Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis Ifeoluwa Akinsola University of Ibadan, Nigeria Abstract This study was carried out to determine the effects of two Theatre-in-Education Packages (TiEPs) (Devised-for-students and Devised-by-students) on secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in the Ibadan metropolis, Nigeria. The moderating effects of Motivation for Yorùbá Orature (MYO) was also examined. The study adopted the Quasi experimental research design of the 3X2 factorial matrix. Three Local Government Areas (LGAs), out of the five existing in the Ibadan metropolis, were randomly selected. The simple random sampling technique was used to select six secondary schools (two from each LGA), while six intact classes of Senior Secondary II students (one per secondary school) were randomly assigned to TiEP Devised-for-students (87), TiEP Devised-by-students (115) and control (90) groups. The instruments used were Yoruba Orature Knowledge Test (r=0.81), Motivation for Yoruba Orature Questionniare (r=0.73) and instructional guides for implementing the TiEPs. Treatment lasted eight weeks. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and Analysis of covariance at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that treatment had significant main effect on students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature, in favour of students taught using the TiEP Devised-for-Students. The main effect of MYO and the interaction effect of treatment and MYO were not significant. Therefore, Yoruba language teachers should adopt the principles of TiEP Devised-for-Students in teaching Yoruba orature to their students. Keywords: Theatre-in-Education, Yoruba Orature, Students’ Knowledge, Students’ Theatre Introduction Yorùbá orature is the collection of words and verbal performances that depict the Yorùbá traditions, belief systems, and values. It captures the totality of the indigenous Yorùbá literature that are expressed and transmitted via spoken words (Falola & Oyebade, 2011; Falola & Akinyemi, 2016). These spoken words are built on African oral tradition, a primary form of ISSN 1916-7822. A Journal of Spread Corporation Volume 13 No. 3 2024 Pages 169-191 https://journal.lib.uoguelph.ca/index.php/ajote/index Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 170 education before the advent of western literacy in Africa (Falade, 2013; Akinṣọla 2020a; Akinṣọla & Olaosebikan, 2021). As noted by Sesan (2013), Yorùbá literature is deeply rooted in oral tradition, verbal arts oral performances, and narratives. The collection of these rich oral performances and narratives is what the term ‘Yorùbá orature’ captures. Yorùbá orature is made up of the three global genres of literature – poetry, prose, and drama all which are interrelated, interwoven, and interdependent. One cannot be presented without overlapping with the others. For instance, a chanter chanting Yorùbá oral poetry is at the same time dramatising to the audience and is probably narrating a story or past event in the process. Certainly, poetic performances and oral narratives are important features of festivals that serve as the Yorùbá traditional dramatic arts (Ogundeji, 1991; Akinṣọla, 2020b). Western literacy and technological advancement have brought about the modernisation of Yorùbá drama into texts and films (Adejumo, 2009). Still, the various Yorùbá traditional festivals and masquerade displays, as well as other genres of orature (oral poetry and narratives), do feature on the pages (in drama texts) and screens (in films) of Yorùbá drama (Akinsola, 2023). However, due to the negative influence of this westernization that has eroded the Yorùbá cultural heritage, many among the contemporary Yorùbá youth prefer Western- oriented songs and cultural productions as means of entertainment (Akinsola, 2019; Sesan, 2013). This is partly responsible for the manifestation of some social vices among in-school adolescents. Whereas, indigenous culture and literature have been theorised by Akinsola & Olaosebikan, (2021) as vehicles for transmitting moral values and quality human virtues. Therefore, it is necessary to properly and carefully teach the Yoruba oral/indigenous literature to students in the secondary schools, in order to instill desirable human characters in them. According to Akinsola and Adeyinka (2020), the teaching of Yorùbá in schools is aimed at instilling rectitude in students through adequate knowledge of Yorùbá orature. However, some previous studies have documented students’ negative disposition to Yorùbá, both as a language and school subject (Adéo ̣̀ ṣun 2008; ỌláỌlo ̣́ run et al., 2013; Ko ̣́ láwọlé, 2016). Other studies (Akinsola & Adeyinka, 2020; Olayinka, 2019) specifically reported poor knowledge of the Yoruba orature and culture among secondary school students in Ibadan metropolis. While Orotoye (2019) attributed these problems to the negative influence of westernisation, Uwandinwa-Idemudia, (2014) attributed them to the parenting styles of Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 171 career-oriented elites who do not bother about exposing their children to their indigenous language, culture and literature. By implication, children of such parents, who mostly populate secondary schools in Ìbàdàn metropolis, usually have poor knowledge of Yorùbá orature. Some studies have directed their efforts at solving this problem of poor knowledge of Yoruba orature among Yoruba youths of cities like Ibadan. These studies observed that home and school environments (Olabode, 2017), psychosocial factors (Ilesanmi, 2018), students’ attitudes (Olayinka, 2019), preferences for movies, music, and mass media (Akinsola 2019) and traditional/modern Yorùbá film-watching (Akinsola & Adeyinka, 2020) correlated strongly with learning outcomes in Yoruba culture and (oral) literature. These studies have succeeded in suggesting factors that could be addressed towards improving secondary school students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature. However, such suggestion does not have a direct practical implication on teachers’ classroom practices in the teaching of Yoruba orature. Therefore, there is a need to experiment practical efficacious and student-centred methods that teachers could adopt in improving students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature. Student-centred teaching approaches have gained popularity in teacher education policies and practices, as a result of the need to make learning participatory and engaging for students (Tang, 2023). In using such