Drama Philosophy and Aims
“Theatre can be either a reflection of society, or a reaction to it”
The main aim of theatre and Drama as a subject is to communicate ideas, feelings, situations and beliefs. Drama explores our own place in society as well as others, the feelings we all share, the beliefs we hold, the ways our cultures work and how theatre can be used for the sharing of knowledge and beliefs. It is a subject that fosters a great many skills: imagination, thinking, risking, knowledge, listening, empathy, courage, reflecting, trialing and creativity.
“All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players”
We use the skills of Drama every day to communicate out needs and desires. We are called upon to communicate our ideas, reflect on others work, be creative, work alongside other people, and generally make ourselves understood. Practiced on the stage, our entire lives will be enriched by the development of these skills. Drama does this through the creation of imagined characters and situations, and the relationships and events that they encounter. Students’ increasing knowledge of the elements of theatre enables them to effectively shape, express and share their ideas, feelings and responses, making use of voice, body, movement, space and theatrical conventions.
“The language of theatre is international; understood by everyone.”
The Drama curriculum is established to encourage the emotional and communicative development of students. The purpose of the study of drama is to acquire knowledge of historical and cultural developments that have occurred in this field. In so doing students will experiment with the communication of their own ideas and be encouraged to make wise choices for the presentation of their own work.
Cultural diversity is valued and reflected in our Drama curriculum and students. Cultural diversity lends itself to the enrichment of theatre art. Drama contributes to the total development of the students’ overall creative potential, both as performers and as individuals. The Drama curriculum provides an exploration of career opportunities to encourage personal enjoyment through both process and performance.
Through engagement with each of four strands, we hope to develop the full potential of each student as creative and imaginative individuals. The first three strands: Knowledge, Understanding and Appreciating; Investigating, Designing and Creating; Communicating, Presenting and Critiquing are specific to Drama, while the fourth strand Inspiration, Enjoyment and Enrichment is an integrating strand across the Arts.
Students will be engaged in all aspects of the creative process from creating to critiquing. Through participation in experiences such as acting, designing, other theatre forms, devising, critiquing, the Drama curriculum contributes to the self-identification of each student, encouraging them to find their place in theatre and life. Through both student-initiated and teacher-facilitated experiences, students take part in all aspects of the creative process: investigating, designing, reflecting, directing, devising, presenting and critiquing. Students will experience a variety of forms, ideas, and skills in Drama in order to apply dramatic elements, techniques and conventions to create, present, and perform works of art for a variety of audiences and purposes.
Structure of the Drama Curriculum
The Strands
Knowledge, Understanding and Appreciating
Investigating, Designing and Creating
Communicating, Presenting and Critiquing
The Integrating Strands
Inspiration, Enjoyment and Enrichment
The Strands
Knowledge, Understanding and Appreciating
Knowledge, understanding and appreciating are integral to Drama students. Students’ knowledge is broadened by the study of historical and cultural theatre forms, with particular reference to our host country Bali/Indonesia. This knowledge aids in the understanding of how theatre functions today and how they can use its techniques, elements and conventions for their own interests. Students will understand how they can impact upon an audience with Drama. To fully understand theatre students develop an appreciation for their own work and the work of others. All three areas of this strand are linked: without knowledge and appreciation of theatre it is difficult to understand the art form as it can be.
Through a variety of practical and written activities students will develop their knowledge of theatre, the appreciation of this art form, and the understanding that leads to truly effective work.
Investigating, Designing and Creating
Through the processes of drama students will explore the creating of theatrical performances. They will create performances based on a variety of stimuli, using different theatre forms and theatre practitioners’ strategies, with consideration of the elements, techniques and conventions of theatre.
Students will investigate the use of the components of theatre, improvisation, Stanislavski’s system, scripts and the human qualities required for theatre (e.g. personality and emotion). Students engage in the design and creation of sets, props, costumes, lighting, sound, characters, entire communities, relationships, as well as their own devised performances and performances using scripts. Through the processes of investigating, designing and creating they will develop the ability to build fully rounded characters and truly effective drama.
Communicating, Presenting and Critiquing
Students of drama are regularly required to communicate, present and critique. In Drama students are constantly presenting their work to one another. This is done to develop their critiquing skills, as they give feedback to one another at such times, but also to build their confidence at being on the stage. Presenting to an invited audience is encouraged in order to give students the opportunity to share their work with others, essentially, to communicate their ideas to an audience. Presentation could take the form of any of the following: devised dramas, scripted performances, performances from a given theatre form, group or individual performances.
Through Drama, students develop their communication skills, for general speech making, but mostly for the communication of ideas using the medium of theatre. The effectiveness of that communication is shown through wise choices about the use of conventions, elements and techniques. These wise choices are in turn developed by constant reflection and critiquing. Thus emphasis is placed on critiquing during the process, as well as the evaluation after the performance.
These three skills are interrelated in the Drama curriculum and cannot be separated. In order to communicate one must present something, in order to communicate well one must reflect during the journey towards presentation.
Inspiration, Enjoyment and Enrichment
Through Drama, students are exposed to the ways in which the arts empower people and enrich their lives. Students engage in a multitude of experiences to understand the full range of options and opportunities open to them in the arts. By being involved with school and community based learning opportunities, students are exposed to diverse expressions of ideas, moods, and feelings through various theatre forms and performances.
Students learn how the arts influence, shape and are used to change or preserve individuals and societies. Exposure to diverse forms of theatrical expression helps connect individuals with their experience and deepens their perceptions of the world in which they live.
Drama Teaching and Learning Methodology
The Drama teacher is a facilitator, director, collaborator and expert. The teacher gives students the opportunity to create performances, and the guidance to make those performances effective. Both student and teacher work together to find the best way to proceed towards performance. Students are encouraged to be insightful in their choices towards performance, and to share their understanding of good drama, in order to guide the learning of fellow students. In this way students also become the experts.
Drama students will be introduced to different styles of theatre, thematic ideas and tools for performance which they are encouraged to be open to. They will consider for themselves the usefulness of these things, constantly reflecting on how to create effective drama. Students of Drama are encouraged to be reflective and take risks with their work in order to have an impact on their audiences.
Drama is a great tool for the linking of curriculums. Activities can be planned to link in with the work of other subjects. When appropriate, the curriculum will be linked to school and community projects, for example, PTA events, the visual arts program, cultural or theatrical performances, and other related occasions.
To provide time for students to pursue personal interests, extra-curricular learning experiences will also be provided outside the regular timetable schedule.
Drama Assessment Practices
Assessment in Drama is a continuous cycle. Students are constantly given feedback to help refine their choices towards performance. One of the main purposes of assessment is to give students the opportunity to be creative and to show their understanding of theatre and the purpose it serves in communicating ideas and feelings.
As an integral part of the Theatre Studies curriculum, the focus is on individualized assessment. Though students may work in groups, they will be marked based on their individual skills in performance, thoughtful decision making and reflection. The assessment strategies focus on both process and product. Formative assessment is ongoing to help students learn to what degree their performance meets or exceeds expectations. Summative judgments about learning will be made using grade-level and developmentally appropriate achievement standards to guide student progress.
Assessments will involve:
Performance
Reflection
Recording of the performance process
Understanding of theatre form
Decision making towards performance
Engagement in the process
Critiques (oral feedback from students and teacher)
Self assessment
Peer Assessment
Criterion based assessment
Together, these strategies are intended to build student confidence in their creativity.
Files available to download