as a stand-alone activity. That specificity matters more than the general claim: it tells a school exactly what makes the difference between drama that works and drama that doesn’t.

Key facts

• A meta-analysis of 47 quasi-experimental drama-based pedagogy (DBP) studies since 1985 (Lee, Patall, Cawthon & Steingut, 2015, Review of Educational Research) found a positive, significant impact on achievement outcomes — strongest when led by a classroom teacher rather than a visiting teaching artist, delivered over more than five lessons, and integrated into English language arts or science.
• A separate literacy-focused meta-analysis of drama-based pedagogy (extending Podlozny’s original 2000 review, published via the NEA-funded Research: Art Works programme) found significant positive effects on achievement, attitudes, 21st-century skills, and motivation, again strongest when teacher-led over multiple hours of instruction.
• A controlled study of acting training in elementary-school children found a statistically significant effect on empathy (d = 0.53) relative to a control group — though the same study found no significant effect on theory-of-mind measures, a reminder that drama’s benefits are specific, not universal across every socio-emotional outcome tested.
• India already has a national infrastructure for this: the National School of Drama’s Theatre-in-Education Company (Sanskar Rang Toli), established in 1989, has delivered more than 800 performances of 26 plays, reaching over 5.5 lakh children across Delhi and beyond.
• The research consistently distinguishes teacher-led, sustained classroom drama from watching a professional troupe perform — both have documented value, but they are not interchangeable, and the strongest achievement effects come from the former.

The evidence is real — and more specific than “drama helps”

The research does not say drama helps children in general. It says drama helps when a classroom teacher runs it themselves, repeatedly, integrated into what they’re already teaching — not as a special guest event.

This distinction is the single most useful finding for a headmaster deciding where to spend limited time. A one-off visit from a professional theatre company — valuable as NSD’s Sanskar Rang Toli programme clearly has been, at scale, for millions of Indian children — produces a different kind of impact than a teacher weaving role-play and readers’ theatre into a five-week literacy unit. The meta-analytic evidence favours the second for achievement outcomes specifically, which is good news for resource-constrained schools: it does not require bringing in outside performers, just a shift in how an existing teacher runs part of an existing lesson.

The empathy finding deserves the same honesty. A d = 0.53 effect on empathy in elementary-age children is a real, moderate effect — but the same research found no significant movement on theory-of-mind measures, meaning drama’s socio-emotional benefits are not a blanket “makes children more empathetic and better at understanding others’ minds” claim. It is narrower and better-supported than that overclaim would be.

Five principles for classroom drama that actually works

1. Diagnose which specific outcome you’re targeting before choosing the format. Achievement gains, literacy skills, empathy, and engagement each have somewhat different evidence bases and different optimal formats — a single “drama day” cannot target all of them equally well.
2. Lead it yourself, rather than outsourcing entirely. The research is specific on this: effects are strongest when the classroom teacher runs the drama work directly, not when it is delegated entirely to a visiting artist — even a very good one.
3. Run it across multiple lessons, not once. More than five lessons is the threshold associated with the strongest effects in the achievement meta-analysis — a single class period of drama is unlikely to replicate the documented gains.
4. Use organisations like NSD’s Theatre-in-Education wing as a complement, not a substitute. A professional TIE performance can spark engagement and introduce children to theatre at a scale an individual teacher cannot — pair it with, rather than replace it with, sustained classroom practice.
5. Start with what costs nothing. Role-play, readers’ theatre, and simple tableau work integrated into an existing language-arts lesson require no budget, no visiting artist, and no special training beyond what most teachers can pick up from a short guide — the lowest-cost starting point the evidence actually supports.

Frequently asked questions

Does classroom drama actually improve academic achievement, or just engagement? Both, per the evidence, but achievement specifically has significant meta-analytic support — the Lee et al. (2015) review of 47 studies found real, positive effects on achievement outcomes, not just self-reported enjoyment.

Is watching a professional theatre performance as valuable as running drama activities in class? They serve different purposes. NSD’s Theatre-in-Education Company has reached over 5.5 lakh children through professional performances, which is valuable exposure at a scale no single classroom can match — but the strongest achievement effects in the research come specifically from teacher-led, sustained classroom practice, not from watching a performance.

Does drama actually build empathy in children, or is that overstated? There is real evidence for it — a d = 0.53 effect on empathy in one controlled study of elementary children — but the same study found no effect on theory-of-mind measures, so the claim should be stated specifically (empathy, evidenced) rather than broadly (all social-emotional skills, assumed).

What’s the lowest-cost way for a teacher to start, without training or budget? Readers’ theatre and simple role-play integrated into an existing language-arts lesson, run by the classroom teacher directly across several sessions rather than as a one-off — the format the research most strongly supports and the one requiring no new resources.

What to do:

1. Identify which specific outcome — literacy achievement, empathy, or engagement — you most want to target this term, since the evidence and the right format differ by goal.
2. Speak with one colleague already using drama or role-play in their classroom, and ask specifically how many lessons they sustain it across, not just whether they’ve tried it once.
3. Read the Lee et al. (2015) meta-analysis summary or NCERT’s guidance on drama-in-education, and share one specific finding — particularly the “teacher-led beats outsourced” result — with your staff this week.
4. Propose one small, recurring drama activity — readers’ theatre or simple role-play — built into an existing literacy unit across at least five sessions, not a single special day.
5. Set a review date four weeks out to check whether the activity ran as planned and whether you noticed any change, and write it down today.

Sources: Lee, B. K., Patall, E. A., Cawthon, S. W., & Steingut, R. R. (2015), “The Effect of Drama-Based Pedagogy on PreK–16 Outcomes,” Review of Educational Research; drama-based pedagogy literacy meta-analysis, Research: Art Works / NEA-funded report; controlled study on drama pedagogy and children’s empathy/theory-of-mind (PMC); National School of Drama, Theatre-in-Education Company (Sanskar Rang Toli).