approaches, students play active roles in knowledge creation, dissemination and acquisition. Bas and Beyhan (2019) identify cooperative, inductive, gamified, expeditionary, active and flipped strategies as effective student-centred strategies that drive active students’ engagement and participation in the learning process. Other scholars have added small group discussion, think-peer-share and project-based learning to this endless list (Tang, 2023; Oyeladun, Akinsola & Adeyinka, 2023). Although theatre-in- education shares the features of many of these strategies, Yorùbá studies in education have not given attention to its experimentation, especially on the subject of Yorùbá orature. If properly developed and implemented in school, theatre-in-education programmes could serve as practical ways through which senior secondary school students in the Ìbàdàn metropolis could be re-orientated on the importance of learning Yorùbá orature. This is because theatre-in-education has been viewed as a branch of applied theatre (Wooster, 2007). In this branch of applied theatre, Jackson (2011) explains that a professional theatre troupe prepares materials relevant to the curriculum objectives and/or socio-cultural needs of school children. The troupe then visits the school (usually more than once) for presentations (O’Toole, 2009; Jackson, 2011; Uju, 2019). Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 172 Theatre-in-education has also been explained as one of the ways of achieving the goal of ‘‘enter-education’’ otherwise known as ‘‘edutainment’’, ‘‘entertainment in education’’ and ‘‘educational entertainment’’ (Atolagbe, 2020). Conceptualising theatre-in-education as an entertaining tool for transmitting educational information places a huge demand on it to be highly student-centred. If theatre troupe is adopted, there are possibilities that students’ active participation/involvement would be minimised. Therefore, the two theatre-in-education packages developed in this study did not make use of any theatre troupe but the students themselves, since the goal was to improve the learning of Yorùbá orature. The two packages were tagged as ‘‘Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-for-Students’’ and ‘‘Theatre-in- Education Package Devised-by-Students’’. The content of the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-for-Students was conceived and written by the researcher for the students to rehearse and present with the direction and guidance of the researcher and/or their teacher. On the other hand, the content of the Theatre- in-Education Package Devised-by-Students was conceived, rehearsed, directed, and presented by the students with little guidance from the researcher/teacher. It has been argued by Jackson (2011) that such processes can actively engage students and offer them a wide range of aesthetic, pedagogical, and psychological values. They can also aid students’ behavioural modification by emotionally inculcating certain social and moral values into them, through their active engagement and participation (Jackson, 2011; Robson, 2018). Meanwhile, previous studies in theatre and education have focused mainly on the effectiveness of forum theatre (Fesochukwu, 2017) and hot-seating theatre (Elnada, 2015) techniques in education and social development. Theatre/drama techniques have also been found effective in addressing foreign/second language teaching and learning (Ustuk and Inan, 2017); Literacy and Mathematics (Inoa et al., 2014); Chemistry Instruction (Gurniak, 2016); Social Studies and Moral Education (Ejiofor & Ken- Aminikpo, 2016); Christian Religious Knowledge (Ugwu, 2014); Social Issues in Education (Athiemoolam, 2018); Citizenship Education, Social Change, Social Competence, and Community Development (Odi, 2007; Abuku, 2012; Asante & Yirenkyi, 2018). However, most of the studies mentioned above utilised theatre troupes to carry out their theatre-in-education or theatre-for-development programmes. A few researchers, who engaged and involved students in carrying out their theatre/drama-in-education projects, worked on other subject areas different from Yorùbá Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 173 orature in the Nigerian secondary school context. Therefore, in a bid to extend the frontier of research in theatre-in-education, there emerged the need to develop packages that would be wholly student-centered in addressing students’ knowledge of Yorùbá orature in Ìbàdàn metropolis; hence, this study. Motivation is selected as a moderator variable in this study. Motivation does not only play a central role in students’ learning of Yorùbá orature but could also have possible interaction with the theatre-in-education packages developed in the study. Motivation is the driving force or inspiration behind human actions as well as the energy humans direct towards achieving various goals and objectives (Alhassan 2015). Such driving force, inspiration, or energy could be internal (intrinsic motivation) or external (extrinsic motivation). Therefore, motivation in this study is any internal/external force or inspiration driving students to learn and cherish Yorùbá oral literature. Depending on the students, such driving inspiration may be high or low. Since the theatre-in-education packages in this study were in the Yorùbá language and were aimed towards improving students’ learning of Yorùbá orature, students with high motivation for Yorùbá orature could demonstrate more willingness to partake in devising, rehearsing, and implementing the packages than students with low motivation for Yorùbá orature. As such, motivation could determine how students benefit from the packages developed in this study. Besides, previous studies (Adeyinka & Ilesanmi, 2016; Ilesanmi, 2018; among others) have reported motivation as a strong predictor of students’ attainments. However, the influence of motivation as a moderating factor has not received adequate research attention in theatre-in-education intervention studies. Therefore, the moderating effect of motivation was examined in this study. Hypotheses H01: There is no significant main effect of treatment on senior secondary school students’ Knowledge of Yorùbá orature in the Ìbàdàn metropolis. 

 H02: There is no significant main effect of motivation for Yorùbá orature on senior secondary school students’ Knowledge of Yorùbá orature in the Ìbàdàn metropolis. 
 H03: There is no significant interaction effect of treatment and motivation on senior secondary school students’ Knowledge of Yorùbá orature in the Ìbàdàn metropolis. 
 Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 174 Materials and Methods Research Design The study adopted the pretest posttest control group quasi experimental research design of the 3 X 2 factorial matrix. The design is graphically represented as: O1 X1 O2 O3 X2 O4 O5 – O6 The O1, O3, and O5 respectively stand for the pretest measures for the experimental group one (TiEP Devised-for-students), experimental group two (TiEP Devised-by-students) and the control group (The Conventional Mode of Teaching). The O2, O4 and O6 stand for the posttest measures for the experimental group one (TiEP Devised-for-students), experimental group two (TiEP Devised-by-students) and the control group (The Conventional Mode of Teaching). The X1 is the treatment applied on the students in experimental group one (TiEP Devised-for- students), while X2 is the treatment applied on the students in experimental group two (TiEP Devised-by-students). The 3 X 2 factorial matrix is presented in the table below: Table 1: 3 X 2 Factorial Matrix Treatment Motivation High Low TiEP Devised-for-students TiEP Devised-by-students The Conventional Mode of Teaching Selection of Participants The participants of this study were selected from public secondary schools in Ìbàdàn metropolis, Oyo state, Nigeria. First, the simple random sampling technique was used to select three out of the five local government areas enumerated in Ìbàdàn metropolis. Thereafter, two public senior secondary schools from each of the three local government areas were randomly selected, making a total of six schools. An intact class of Senior Secondary II (SS II henceforth) Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 175 was selected from each of the six purposively selected schools. The six SS II classes were randomly assigned to Experimental Group One (Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-for- Students), Experimental Group Two (Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-by-Students) and the Control Group (The Conventional Mode of Teaching). In addition, two Yorùbá language teachers were purposively selected in each of the experimental schools to serve as research assistants, making a total of eight Yorùbá language teachers that took part in the study. Ethical Considerations This study considered the ethos for carrying out behavioural/social research such as the protection of participants’ safety, privacy, dignity, rights and emotional well-being during and after the research fieldwork. The written consent of each participant was secured using a consent form designed with emphasis laid on the voluntariness of participating in the study. Therefore, students were allowed to stop participating in the study at any stage of the procedure if they so wished. Also, the information/data (responses to questionnaires and tests, photos/videos of the theatre/drama intervention sessions) collected were treated with high confidentiality. In other words, none of the information was used for other purposes different from the presentation and publication of the research findings. Research Instruments The contents taught using the devised packages were orature concepts (Ìsàré – chants, Orin – songs, Òwe – proverbs) in the Yorùbá language curriculum for senior secondary school II. Two instruments (Yorùbá Orature Knowledge Test and Motivation for Yoruba Orature Questionnaire) were designed for the study: Yorùbá Orature Knowledge Test (YOKT): was self-constructed to measure the level of senior secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá oral literature. The test items were constructed from the orature contents (Ìsàré – chants, Orin – songs, and Òwe – proverbs) of the Yorùbá language curriculum for SS II. The test comprised four sections – Sections A, B, D and E. Section A was made up of 15 multiple choice items that covered all the topics; Section B comprised five (5) short answer questions on the Yorùbá proverbs; Section D comprised two short answer questions on Yorùbá praise poetry (oríkì) as an essential feature of the chant genre, while Section E was a short answer question on Yorùbá songs. The test was subjected to face and content validity by two experts of Yorùbá Education. Thereafter, it was trial tested on 20 SS II students in a school outside the Ìbàdàn Metropolis. The Kuder Richardson (KR) 20 Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 176 formula was used to determine its reliability coefficient and 0.81 was obtained. This implies that the items were consistent enough to measure what they purported to measure. Motivation for Yorùbá Orature Questionnaire (MoYOQ): was adapted from a study conducted by Akinsola (2018), and was used to measure students’ motivation for learning the Yorùbá oral literature. The original scale contained 20 items structured on the modified 4-point Likert scale of Strongly Agree (4), Agree (3), Disagree (2) and Strongly Disagree (1) to measure students’ motivation for Yorùbá literature and cultural concepts. According to Akinsola’s (2018) report, the reliability co-efficient of the original instrument was 0.95. In this present study, 15 of the 20 items were selected and re-worded to suit the measurement of students’ motivation for Yorùbá orature. Eight (8) of the 15 items were positively worded while the remaining seven (7) items were negatively worded. These items underwent face and content validity by two experts in (Yorùbá) Language Education. The experts’ comments were used to review and rewrite the items. They were trial tested on 20 SS II students in a school outside Ìbàdàn metropolis and the Cronbach Alpha method was used to obtain 0.73 reliability co- efficient, implying that the instrument was found reliable. Research Procedure As presented in the table below, the research procedure lasted 12 weeks as presented in the table below. Table 2: Tabular Presentation of the Research Procedure Stages Activities Duration 1 Selection of and Consent from Schools, Teachers and Students 1 Week 2 Training of Teachers/Research Assistants 1 Week 3 Pretest Administration 1 Week 4 Treatment 8 Weeks 5 Post-test Administration 1 Week Total 12 Weeks Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 177 Treatment This involved the exposure of students in the experimental schools to theatre-in-education package devised-for-students and devised-by-students in learning the Yorùbá orature concepts selected for the study. On the other hand, the students in the control schools were left to learn the concepts through their teachers’ conventional teaching mode. This treatment lasted eight (8) weeks. Activities carried out in each treatment week as emanating from the two packages devised were as follows: Treatment Week 1: The Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-by-Students was devised by students. The researcher/teacher grouped the students into six groups. The researcher/teacher briefed the students on what they were expected to do – select a group leader/director; brainstorm to write a script/storyline; ensure the utilisation of Yorùbá oral literature like songs, proverbs, and chants to convey or buttress their message; and submit their script to the researcher/teacher within one week. However, the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-for- Students was devised by the researcher who handed over some prepared play scripts to the Yorùbá language teacher. The teacher assisted in grouping the SS II class into six groups and gave a prepared play script to each group. These activities lasted one week. Treatment Week 2: Each student group in both the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised- for-Students and Devised-by-Students