From drama to reality: teachers’ reflection on morality development in Chinese universities

This study reports the findings of a follow-up investigation into the influence of drama education on teachers’ morality development at the pre-service and beginning teaching stages. Data are drawn from a case study of extracurricular drama activity in H teacher education university. This study demonstrates that drama-based pedagogy shapes pre-service teachers’ professional morality through four interconnected mechanisms: dialogic fieldwork bridging theory and practice; safe reflective spaces negotiating moral tensions; embodied performance within professional dilemmas; and collaborative teamwork fostering moral learning ecologies. Significantly, this impact is not ephemeral; it is sustained and reshaped through ongoing interaction with the ecological contexts of early career teaching.