Session Seven
Curriculum
Session: 7.1A
Title: Theatre companies, curriculum, schools and the live theatre performance: Acts of Pedagogy
Presenter: Meg Upton, Deakin University
Suitability: All
Form: Paper
Description:
In seeking out student audiences and by programming to respond to curriculum imperatives or set texts, theatre companies directly engage with education and learning within their own context. Drawn from research conducted in a range of Victorian secondary schools, and a number of Melbourne based theatre companies, this paper explores how the act of programming a theatre performance for schools’ audiences by a theatre company is in itself an act of ‘pedagogy’, one that culminates in the transactional process of the theatre experience. Further, the paper suggests there is a new pedagogy – transactional pedagogy – that is implicit in the relationships that are created between schools and cultural organizations such as theatre companies.
Biography:
Meg Upton is a drama educator who works in the theatre industry and youth arts sector, and lectures in drama education at Deakin University. She is part of the Drama Victoria Executive, is the Drama Australia Liaison for Victoria, and sits on the YPAA board. Her current PhD research focuses on the teaching of live theatre performance to students.
Session: 7.1B
Title: The intersection of Drama curriculum development: Digital technology and educational change
Presenter: Patrick O’Shea, St Joseph’s College, Hunter’s Hill
Suitability: All
Form: Paper
Description:
This paper features a powerpoint presentation outlining research undertaken so far in the M.Ed. (Research) program for the University of Sydney. There will be the opportunity for discussion of new digital initiatives in Drama curriculum and the sharing of initiatives by forming a group to further share this work online. The paper is designed for secondary teachers of Drama looking to enhance the drama learning experience of their students via digital technology engagement. Delegates will be able to explore practical tools and examples of usage that may be used in the classroom with the opportunity for ongoing development.
Biography:
Patrick O’Shea has worked at St Joseph’s College Hunter’s Hill and Waverley College and for the New South Wales Education Department. His awards and grants include The Thomas T Roberts Fellowship (University of Sydney) and the Australian – American Community Education Grant. He has addressed and attended several IDEA conferences and managed student performing arts tours to New Zealand.
Industry
Session: 7.2
Title: Getting more from masks
Presenter: Ben Cornfoot & Clint Bolster, Homunculus Theatre Co.
Suitability: All
Form: Workshop
Description:
This is a practical workshop in getting the most from your students in Mask work. Participants will be taken through a step by step process: embodiment of mask characters; devising in groups; incorporating different elements to enhance performance such as music. The workshop is focussed on junior Drama. Several different mask types will be explored, including Basels, Libby Appel and Trestles. Mask has enormous potential to develop students' onstage skills and confidence. Learn the subtle secrets of successful mask performance!
Biography:
Homunculus Theatre Co. is a new company that specialises in Mask, Commedia dell'Arte, Clown and Comedy, in school performances, residencies and workshops. Its founders are Clint Bolster and Ben Cornfoot.
Clint Bolster has worked professionally in Australia and overseas as an actor, stilt performer and clown for 8 years and has performed for in a variety of productions for Queensland Theatre Company, Lightwire Theatrical Productions & Nexus Arts Victoria. Clint has recently performed in Hurry Up And Wait at The Edinburgh International Fringe Festival and for the Queensland Music Festival.
Ben Cornfoot is a Brisbane-based theatre-maker with several years’ professional experience as a playwright, director, actor and workshop facilitator for such companies as Nexus Arts and the Queensland Arts Council. He regularly conducts workshops in Clown, Commedia, scriptwriting and comedy and has worked in that capacity for Queensland Theatre Company, Lightwire and Backbone Youth Arts.
Research
Session: 7.3A
Title: Teaching playwriting: Theory, practice and emerging data
Presenter: Paul Gardiner, University of Sydney
Suitability: Middle, Senior & Tertiary Years
Form: Paper
Description:
This paper will outline the emerging findings from Paul’s research into playwriting pedagogy in NSW Secondary Schools. It will discuss the theoretical basis of playwriting pedagogy and provide a brief overview of the available literature, then explore the impact of this theory on playwriting pedagogical practice in the classroom. It will consider the role of the teacher and the experience of the student, and consider what these can tell us about arts instruction in particular and the teaching of ‘creativity’ in general. In discussing best practice in arts education, it will consider the evidence the emerging data provides for rethinking the teacher-student mentoring dynamic. The paper will be of benefit to teachers, new and experienced, who wish to introduce playwriting into their programs. It will also be of interest for teachers wishing to discuss the role of teaching and learning in developing creativity and aesthetic control.
Biography:
Paul Gardiner is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney conducting research into Playwriting Pedagogy in Secondary Schools. He has worked as a Drama and English teacher in secondary schools for 18 years, was in charge of Drama at an Independent school in the Southern Highlands of NSW and is currently one of the Senior Markers for the Scriptwriting component of the NSW HSC Drama examination. Paul has also written a number of plays, two of which have been shortlisted for Playwriting Australia’s National Script workshop.
Session: 7.3B
Title: Drama in schools: The third dimension
Presenter: Val Johnson, University of Sydney
Suitability: All
Form: Paper & Discussion
Description:
The theory and practice of drama in schools is generally underpinned by two concepts of the discipline: drama as process and drama as art form. There is, however, a third dimension which is seldom addressed: that of drama as a school subject. Characteristics of the process are the embodiment of experience through role, and the use of role to explore, develop, and communicate that experience, while the art form is characterised by aesthetic understanding, by a specific discipline based on performance and by the use of convention. The school subject, while retaining elements of both the process and the art form, is more than the sum of its parts. It is characterised by its place in the school curriculum, the delineation of content and specific requirements for assessment of achievement, according to the sociopolitical consensus which governs the undertaking. This paper addresses that third dimension.
Biography:
Val Johnson is a drama educator with over forty years’ experience of drama in the classroom and in the pre-service education of teachers. She has been a participant and sometimes leader in forums concerned with curriculum and policy; and a writer and editor of syllabus documents and support materials in the field. She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, researching the discourse of the curriculum.
Asian Perspectives
Session: 7.4
Title: Delving into Diverse Cultures: Melodrama, musicals, Asian theatre and Bollywood!
Presenter: Rachael Jacobs, Australian Catholic University
Suitability: All
Form: Workshop
Description:
Do you teach melodrama? How about Asian theatre? Musical theatre? Then get to know Bollywood! Yes it’s a film medium, but its tradition is derived from a strong foundation in Asian epic theatre, much of it based on ancient Sanskrit texts. This workshop combines dance, movement, melodrama and theatricality to explore this delightfully colourful Asian film genre and Indian musical theatre style known as ‘Bollywood’. This workshop will help you build students’ understanding of Asian theatre and enhance their cultural sensitivity in the multicultural classroom. You’ll also build understanding of musical theatre, cultural traditions and Indian customs. Get ready to laugh and cry as you explore this unique theatrical style. Participants will dance, swoon and melodramatically act their way through this cross-cultural experience.
Biography:
Rachael Jacobs lectures in Creative Arts Education at the Australian Catholic University. She is a drama teacher and active performer specializing in dance and physical theatre. Rachael is currently writer her PhD thesis on the assessment of performances in Senior Secondary Drama. She also runs the dance company, Bollyfunk Dance.
Indigenous Perspectives
Session: 7.5
Title: Our Place: Delving into Indigenous Theatre
Presenter: Rebecca Evans, Woodridge State High School
Suitability: Senior Years
Form: Workshop & Senior Unit
Description:
The ‘Embedding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Perspectives’ (EATSIPS) is a key priority in Queensland schools. This 60 minute workshop explores a senior drama unit based around the conventions of Indigenous Australian Theatre and how these can be applied in student performances and across the curriculum. This workshop aims to enable drama teachers to walk away with a series of activities and a new skill set that will help break down the barriers and fear that can often be associated with investigating Indigenous Theatre in the classroom. Delegates will be involved in a series of practical classroom-based activities.