held rehearsals. Students’ rehearsals in the Theatre-in- Education Package Devised-for-Students group were directed and thoroughly supervised by the researcher/teacher. Whereas, the rehearsals of the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised- by-Students group were directed and coordinated by the selected group leader/director. Nevertheless, the teacher/researcher provided little supervision as the need arose. These activities also lasted one week. Treatment Week 3 to 8 (Class presentation/performance of the rehearsed plays): Students in both experimental groups performed their prepared plays in the classroom and the teacher/researcher utilised the lesson steps in the packages to expose students to Yorùbá orature concepts selected for this study. The instructional steps for the two packages are presented in the table below: Table 3: TiEPs Instructional Steps Step TiEP Devised-for-Students TiEP Devised-by-Students Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 178 One Introduction: The teacher/researcher briefed the students on the objectives of the presentation/performance and introduced the students-group that would present. Introduction: The teacher/researcher briefed the students on the objectives of the presentation/performance and introduced the leader of the students- group presenting to take charge from there. Two Prologue: The group sang and chanted the lessons in their presentation/performance. The rehearsed play was presented/performed by the students- group in the structure they have planned. Three The teacher/researcher created a scenario that foregrounded the content of the presentation and tasked the students to think along with the presentation/performance. Immediate Feedback: The teacher/researcher directed the class to ask questions from the students-group on the content of their presentation/performance, while the group answered the questions thrown at them. Four The rehearsed play was presented by the students-group. The teacher/researcher mediated by throwing more light on some moral issues, as the need arose. Five Immediate Feedback: The teacher/researcher called upon the students to suggest various alternative ways the play could have ended. Evaluation: Students shared the (moral) lessons they learnt from the presentation/performance. Six Epilogue: The teacher/researcher directed the whole class to sing the song presented/performed as prologue by the group. Seven Evaluation: Students shared the (moral) lessons they learnt from the presentation/performance. Methods of Data Analysis The inferential statistics of Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the three null hypotheses formulated for the study, using pretest scores as covariates. In addition, Estimated Marginal Means were computed to show magnitude of the mean scores of the three groups, while Bonferroni Post-hoc Analysis was used to detect sources of the significant effect that existed. All hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 179 Results H01: There is no significant main effect of treatment on senior secondary school students’ Knowledge of Yorùbá orature in the Ìbàdàn metropolis. 

 Table 4: Summary of ANCOVA of Post-Knowledge of Students in Yorùbá Orature by Treatment and Motivation Source Type III Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. Partial Eta Squared Corrected Model 26002.932a 6 4333.822 359.246 .000 .883 Intercept 16183.855 1 16183.855 1341.53 6 .000 .825 Pre-Knowledge 2326.073 1 2326.073 192.816 .000 .404 Treatment 19963.879 2 9981.939 827.438 .000 .853 Motivation 3.124 1 3.124 .259 .611 .001 Treatment * Motivation 17.410 2 8.705 .722 .487 .005 Error 3438.147 285 12.064 Total 154585.000 292 Corrected Total 29441.079 291 Table 4 indicates a significant main effect of treatment on secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature (F (2; 285) = 827.438; p=.000<.05; partial η2 = .853). Therefore, the null hypothesis 1 is hereby rejected. Based on the Partial Eta Squared (partial η2) of .853, the effect size of the treatment is 85.3%. This implies that 85.3% variance in the post- knowledge of secondary school students in Yorùbá orature was accounted for by the treatment applied, hence, there is a significant difference in the post-test mean scores of secondary school students’ knowledge of Yorùbá orature based on the treatment. To determine the magnitude of the significant main effect across the three treatment groups, the estimated marginal means of the treatment groups were carried out and the result is presented in Table 5. Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 180 Table 5: Estimated Marginal Means of Post-Knowledge of Students in Yorùbá Orature by Treatment Treatment Mean Std. Error 95% Confidence Interval Lower Bound Upper Bound TiE Package Devised-for- Students 34.041a .407 33.239 34.843 TiE Package Devised-by- Students 19.141a .362 18.428 19.854 Conventional Teaching Mode 9.961a .449 9.078 10.844 Table 5 shows that the students who were exposed to the TiE Package Devised-for-Students had the highest post-knowledge mean score of 34.04, followed by the mean score (19.14) of the students exposed to the TiE package Devised-by-Students. The students who were taught using the conventional mode of teaching had the least post-knowledge mean score of 9.96. This order could be represented as TiE package Devised-for-Students>TiE package Devised-by- Students>Conventional teaching mode. This result implies that using the two TiE packages to facilitate instruction in Yorùbá orature improved secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. However, the TiE package Devised-for-Students was found more beneficial than the TiE package Devised-by-Students. Table 6: Bonferroni Post-hoc Analysis of Post-Knowledge of Students in Yorùbá Orature by Treatment (I) Treatment (J) Treatment Mean Difference (I-J) Std. Error Sig.b 95% Confidence Interval for Differenceb Lower Bound Lower Bound TiE package Devised- for-Students TiE package Devised-by-Students 14.900* .548 .000 13.580 16.219 Conventional Teaching Mode 24.080* .605 .000 22.624 25.536 Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 181 TiE package Devised-by- Students TiE package Devised-for-Students -14.900* .548 .000 -16.219 -13.580 Conventional Teaching Mode 9.180* .577 .000 7.790 10.570 Convention al Teaching Mode TiE package Devised-for-Students -24.080* .605 .000 -25.536 -22.624 TiE package Devised-by-Students -9.180* .577 .000 -10.570 -7.790 Table 6 shows that there is a significant difference in the post-knowledge mean score of the students exposed to TiE package Devised-for-Students and students exposed to TiE package Devised-by-Students (Mean Difference = 14.90; p=.000<.05). There is also a significant difference in the post-knowledge mean score of the students exposed to TiE package Devised- for-Students and students exposed to the Conventional teaching mode (Mean Difference =24.08; p=.000<.05). In addition, there is a significant difference in the post-knowledge mean score of students exposed to TiE package Devised-by-Students and students exposed to the Conventional Teaching Mode (Mean Difference =9.18; p=.000<.05). This result implies that the huge difference in the post-knowledge mean scores of students across the three groups is the source of the significant main effect of the treatment. Therefore, the treatment is thus evaluated to be effective in improving students’ knowledge of Yorùbá orature concepts, in favour of students in the two experimental groups. H02: There is no significant main effect of motivation for Yorùbá orature on senior secondary school students’ Knowledge of Yorùbá orature in the Ìbàdàn metropolis. 
