This section provides general information that is relevant to all three secondary Drama courses.
| Foundational Objectives | Drama Experiences | Classroom Environment |
The foundational objectives embody the required content of the Drama 10, 20 and 30. They describe the knowledge, abilities and attitudes that students will acquire at each grade level of the program. These objectives are achieved over the three years of the program, and at each grade level they are developed over the course of the year.
Following are the foundational objectives for Drama 10, 20 and 30.
Students will:
Following this section is the Foundational Objectives Development Chart that shows the scope and sequence for drama from grades ten to twelve.
More detailed descriptions of the foundational objectives, the degree to which each foundational objective is to be developed, and suggestions for evaluating student achievement of each foundational objective appear later in this document under the headings Drama 10, Drama 20 and Drama 30.
Learning Objectives are listed on the Foundational Objectives Development Chart and in the Course Description sections for each grade. Learning objectives are derived from the foundational objectives. Those which appear on the chart and the ones used in the model unit are only some of the learning objectives that could be set at each grade level. Teachers are encouraged to develop learning objectives from the explanations of the foundational objectives that suit their own approaches to instruction.
| Foundational Objectives | Drama Experiences | Classroom Environment |
Drama is an art form that is concerned with the representation of people in time and space, their actions and the consequences of their actions.
In order to gain an understanding of dramatic art form, students explore human nature, relationships, and social and cultural situations through a variety of drama experiences.
Drama experiences recommended for Drama 10, 20, 30 students are described under the following headings: Drama in Context, Collective Creation, Play Studies, Theatre History, Theatre Production and Other Drama Experiences.
Students' actual drama experiences should be determined by the foundational objectives and the strengths and interests of students and teachers in individual drama classes. When structuring drama experiences for students, teachers will be guided by the foundational objectives and the course descriptions. To that end, the following guidelines will assist teachers in planning drama experiences for their students.
When planning drama experiences, teachers should:
Drama in Context
Students who have participated in the Arts Education Curriculum in elementary and middle years will have experience working in contextual dramas.
Drama in context means, as it suggests, that dramas are structured to provide a context, a situation, or a metaphoric framework in which students and teacher work together. Within the dramas students and teachers assume roles and, taking with them their own unique set of experiences and perceptions, enter into a fictional world prepared to accept and "live through" an imagined situation.
Working within dramatic contexts, students gain understandings about dramatic art form by exploring social issues and situations and developing their abilities to express their ideas and feelings in dramatic form. Strategies including narration, imaging, tableau, mime, dance drama, parallel play, storytelling, story theatre, flashbacks and flashforwards, interviews, journeys, meetings, ritual, drawing and painting, writing and choral speaking can be used to explore topics of interest to the class.
Students may wish to shape and refine ideas explored within their contextual dramas to develop episodes for formal presentation.
Collective Creation
In the collective creation process, students choose and research a topic, explore the topic through various drama strategies and collectively build a dramatic presentation that reflects their experiences, knowledge and insights about the topic.
The collective creation process is a particularly effective means of achieving the foundational objectives of Drama 10, 20 and 30 for a number of reasons. The collective creation process:
Each collective creation is unique to the group that creates it. There are probably as many different ways of developing a collective creation as there are collectives themselves. The following are only suggestions for beginning the collective creation process.
One way to develop a collective creation is to extend the contextual drama process into a longer series of experiences through which a formal presentation may emerge. Students may recreate and refine episodes from their contextual dramas and structure them for performance in a collective creation. A detailed description of the process appears in Appendix A of this document.
Another way in is to begin with a topic of interest to the students and to develop the collective through planned improvisations and various other dramatic forms of expression as described by Berry and Reinbold in Collective Creation: A Teacher's Guide. As well, many of the strategies suggested above with regard to drama in context can be used in the research and exploration stages of the collective creation process.
A third way in is described by Smillie and Murphy in Story Circles. Objects placed in the middle of a circle of students inspire them to create their own stories and provide topics for their collective creation. Contextual drama strategies, planned and prepared improvisation, and various other dramatic forms of expression can be used to explore the topic.
