The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum
Achievement Objectives
Developing Practical Knowledge in Drama (PK)
Students will combine elements and techniques and a range of conventions to extend drama practice through a variety of activities.
Developing Ideas in Drama (DI)
Students will initiate ideas and make individual and collective decisions in order to plan and develop drama.
Communicating and Interpreting in Drama (CI)
Students will present and respond to drama and identify ways in which dramatic elements, techniques, and conventions combine to create meaning.
The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum, page 43
http://www.tki.org.nz/r/arts/curriculum/statement/dramal1_4_e.php
This teacher's intended outcomes were for the students to:
- select and use appropriate conventions to structure their performance
- reflect on their own and others' performances and critically recognise the strengths and weaknesses in their work.
In three one–hour sessions, the class structured performance pieces that explored issues about teenagers and their parents. This exemplar shows parts of the first two sessions.
After briefly discussing different conventions with the students, the teacher asked them to work in small groups to prepare short scenes using a range of conventions. He told them to base their scenes around family disputes in which teenagers argue with their parents. As the students worked, the teacher helped them to shape their scenes for performance.
This group chose a moment when a girl is caught lying to her father about who she's going out with. They planned and rehearsed a range of conventions to structure their performance. The teacher questioned them to help them to think about their choices.
After the performance, the teacher asked the audience to reflect on what the group had achieved. The group then reflected on the audience's feedback, and the teacher further questioned them on the choices they had made for their work.
Teacher-student conversations
Reflecting on the performance:
| Teacher: |
Do you agree with the class's evaluation of your performance? |
| Michael: |
Like the comment that we shouldn't have had back–to–back? I agree because it wasn't dramatic enough, as if we'd stormed off and left the audience wondering. |
| Teacher: |
Interesting thought, because I wouldn't agree with that. What do you others think? |
| Elise: |
I liked the back–to–back. |
| Stephen: |
We needed to do it to symbolise we were angry. |
| Teacher: |
And, in a technical sense, it marked the end? |
| Michael: |
Yeah, it did mark the end. |
The next learning steps for these students could be to:
- explore other conventions in order to structure their performance in alternative ways, and experiment with different outcomes and meanings (for example, using this way–that way for the father to explore the dramatic possibilities of various responses)
- devise a scene that concludes the drama without resolving the conflict (for example, a scene where the girl defies her father and goes out).
Reference
Ministry of Education (2000). The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
TKI The Arts/Ngā Toi community
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