 Table 4 shows that the main effect of motivation on students’ knowledge of Yorùbá orature was not significant (F (1; 285) = .259; p=.611>.05; partial η2 = .001). This implies that there is no significant difference in the students’ post-knowledge mean score in Yorùbá orature based on their motivational level, hence, the null hypothesis 2 is not rejected. H03: There is no significant interaction effect of treatment and motivation on senior secondary school students’ Knowledge of Yorùbá orature in the Ìbàdàn metropolis. 
 Table 4 shows that the two-way interaction effect of treatment and motivation on students’ knowledge of Yorùbá orature was not significant (F (2; 285) = .722; p=.487>.05; partial η2 = Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 182 .005). This implies that the interaction of treatment and motivation did not bring about a significant change in secondary school students’ post-knowledge in Yorùbá orature, hence the null hypothesis 3 is not rejected. Discussion This study found that the treatment applied had a significant main effect on senior secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. This was due to the huge variance in the post-knowledge score of students in Yorùbá orature based on the treatment. It thus implies that there was a significant difference in the post-knowledge scores of students in the experimental groups and students in the control group. Specifically, the students in the experimental groups had a higher post-knowledge score in Yorùbá orature than their counterparts in the control group. As such, the Theatre-in-Education Packages were more influential in improving students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature than the conventional mode of teaching. From the result, the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-for-Students was the most influential, followed by the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-by-Students, and then the conventional mode of teaching. This result implies that using the two Theatre-in-Education packages to facilitate instruction in Yorùbá orature improved senior secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. The packages were efficacious due to their potential as theatrical instructional interventions. Contrary to the conventional mode of teaching, the theatre-in-education packages are student-centred, because students were active participants in the learning process rather than mere passive receivers of information from the teacher. The packages gave room for the teacher-student interaction and negotiation in the process of knowledge creation. Therefore, the packages must have inspired the students to carry out a reflection and personal research on the Yorùbá oral literature concepts. This gave them the ability to interact and negotiate knowledge better with the teacher and perform the plays effectively. Since such students’ involvement was not a feature of the conventional mode of teaching, it was not effective as the packages were. Comparing the two packages, the findings show that the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-for-Students was more effective than the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-by- Students in improving students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. A comparison of the contents of the two packages shed light on the reason for this finding. First, since the plays in Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 183 the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-for-Students were created by the researcher, its oral literature contents were rich in songs, chants, and proverbs. Each of the plays in the package has songs as both prologue and epilogue while chants were used to accompany the prologue song. The songs and chants were made to foreground the theme of the plays; therefore, they are essential parts of the plays. Contrarily, the play contents created by the students in the Theatre-in-Education Package Devised-by-Students lacked such rich orature ingredients. Although the students’ dialogues sparingly featured chants, they were not so much planned and structured to fit into the themes of their plays. Therefore, the students taught using the Theatre- in-Education package Devised-for-Students had an advantage over their counterparts taught using the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-by-Students. This is because there were conscious portrayals of the Yorùbá orature in the plays created by the researcher for the students in the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-for-Students groups. Second, the nature of the two packages is different. Third, the kind of guidance that the researcher gave the students in each of the two experimental groups where the packages were employed was different from the other. Since the plays in the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-for- Students were created by the researcher, the researcher was fully in the role of director of the plays. Therefore, the students were taken through the arts and acts of performing the Yorùbá orature, especially the chants and songs, in the context of the plays. The researcher was available to direct all the students’ rehearsals and was therefore able to fully guide them through chanting and singing. As such, the students did not only know about chants and songs as Yorùbá orature forms but they could also perform them with the appropriate voice modulation, melody, and rhythm. This is an advantage the students had over their counterparts taught using the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-by-Students, where students created their plays and directed them themselves with little or no researcher’s/teacher’s guidance. In most cases, the students in the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-by-Students groups held their rehearsals in the absence of the researcher, hence, the researcher had little or no influence on the extent to which oral literature is featured in their performances. It thus suffices to submit that the researcher’s input in the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-for-Students groups was more than that of the Theatre-in-Education package Devised-by-Students groups, and this accounted for the reason why the former was more effective than the latter in improving senior secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 184 This finding corroborates the works of Bora (2021), Bora (2020), Korkut & Celik (2018), Ustuk & Inan (2017), Schenker’s (2017) who all found that theatre and drama methods/techniques brought about an increase in the students’ knowledge of and/or achievement in (second/foreign) language-related concepts like speaking proficiency, pronunciation and cultural knowledge of the language. Although their studies were on second/foreign language competence, the knowledge of culture cannot be separated from second/foreign language proficiency since language and culture are siamese twins. This is why the study of Ustuk & Inan (2017) reported the effectiveness of the theatre-in-education programme used on students’ achievement in culture, as an extension of their foreign/second language proficiency. Specifically, the finding in this present study concerning the effect of theatre-in- education on students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature supports the report of Babbit (2011). In Babbit’s study, it was reported that theatrical intervention influenced the participants’ multicultural competencies, such as an expanded knowledge about the various cultures which they were exposed to. This is in line with the finding of this present study, as it has also been found that secondary school students who were exposed to many cultures in the metropolis of Ibadan had their knowledge of the Yorùbá orature influenced by the intervention of the theatre- in-education packages. Through the students’ plays, other cultures they are exposed to must have been portrayed. However, the packages were so much devised to make students see the relevance of the Yorùbá orature to their daily living over and above other cultures represented. Thereafter, the packages engendered open discussion, just as the study conducted by Gascon (2019) also revealed that drama pedagogy was the impetus for more open classroom discussions. The finding also corroborates the results Brizimo (2014), Ugwu (2014), Isukpa, (2014), Brett-MacLean et al., (2012), Pearce & Hardiman, (2012), Inoa et al., (2014), and Kemeh, (2015) in their studies on the use of theatre/drama to improve students’ knowledge, performance and/or achievement in various subject matters. All the studies found the treatment applied with the use of theatre/drama significantly effective in improving students’ knowledge, performance, and/or achievement. In addition, Brizimo (2014) found a significant main effect of drama treatment on the interest and achievement of students in Social Studies. Ugwu (2014) and Isukpa (2014) respectively also found the drama method and role-play method significantly Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 185 influential on students’ achievement in Christian Religious Study (CRS). Brett-MacLean et al., (2012) found that forum theatre enhanced medical and dental students’ critical and reflective thinking, team-building skills, valuable insights, and ability to dissect views. Pearce & Hardiman, (2012) reported that the hot-seating technique was effective in enhancing students’ practical business skills, commercial responsibilities, and assimilation of relevant academic theory. Lastly, Inoa et al., (2014) reported that students receiving theatre intervention often outperformed their control group counterparts in both Mathematics and Language Arts. Kemeh, (2015) demonstrated that solo drama was efficacious in making Social Studies instruction meaningful and engaging for learners. When instruction is meaningful and engaging this way, it is highly expected that students’ learning outcomes in terms of knowledge and achievement will improve. Although the above studies were on different subject matters, the theatre/drama methods they used effectively improved achievement/knowledge in Social Studies, CRS, M?athematics, Language Arts, Business Studies, and even Medicine. This confirms that theatre/drama is an effective tool for improving students’ learning outcomes. This claim therefore substantiates the finding of this present study that theatre-in-education packages effectively improved students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. The study also found that the interaction effect of treatment and motivation was not significant on senior secondary school students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. This implies that the interaction of treatment and motivation did not bring about a significant change in senior secondary school students’ post-knowledge in Yorùbá orature. This finding corroborates the works of Isukpa (2014) who also found that the interaction effect of gender and instructional treatment on students’ achievement and interest was not significant. Although the moderator variable studied by Isupka was not motivation, the fact that gender did not interact with drama treatment in Isupka’s work confirms the finding of this present study that motivation, which is another factor like gender, did not significantly interact with theatre treatment in improving students’ knowledge of the Yorùbá orature. This implies that theatre-in-education treatment is capable of improving students’ knowledge without much influence by other factors. Conclusion and Recommendations Theatre-in-education packages devised in this study have the potential to improve students’ knowledge of Yorùbá orature. This is in tandem with the ethos of theatre-in-education as a field Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 186 of applied theatre. Theatre-in-education, when the students are used as both the actors and audience, creates an atmosphere of edutainment in the classroom. The students get entertained in the process but more importantly, the theatrical practices provide an embodied knowledge formation and acquisition that can increase students’ feelings and enthusiasm for practising the Yorùbá moral values, especially the ones they theatricalised in the classroom. Such embodied knowledge cannot be made possible with the use of the conventional mode of teaching. Similarly, theatre-in-education packages devised in this study allowed for active students’ participation, involvement, and engagement in their learning. In both packages, students were active creators of the knowledge disseminated through the theatrical plays. This further confirms that