Projects in collective creation do not necessarily result in formal presentations. The extent to which a class will choose to develop, refine, and present their collective work will depend upon the individual group and the teacher's learning objectives for the particular course. In Drama 10, students could create episodes and stories to share with their classmates; in Drama 20, their creations could consist of a greater number of episodes and be shared with a wider audience; and in Drama 30, their collective work could produce a longer, more formal presentation for a wider and larger audience.
Play Studies
Students in the Drama 10, 20, 30 program will continue to view and respond to dramatic presentations using a process like Looking at Plays, included in Appendix B of this document. They should also continue to develop their understanding of how plays are made through the reading and analysis of scripts and through opportunities to practice scriptwriting, either by scripting episodes in collective creation or by writing individual scenes or short plays. The whole class, groups or individual students may be provided opportunities to select a particular area for indepth study. Some possibilities include:
Theatre History
Students will extend their knowledge of a variety of theatre traditions and developments. They will become familiar with the work of some outstanding individuals and groups and explore the related historical and cultural influences. They may research and develop scenes that represent various historical periods. Such research will often arise out of their work within dramatic contexts or as an integral part of the collective creation process. Through their dramatic experiences they will acquire an understanding of how theatre has evolved as an art form and will increase their personal repertoire of presentational, acting and staging styles for use in their own expressions of dramatic art.
Play Production
Most students enrolled in Drama 10, 20, 30 courses will express an interest in some aspect of play production. In this secondary Drama program, performance is an integral part of the education process rather than an ultimate product. It is viewed as only one part of the program, an experience which is sometimes, but not always, part of the dramatic process. The term "dramatic process" refers to the processes involved in creating works of dramatic art, whether they be original works or re-creations of script materials. The dramatic process includes choosing a topic, researching, synthesizing, identifying the focus of the work, translating ideas into dramatic form, reflecting, refining, scripting, rehearsing, and performing. Perhaps the most important part of this process is reflection, which should occur at various stages in the process, for it is through reflection that students discover what they have learned and set targets for future learning.
Working through such a process not only offers students the possibility of exploring all aspects of play production, it also teaches students that the world of drama and the theatre is one of ideas and the expression of ideas. As well, it assures that students learn that dramatic art form, like all art forms, possesses an aesthetic dimension that can increase their ability to understand their experience and uncover meaning.
Other Drama Experiences
Students may work toward achievement of the foundational objectives of the Drama 10, 20, 30 program through incorporation of lessons or units in any of the following areas:
Lessons or whole units of study may be based upon any of the dramatic forms of expression listed above. A number of them will be familiar to teachers as "drama strategies" that can be effectively structured into dramatic contexts and the collective creation process.
The Drama 10, 20, 30 Bibliography suggests resources which will support teachers' development of units in many of the forms of expression listed above. Appendix A in this document provides a detailed description of how they may be incorporated into drama work as strategies for teaching and learning.
| Foundational Objectives | Drama Experiences | Classroom Environment |
Because of the exploratory and challenging nature of the dramatic process, a secure safe environment is absolutely essential in order that meaningful activities can take place. The encouragement of openness, willingness to participate and mutual trust must be the first priority in a drama classroom The emotional and physical safety of students and teacher must be ensured so that risk-taking can take place. Co-operation, rather than competition, should be stressed.
Role of the Teacher
The teacher's role in a drama class is that of facilitator, not director. The teacher's task is to provide a variety of experiences in exploration, expression and reflection, and to structure and guide activities in the class. The teacher must be able to adapt experiences and structures to meet the needs of the students at any given time and be willing to turn over to the students more and more responsibility for their own learning.
The teacher is ultimately responsible for ensuring that meaningful learning takes place. Some of the ways teachers guide are by structuring units and lessons, suggesting, observing, questioning, challenging, participating, working in role, consulting, anticipating, sharing responsibility and evaluating. The following are suggestions for the management of an effective drama class: