Final dissertation - Grade: 2.2 PDF

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my final dissertation for my final year ...

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Drama in secondary schools What should the place of drama be in secondary education?

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University of Portsmouth. School of Media and Performing Arts April 2018

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Content

Acknowledgments Abstract Introduction Chapter one: Background and context Chapter two: Drama to be its own subject Chapter three: Drama to be integrated into core subjects Conclusion Bibliography

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Acknowledgements Thank you to everyone who helped me achieve this dissertation

And my dissertation tutor Annie who has been so kind and patient throughout the whole process.

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Abstract Changes to the education system has left creative subjects like Drama being cut from the national curriculum in England. In order to make sure children have a better chance of employment after they leave school and go into the real world. This dissertation examines examples of theatre practitioners and teachers to determine if Drama is still a subject worth having in schools.

The aim of having this study is to determine where Drama stands as a subject within schools. The research question is as follows: The Benefits of Drama: Should it be in the national curriculum? In the context of this thesis I will be not only be looking at the positive and negatives of Drama in education but also the history of Drama as a subject along with personal reflections from my experience of being a Drama student and contacting people in various positions involving Drama and education to collect their views and opinions.

After looking at various sources and articles, reviewing the current national curriculum and speaking with various people involved in Drama and education like Patrice Baldwin. I intend to Combine this research and my own experiences with Drama in education and believe that how Drama was originally taught and its original purpose for education. I have found that Drama should be a subject that maybe doesn't have a GCSE qualification but has a more skill-based impact to improve and develop basic communication skills, confidence and imagination.

If any recommendation was to go to the department of education it would be to change Drama so it is taught how it was originally in the early 20th century. The main impact that Drama can have in education is developing personal and social skills which also can help children gain employment when leaving school.

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Introduction Drama classes in schools go back as far as the 20th Century (Bolton,1984). It has been a part of the education system for a considerable amount of time. After all this time why is Drama in school being challenged now? As a student of performing arts, I know how drama can be beneficial to a young person's life. With people calling Drama a ‘soft and easy subject’ (. Cassidy. 2014) the benefits of Drama have been more difficult to display over the years the government have changed the curriculum making the subject harder to defend. With creative subjects like Drama been carefully removed from the education system, the government want children's education to be broad and balanced so that they are prepared for modern life outside of school (cite M. Brown, 2015). However, the majority of people in today's society, don't see how much this topic can make a difference in a child's education and development. This dissertation will be arguing the integrity of Drama in secondary school education. The research will be a combination of secondary and primary research. I will be looking into iconic people in this issue such a Dorothy Heathcote and Caldwell Cook and their views and their contributions to Drama in education in England will looked at as part of my research findings, also will be looking at articles from the past years involving Drama and its rightful place in the national curriculum. At some points in the thesis, I will also be reflecting from my own experiences as a student. I know precisely how much drama classes in school can change or even help develop a young person’s studies or develop their skills and confidence as I have experienced this first hand. Through a period of research, I have noted that there are drops in the number of students taking either drama dance or music. An online article on GCSEs subjects showed declines in the participation of the arts subjects including a 23% drop in Drama between 2003-2013.

One primary theoretical source is a report that was the result of a three-year research project on a very similar subject. ‘Arts Education in secondary schools: Effects and effectiveness' which was put together by a number of authors including John Harland, Kay Kinder, Pippa Lord and Alison Scott. This piece of work shows evidence that subjects such as dance, drama and music can have positive impacts on a student’s social skills, empathy, understanding of others and their different cultures, it can also act as a type of therapy for some students. An example of this could be used to help people with anxiety build more confidence and help with social skills as it gives people involved a chance to explore themselves in a safe and creative environment (Harland, Kinder, 2000). This report also shows evidence that Drama, dance or music lessons can help a pupil develop as an independent person with their own voice, style and personality. Another useful secondary source that will be in this dissertation is ‘Critical evidence: How arts benefit student achievement' by Sandra S Ruppert, this online book is a useful source for this subject because it shows how studying the arts can affect and contribute to young person's achievements and academic abilities (Ruppert, 2006) . A briefing on research in America will also be in this dissertation ‘Involvement in the art and human development: General involvement and intensive involvement in music and the theatre arts' By James S Catterall, Richard Chapleau and Richard Iwanga. This briefing shows a higher

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percentage success rate in academic subjects, for example, English rose by 20% when the student was heavily involved in the performing arts (Catterall, Chapleau, Iwanaga. 1999).

In the first chapter, I will be looking at the history and context of Drama as a subject in schools, from when it first appeared in the school system in the early 20th century and how its developed along with the political events in Britain and that Drama is now amongst the creative subjects that are slowly getting cutting from the national curriculum because it doesn't fit in to a new form education that going to be starting in 2020 . The second chapter will be examining the argument that was brought to light when Paul Roseby suggests that GCSE Drama should get cut out of the GCSE curriculum and integrated into other core subjects such as; English, Maths, Science and Foreign Languages and how other people like Patrice Baldwin feel about the statement from Roseby and her own opinions on the subject through article she has written and a email conversation with her where defends the creative subject, believing that Drama should stay as a independent subject. I will also be looking at how the government feels about the arts and how drama is slowly disappearing already form the national curriculum in secondary schools since at least 2012. Also, in the second chapter i will be discussing the different types of benefits that come with being involved in drama in secondary schools, defending Drama as a separate subject in the national curriculum. In the Third chapter I will be Looking at the other side of the argument, the disadvantages to drama being in education, using sources such as ‘Issues in educational drama’ I will be discussing the problems they have already developed in Drama in secondary schools over the years , like the relaxed attitude that comes with the subject and the territorial behaviour teachers display for their own subjects and drama teachers doing the same. Also talking about the reality of how much a qualification in drama in school can help a child when they leave school and go into employment. After showing both side of the argument and weighing up the positive and negatives of drama being in school, I developed my own conclusion onto where drama should stand in the national curriculum in secondary schools.

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Bibliography

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.Wagner, B. J. (1979). Dorothy Heathcote : drama as a learning medium. London : Hutchinson. Baldwin. P (2012, October 30), In defense of drama: don't let arts fall off the curriculum, The Guardian, Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/teachernetwork/teacher-blog/2012/oct/30/defence-school-drama-arts-curriculum-ebacc Baldwin.P ( 2013, January 7), Drama is a subject, despite what the government thinks, The Guardian, Retrived from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacherblog/2013/jan/07/drama-subject-government-education Bolton, G. M. (1984). Drama as education : an argument for placing drama at the centre of the curriculum. Harlow : Longman Brown.M (2015. Febaury .17), Arts and Culture being ‘systematically removed from the UK education, The Gaurdian, Retrived from: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/arts-and-culture-systematicallyremoved-from-uk-education-system Cassidy. S ( 2014, October 31), Take drama of the GCSE curriculum, insists National Youth Theatre boss, The Independent, Retrived from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/take-drama-off-gcsecurriculum-insists-national-youth-theatre-boss-9831791.html Catterall, J.S , Chapeleau. R , Iwanga. J , Involvement in the Arts and Human Development: General Involvement and Intensive Involvement In Music and Theatre Arts. The Imagination Project at UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies University of California .Los Angeles. Retrived from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0b82/1f9743f8e321f283147b5a20ba8dbe0a2f7f.pdf Day, C., & Norman, J. (1983). Issues in educational drama. London : Falmer Department of education (2017) Drama GCSE content, Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/589145 /Drama_GCSE_revised2017_FORMATTED__004_.pdf Harland. J, Kinder.K, Lord.P, Scott.A, Schagen. I, Haynes.J (2000), Arts Education in Secondary Schools: effects and effectivness, Retrived From: https://www.nfer.ac.uk/publications/eaj01/eaj01.pdf Heather Barfield, a. (2004). Response to Richard Schechner. Tdr (1988-), (2), 9 Hennessy. L, (2016, March 2) , A secondary drama teacher’s experience of drama in the curriculum in 2015, Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied theatre and performance, Volume 21 (Issue 1) Retrieved from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569783.2015.1127141 Hetland.L, Winner. E (2010, March 24) The arts and academic achievement: What the evidence shows, Arts Education Policy Review, volume 102 (issue 5) Retrived from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10632910109600008

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Hodgson, J., & Banham, M. (1973). Drama in education : the annual survey. London : Pitman Houston, A. (2005). The Actuals of Drama and Dreams. Canadian Theatre Review, (123), 57-60. Newman. E ( 2014, September 9), Soft subjects shouldnt be hard to sell, The Telegraph, Retrived from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationopinion/11083605/Soft-subjectsshouldnt-have-to-be-a-hard-sell.html Richard Schechner, a. (1973). Drama, Script, Theatre, and Performance. The Drama Review: TDR, (3), 5. doi:10.2307/1144841 Ruppert, S. S., National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, W. D., & Arts Education, P. (2006). Critical Evidence: How the Arts Benefit Student Achievement. Schechner, R. (2002). Performance studies : an introduction. (2nd ed) London : Routledge. Schechner, R. (2003). Performance theory. London : Routledge Shuman, R. B. (1978). Educational drama for today's schools : with an annotated bibliography. Metuchen ; London : Scarecrow Press ; (Folkestone) : (Distributed by Bailey and Swinfen). Walkup, V. (2011). Exploring education studies. New York: Longman....