theatre-in-education as an applied theatre field is a participatory and student-centred instructional mode. In such instructional mode, the teacher performs the role of a facilitator rather than a dictator of instruction. Therefore, it is recommended that Yoruba language teachers should adopt the Theatre-in-Education Packages, experimented in this study, in teaching Yoruba orature to teach their students. In such theatrical means of instruction, students should be allowed to own the responsibility of knowledge creation and dissemination. References Abuku, M. M. (2012). Advocacy for girl education through Theatre-for-development strategies in Benue state, Nigeria. PhD thesis. Theatre Arts, University of Ìbàdàn. vii + 154. Adejumo, A. (2009). Technologizing oral texts: archiving Yorùbá oral literature through new technology. LUMINA-Holy Name University 20 (2), 1-16. Adeyinka, A. A. & Ilesanmi, Y. O. (2016). Psychological factors predictors of students’ academic achievement in Yorùbá language in senior secondary schools in Egbeda local government, Oyo state, Nigeria. YORÙBÁ, Journal of Yorùbá Studies Association of Nigeria 8 (2), 189-212. Akinṣọla, I. T. & Olaosebikan, B. O. (2021). Content Adequacy of Oral Literature in Selected English Studies Textbooks: Implications for Inculcating Moral Values into In- School Adolescents. International Journal of Social Learning 1 (3), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.47134/ijsl.v1i3.44 https://doi.org/10.47134/ijsl.v1i3.44 Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 187 Akinṣọla, I. T. & Adeyinka, A. A. (2020). Yorùbá film genral preference and secondary school students’ achievement in Yorùbá cultural concepts in Ìbàdàn metropolis. African Journal of Educational Research 22 (1), 56-69. Akinṣọla, I. T. (2019). Movie, music and mass media preferences as correlates of secondary school students’ achievement in Yorùbá cultural concepts in Ìbàdàn North Local Government Area. An advance research seminar paper on language and language Education presented at the Language Unit, Department of Arts and Social Sciences Education, University of Ibadan. Akinṣọla, I. T. (2020a). Nollywood reception preferences among selected multilingual Nigerian undergraduates in the University of Ìbàdàn: does ethnicity still matter? American journal of qualitative research 4 (1), 38- 48. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/8210 Akinsola, I. T. (2020b). Yorùbá films in time perspectives: past, present and future. Yorùbá studies review 5 (1&2), 277-290 Akinsola, I.T. (2023). Development and efficacy of theatre-in-education packages on secondary students’ learning outcomes in Yorùbá orature and moral value concepts in Ìbàdàn, Nigeria. Doctoral dissertation, University of Ibadan. 140.105.46.132 Alhassan, A. (2015). EDU 321-psychology of learning. Lagos: National Open University of Nigeria. http://www.noun.edu.ng. Asante, E. & Yirenkyi, S.M. (2018). Engaging communities for development action: The Theatre-for-development (TfD) approach. International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 7 (2), 589-603. Athiemoolam, L. (2018). The value of drama-in-education as a decolonising pedagogy through embodied drama strategies in a higher education classroom. Journal of Education, 72, 55-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i72a04. Atolagbe, S. A. (2020). Advent of coronavirus pandemic as an eye-opener for the adoption of a new teaching-learning strategy. Paper presented at the 2-day virtual socio- educational discourse organised by the Department of Social Studies, EACOED, Oyo, Oyo State, 5th, and 6th June 2020. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/8210 http://140.105.46.132:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/2003/My%20Final%20PhD%20Thesis_AKINSOLA%20%28170299%29%20%281%29.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y http://www.noun.edu.ng/ http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i72a04 Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 188 Babbit, K. (2011). Dramatic conflict: exploring interactive theatre as a pedagogical tool for addressing issues of heterosexism in the educational system. PhD thesis. University of Missouri-Columbia. viii + 204. Bas, G. & Beyhan, O. (2019). Revisiting the effect of teaching of learning strategies on Academic Achievement: A meta- analysis of findings. International Journal of Research in Education and Science, 5 (1), 70-78. Bora, S. F. (2021). Taking literature off page! The effectiveness of a blended drama approach for enhancing L2 oral accuracy, pronunciation, and complexity. Language Teaching Research, 1–24. DOI: 10.1177/13621688211043490. Bora, S.F. (2020). Curtain up! Enhancing L2 spontaneous and authentic speaking opportunities through play scripts and drama-based approaches. RELC Journal 52 (3), 458-473. DOI: 10.1177/0033688219887536. Brett-MacLean, P. Yiu, V. & Farooq, A. (2012). Exploring professionalism in undergraduate medical and dental education through forum theatre. Journal for Learning through the Arts 8.1:1-13. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/50p2s33s Brizimo, D.M. (2014). Effect of drama on the interest and achievement of junior secondary school 2 students in social studies. M.A. Project. Department of Arts Education. University of Nigeria, Nnsukka. ix + 125. Ejiofor, B. A. & Ken-Aminikpo, F. I. (2016). Theatre in education: a technique for effective social studies teaching in junior secondary schools’ classes. Journal of Education and Human Development 5 (2), 155-168. Elnada, Z. M. (2015). The effectiveness of using hot seating strategy on enhancing student-teacher's speaking skills at Al-Azhar University-Gaza. PhD thesis. Curricula and Teaching Methods. Al-Azhar University- Gaza. x + 83 Falade, D. A. (2013). Oral tradition in africa: poetry as a means of preserving cultural heritage and engendering social change among the Yorùbá. http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/academy/fdennis-09-03.shtml Falola, T. & Akinyemi, A. (2016). Encyclopedia of the Yorùbá. USA: Indiana University Press. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/50p2s33s http://www.blackandchristian.com/articles/academy/fdennis-09-03.shtml Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 189 Falola, T. & Oyebade, A. (2011). Yorùbá fiction, orature and culture: Oyekan Owomoyela and African literature & the Yorùbá experience. Trenton, New Jersey: Africa World Press. Fesochukwu, C. W. (2017). Community theatre and social development: an evaluation of Lejja and Unadu theatre projects. M.A. Project. Department of Theatre and Film Studies. University of Nigeria, Nnsukka. viii + 66 Gurniak, M. (2016). Bonding theatre and chemistry: an educational exploration. M.A. Project. College of Visual and Performing Arts, James Madison University. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/195. Ilesanmi, Y. O. (2018). Psycho-Social factors as predictors of learning outcomes in value concepts in Yorùbá language among public senior secondary school students in Ìbàdàn, Nigeria. PhD dissertation, University of Ìbàdàn. Inoa, R., Weltsek, G. & Tabone, C. (2014). A study on the relationship between theatre arts and student literacy and mathematics achievement. Journal for Learning through the Arts, 10 (1), 1 – 21. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3sk1t3rx. Isukpa, M. E. (2014). Effect of role play method on students’ academic achievement and interest in Christian religious studies in senior secondary schools in Ebonyi central education zone of Ebonyi state, Nigeria. M.A. Project. Department of Arts Education. University of Nigeria, Nnsukka. x + 185. Jackson, A. (2011). Participatory forms of educational theatre. Ed. S., Schonmann Key Concepts in Theatre/Drama Education. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. 235- 240. Kemeh, M. (2015). Using solo drama to make the teaching of social studies engaging for students. Procedia-Social and Behavioural Sciences 174, 2245–2252. www.sciencedirect.com. Kolawole, C. O. O. (2016). Language education and the curriculum nexus: pathway to achieving sustainable development in Nigeria. 2015/2016 Inaugural lecture. University of Ìbàdàn: Ìbàdàn University Press Korkut, P., & Çelik, O. (2018). Developing pronunciation through creative drama. The Language Learning Journal, 49, 147–159. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/honors201019/195 http://escholarship.org/uc/item/3sk1t3rx http://www.sciencedirect.com/ Ifeoluwa Akinsola AJOTE Vol.13 No. 3 (2024), 169-191 190 O’Toole, J. (2009). Drama as pedagogy. Landscapes: the arts, aesthetics, and education (Vol. 8) Eds. J. O’Toole, M. Stinson and T. Moore. www.springer.com/series/6199. p. 97- 116. Odi, C. O. (2007). Theatre-for-development and the empowerment of rural women in Bayelsa state, Nigeria. Thesis, Theatre Arts, University of Ìbàdàn. xi+163. Ogundeji, P.A (1991). Introduction to Yorùbá oral literature. Ìbàdàn: University Of Ìbàdàn Centre For External Studies. Olabode, E. O. (2017). Social (home environment and school related factors) as predictors of senior secondary students’ achievement in Yorùbá culture in south western Nigeria. Further Thoughts on Language Education and the Curriculum Nexus for Sustainable Developemnt in Nigeria: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Clement Olusegun Olaniran Kolawole. Ìbàdàn: Constellation Books. Pp 89-106. Olayinka, B. M. (2019). Students’ attitude as a correlate of achievement in Yorùbá poetry in selected senior secondary schools in Ìbàdàn north local government area. M.Ed. Project, University of Ìbàdàn. ỌláỌlọ̣́ run, M. O., Ikonta, N. R., & Adeosun, A. O. (2013). Parental attitude to the learning of L1 in Nigerian secondary schools. British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 13 (1), 35-43. http://www.bjournal.co.uk/BJASS.aspx Orotoye, T. A. (2019). The symbolic role of oral poetry in the sustainability of African socio- cultural space: example of the oriki of Oluwoo of Iwo. A paper presented at the 1st conference of the International Association of Language Educators. Oyeladun, T. S., Akinsola, I. T. and Adeyinka, A. A. (2023). Effect of Semantic Gradients Instructional Strategy on Secondary School Students’ Achievement in Yorùbá Vocabulary in Ibadan South-West Local Government. MultiFontaines (12), 185-225. Pearce, G. & Hardiman, N. (2012). Teaching undergraduate marketing students using ‘hot seating through puppetry’: an exploratory study. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 49 (4), 437-44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728379. http://www.springer.com/series/6199 http://www.bjournal.co.uk/BJASS.aspx http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728379 Theatre-in-Education packages and secondary students’ knowledge of Yoruba orature in Ibadan metropolis AJOTE Vol.13 No.3 (2024), 169-191 191 Robson, S. (2018). What is theatre in education and five reasons why it supports education of young people. https://www.wearegibber.com/blog/what-is- theatre-in-education/. Schenker, T. (2017). Fostering foreign language skills through an extracurricular drama project. The Language Learning Journal, 48, 785–798. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1406532. Sesan, A. A. (2013). The Yorùbá language and literature in the 21st century and beyond. Covenant Journal of Language Studies (CJLS) 1 (2), 148-159. Tang, K. H. D. (2023). Student-centered Approach in Teaching and Learning: What Does It Really Mean? Acta Pedagogia Asiana 2(2), 72-83 Ugwu, C. J. (2014). Effect of drama method on students’ academic achievement and interest in Christian religious knowledge (CRK) in senior secondary schools. M.A. Project. Department of Arts Education. University of Nigeria, Nnsukka. x+107. Uju, A. D. O. (2019). Nigeria's theatre audience and 'stand up' comedians in luxurious bus. Nigeria's Theatre and Drama: Audiences, Communities and Constituencies – A Festschrift in honour of Professor John Sani Illah. (Eds.) T.J. Iorapuu and F.O. Idoko Jos: Jos University Press Ltd. 334-349 Ustuk, O. & Inan, D. (2017). Theatre in education: a case of foreign language teaching in Italy. The Literacy Trek 3 (1), 18-31. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319529972. Uwandinwa-Idemudia, E. (2014). Oral tradition in children’s education: a systematic approach with educational drama. Nigerian Journal of Oral Literature 2, 219-227. Wooster, R. (2007). Contemporary Theatre-in-Education. United Kingdom: Intellect Books https://www.wearegibber.com/blog/what-is-%09theatre-in-education/ https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1406532 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319529972