The Great Debate - Session eleven
Session Eleven - The Great Debate
‘The Great Debate’ adjudicated by Brad Haseman will see six of the greatest minds in Drama Education in Queensland go head to head in a funny, light-hearted but stimulating debate about a hot topic in Drama Education. This is one event not to be missed as the leaders in our field take on each other in ‘The Great Debate’. Our Delve 2012 debaters include John O’Toole, Julie Dunn, Sandra Gattenhof, Josephine Wise, Debb Wall and Madonna Stinson. Read More here...
The Great Debaters have been planning intensely for this event... they were spotted at the Brisbane Powerhouse late last week...
The Great Debaters are:
Julie Dunn is an Associate Professor at Griffith University, where she is a member of the Applied Theatre team. Her teaching and research work is mainly focussed on play and process drama and their application within the curriculum and beyond to the broader community. During her school days, Julie's only arts experiences involved singing along as an old woman with arthritic fingers played the piano and playing Romeo in the worst stage performance of Shakespeare's work ever generated. She is therefore a keen advocate for quality arts education in schools.
Sandra Gattenhof has performed with Agro (Channel 7 children’s television personality for those who remember), toured Queensland as a Smurf and has a history of doing strange Suzuki–Method inspired performances. She was once a primary teacher who taught maths and science through drama and is currently Head of Drama and a senior lecturer in drama and contemporary performance in the Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology. Sandra’s prowess in drama and theatre can be attributed to standing on a balcony in her childhood home in Sydney miming to Shirley Bassey and the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar and a mother who made the best dress up box in history!
John O’Toole probably leads the longevity stakes for continuous Queensland drama service, having played, taught, written about and demonstrated drama and theatre for nearly fifty adult years, and still going strongish (last week year 4s in Wilston, next week secondary teachers in New Zealand). However, he’s never topped his own apotheosis as an actor, aged thirteen, as Portia, for whom the quality of mercy was only a little bit strained.
Madonna Stinson was a shy, retiring maths/science student at high school who walked the long way home so she wouldn't have to talk to anyone. Then she started teacher training and discovered drama!!! Now she talks about the benefits of drama education to anyone who will listen, and to quite a few who won't.
Debb Wall is passionate advocate for the entitlement of all students to a quality arts education. She attended a small country high school which did not offer Drama L Debb did not experience any drama education or a drama production, theatre sports competition or involvement in a musical until she went to uni. While enjoying student life at Macquarie Uni, Newcastle Uni, Uni of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, Debb was easily distracted from her degree in law for the much more noble pursuit of teaching Drama and German.
Debb is the Head of The Arts and Languages at Capalaba State College (P-12), is co-author of Dramactive 1 & 2 with Madonna Stinson and in her spare time, is Queensland Studies Authority’s State Review Panel Chairperson for Senior Drama.
Josephine Wise was a member of the Queensland Debating Team and ranked 7th best high school debater in Australia in 1987. However she credits her commitment to tie-dying costumes in the school toilets, making props out of cardboard and cellophane (including a 3 metre stained glass widow) and dressing up a lot during schools hours, as the foundation to her success in the Drama and Education field.