Developing Practical Knowledge in Drama (PK)
Students will select and use dramatic elements, techniques, and conventions for specific purposes and explore the use of relevant technologies.
Developing Ideas in Drama (DI)
Students will initiate ideas and individually and collectively develop and refine drama for specific purposes.
Communicating and Interpreting in Drama (CI)
Students will present and respond to drama and describe how dramatic elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies combine to create form and meaning.
This teacher's intended outcomes were for the students to:
select and use techniques and conventions to represent the themes
of a poem
organise a performance space that portrays symbolic interactions between
Māori and Pākehā at the time of Parihaka
reflect on how their drama work has shaped their understanding of
current socio-political events.
In four one-hour sessions, the students structured performance pieces based on their interpretations of a poem about the historic events that took place at Parihaka in the 1880s. This exemplar shows parts of the first two sessions.
Together, the students read the poem "Parihaka Grieving" by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell. They discussed its possible meanings and its potential for drama. They also considered both the historical and contemporary contexts of Māori–Crown relationships.
The class was then divided into small groups. Each group chose lines from the poem on which to base a series of frozen images. They selected appropriate conventions with which to link and structure the images for performance.
They also used simple props as symbols. After each group had presented
its work, the students reflected on how the drama had enriched and deepened
their understanding of the history of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Teacher-student conversations
Discussing the placement of the Māori women:
Teacher:
Why do you think this group have placed the Māori women on the floor?
Simon:
It draws our attention to them.
Teacher:
Why do they want us to focus on them?
Simon:
So that we can get a sense of how they feel.
Teacher:
What have they done to heighten the women's feelings?
Therese:
Their facial expressions are important to us, but it's also the tension in their arms. Their eyes are all angry.
Teacher:
If we were to light this image, where would you focus the light?
Therese:
I think I'd want it on Rona's hands. The way they are stretched out, pleading, with the rest of her in darkness. That would show the despair of losing land.
The next learning steps for these students could be to:
reflect on how the performance structure and their improvisations
have provided insights into the events at Parihaka
plan a structured sequence that incorporates all the groups' performance
pieces into a whole-class work
compare and contrast their improvisations with how the themes could
be explored using different dramatic conventions.
References
Alistair Te Ariki Campbell (2001). "Parihaka Grieving". In Parihaka:
The Art of Passive Resistance, ed. T. Hohaia, G. O'Brien, & L.
Strongman. Wellington: Victoria University Press.
Ministry of Education (2000). The Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
