Rationale
This rationale complements and extends the rationale for The Arts learning area.Drama is the expression and exploration of personal, cultural and social worlds through role and situation that engages, entertains and challenges.
Aims
In addition to the overarching aims of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, drama knowledge, understanding and skills ensure that, individually and collaboratively, students develop:confidence and self-esteem to explore, depict and celebrate human experience, take risks and challenge their own creativity through drama
Structure
Learning in DramaLearning in Drama involves students making, performing, analysing and responding to drama, drawing on human experience as a source of ideas. Students engage with the knowledge of drama, develop skills, techniques and processes, and use materials as they explore a range of forms, styles and contexts.
Example of knowledge and skills
Years 7 and 8
Years 7 and 8 Band Description
In Drama, students:
- build on their understanding of role, character and relationships
- use voice and movement to sustain character and situation
- use focus, tension, space and time to enhance drama
- incorporate language and ideas and use devices such as dramatic symbol to create dramatic action and extend mood and atmosphere in performance
- shape drama for audiences using narrative and non-narrative dramatic forms and production elements
- draw on drama from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience drama
- explore the drama and influences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those of the Asia region
- learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have converted oral records to other technologies
- learn that over time there has been further development of different traditional and contemporary styles of drama, including contemporary styles developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dramatists, as they explore drama forms
- explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements including voice, movement, situation, space and time, and tension as they make and respond to drama
- consider social, cultural and historical influences of drama
- evaluate the directors’ intentions and expressive skills used by actors in drama they view and perform
- maintain safety in dramatic play and in interaction with other actors
- build on their understanding from previous bands of the roles of artists and audiences as they engage with more diverse performances.
Years 7 and 8 Content Descriptions
Years 7 and 8 Achievement Standards
By the end of Year 8, students identify and analyse how the elements of drama are used, combined and manipulated in different styles. They apply this knowledge in drama they make and perform. They evaluate how they and others from different cultures, times and places communicate meaning and intent through drama.
Students collaborate to devise, interpret and perform drama. They manipulate the elements of drama, narrative and structure to control and communicate meaning. They apply different performance styles and conventions to convey status, relationships and intentions. They use performance skills and design elements to shape and focus theatrical effect for an audience.
Years 7 and 8 Work Sample Portfolios
Years 9 and 10
Years 9 and 10 Band Description
In Drama, students:
- refine and extend their understanding and use of role, character, relationships and situation
- extend the use of voice and movement to sustain belief in character
- maintain focus and manipulate space and time, language, ideas and dramatic action
- experiment with mood and atmosphere, use devices such as contrast, juxtaposition and dramatic symbol and modify production elements to suit different audiences
- draw on drama from a range of cultures, times and locations as they experience drama
- explore the drama and influences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and those of the Asia region
- learn that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have converted oral records to other technologies
- learn that over time there has been further development of different traditional and contemporary styles of drama and that dramatists can be identified through the style of their work, as they explore drama forms
- explore meaning and interpretation, forms and elements, and social, cultural and historical influences of drama as they make and respond to drama
- evaluate actors’ success in expressing the directors’ intentions and the use of expressive skills in drama they view and perform
- maintain safety in drama and in interaction with other actors
- build on their understanding from previous bands of the roles of artists and audiences as they engage with more diverse performances.
Years 9 and 10 Content Descriptions
Years 9 and 10 Achievement Standards
By the end of Year 10, students analyse the elements of drama, forms and performance styles and evaluate meaning and aesthetic effect in drama they devise, interpret, perform and view. They use their experiences of drama practices from different cultures, places and times to evaluate drama from different viewpoints.
Students develop and sustain different roles and characters for given circumstances and intentions. They perform devised and scripted drama in different forms, styles and performance spaces. They collaborate with others to plan, direct, produce, rehearse and refine performances. They select and use the elements of drama, narrative and structure in directing and acting to engage audiences. They refine performance and expressive skills in voice and movement to convey dramatic action.