Biography:
Rebecca Evans is a drama teacher at Woodridge State High School. She has been teaching drama there for four years and has taught across all year levels and with their Intensive Language Centre for Refugee students. She has special experience dealing with students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Teaching and Learning: Primary Years
Session: 7.6
Title: Delving into Literature using Drama
Presenter: Claire Austin, KITE@QPAC
Suitability: Primary & Middle Years
Form: Workshop
Description:
In the literature strand of the new Australian Curriculum students will be encouraged to describe and explore the events and characters in literary texts and develop personal responses to the texts, create their own narratives and draw on their experiences with literature.
This will be a practical workshop designed to share ideas on how to use drama for this purpose. Delegates will be expected to participate in practical examples. This workshop is designed for either primary classroom teachers or primary Arts / Drama specialists. Participants will take home practical ideas on how to integrate drama into an English (Literature) program.
Biography:
Claire Austin is an experienced primary drama teacher. During recent years she has also conducted a variety of professional development drama workshops for teachers at Queensland University of Technology, Queensland Arts Council, Drama Queensland and PAN (Primary Arts Network). She is currently employed as a teacher-artist with the KITE program at Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Teaching and Learning: Middle Years
Session: 7.7
Title: Even silence has meaning: An investigation into sound as a communicator in the arts classroom (A regional perspective)
Presenter: Sinead O’Callaghan, Geraldton Grammar School
Suitability: Middle Years
Form: Workshop & Learning Experiences
Description:
The presentation will take the format of a practical workshop. Participants will partake in discussion, individual response to stimuli and the implementation of core ideas in the development of experimental performance pieces. The workshop is aimed at those teaching classroom drama, especially to middle school students, although it is also relevant to upper school teachers. It may be of specific interest to teachers from regional centres also. Hopefully delegates will leave with a new approach to the teaching of abstract/contemporary art forms and styles. We will explore sound, in both music and oral forms and the ability of humans to communicate without language. We will also address the core elements of sound and image in creating arts works of abstract or contemporary nature.
Biography:
Sinead O’Callaghan is the Performing Arts teacher at Geraldton Grammar School with a versatile background in the arts, as a dancer, actor and musician. She is a member of the DramaWest committee (Communications Directorate) and a regional advocate for the Black Swan State Theatre Company. Sinead’s specific interest in arts education is in sound as a communicator.
Teaching and Learning: Middle & Senior Years
Session: 7.8
Title: Getting my point across: Delving into our stories
Presenter: Amy O’Rourke, Bowen State High School
Suitability: Middle & Senior Years
Form: Workshop
Description:
The workshop is about exploring people’s stories. Participants will not only explore and discuss their stories but will look at stories from 2 plays, ‘Snapshots from Home’ by Margery Forde and ‘7 Stages of Grieving’ by Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman. All teachers are invited to participate in this workshop where they will get resources and some ideas to implement in their classrooms.
Biography:
Amy O’Rourke is a Drama teacher at Bowen State High School. She has been teaching for 5 years and is just about to start the school musical.
Teaching and Learning: Senior Years
Session: 7.9
Title: Is there a place for the big musical?
Presenter: Jane Hamilton-Foster, Fahan School
Suitability: All
Form: Discussion Group
Description:
How do we streamline the facilitation of a Musical? How do we get people on board? How do we keep tempers on a low heat? How can we make it less stressful for students, parents, teachers and maintenance staff? This discussion aims to unpack what the musical is and how to develop ways to make it work for you and the school rather than against!
Biography:
Jane Hamilton-Foster worked in Victoria after graduating from Deakin University with a Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Performing Arts. Currently working at Fahan School in Hobart Tasmania, she is the Publications Officer of Drama Tasmania. This is her first time presenting/ facilitating a discussion group.