Teacher’s workshop in death education: The effects of simulation game and bibliotherapy-oriented methods

A study to assess the differential impact of two death education strategies introduced within a workshop format was conducted with thirty five elementary school teachers. Participants were randomly assigned to either a simulation or a bibliotherapyoriented strategy group. The participants’ ratings yielded no significant differences between strategies. Further analysis revealed a differential impact: The simulation group reported significantly more discussion of death education and death-related topics with colleagues during the two weeks following the workshop, whereas the bibliotherapy group reported significantly greater gains in information, motivation to look up further information both on children and death-related issues, and discussion of death-related issues with friends who are not colleagues. The implications of these findings, plus additional information and subjective reports collected during a later “booster session,” are discussed.