A tale of five countries : background and confidence in preservice primary teachers in drama education across five countries

In many public primary schools across different countries, generalist primary teachers are required to teach all subjects, including music, dance, drama and visual arts. This study investigates the background and confidence of preservice primary teachers from five countries in relation to drama and drama education. It also examines if there is a difference between the preservice teachers’ perceptions of their own background and confidence in drama education in relation to each of the five countries (Australia, South Africa, Namibia, USA and Ireland). On investigating the differences between countries, there were significant statistical differences in the means of responses from preservice teachers from the different countries in relation to both background and confidence in drama education. The paper concludes with suggestions for teacher educators, given their students’ weak background in drama education