Training the theatre arts teacher in Nigerian colleges of education: problems and prospects

Abstract

This article seeks to identify and proffer solutions to the problems confronting the theatre arts teacher training in Nigerian colleges of education. It also advances the prospects of effective theatre arts teacher training in the educational sector and the society at large. In doing these, the researcher adopts the interview, focus group discussion (FGD) and observation methods to collect data. Given that many colleges of education in Nigeria offer theatre arts as a course, the researcher narrows down the scope of the research to Katsina-Ala and Oju Colleges of Education in Benue State. The major finding of the study is that, the theatre arts teacher training programme is confronted with numerous problems which militate against its effective execution, thereby making the aim of the programme to be almost defeated. It argues that the theatre arts teacher occupies a central place in equipping school children with creative and imaginative skills, which are capable of building their lives through the teaching of drama, creative arts and music in primary and post primary school levels. It is in view of this that the study recommends that the government, college management and lecturers of theatre arts in colleges of education should show a high sense of commitment in improving the quality of theatre arts teachers trained at that level of tertiary education.

Keywords: Theatre arts teacher, Nigerian colleges of education, Learning, NCCE, NUC, Theatre arts