Drama is a discipline that originates in the impulse to depict experiences, communicate an understanding of these experiences, and give them form and meaning. It has evolved over time to include a variety of forms and techniques.
Drama education provides students with opportunities to examine human experiences through imagined roles and situations and to value the essential contribution of drama to their quality of life. Drama education offers students a powerful mode of expression. It is an interactive, creative process involving the individual in relationship to others and the environment. Drama reflects and affects the social, cultural, and historical contexts in which it exists. Drama education helps students develop the ability to move from their actual situations and roles into imaginary or assumed situations and roles. This ability gives them unique insights into these contexts and provides them with a window through which the beliefs and values of cultures may be viewed, explored, and challenged. Learning experiences in drama provide unique avenues for thinking and knowing that help prepare learners for present and future challenges. Drama education contributes to the development of an educated person by providing opportunities for students to experience situations like those they might encounter in real life, to make choices, and to take responsibility for their actions in a safe and nurturing environment.
Drama education helps students develop intellectually by expanding their capacity for creative thought, expression, and critical thinking. Drama arises from "an insatiable curiosity about the human condition." (Uta Hagen. A Challenge for the Actor. [New York: Charles Scribner´s Sons, 1991]). Curiosity and inventiveness are keystones of critical thinking. At the same time, drama offers all learners the opportunity to think metaphorically and to develop intellectual flexibility. It seeks to bridge the real and the imagined, the concrete and the symbolic, the practical and the inspired. It thus supports the process of intellectual growth that all learners engage in as they make sense of their world by integrating knowledge and experience.
Drama education also contributes to students´ human and social development. Drama is a social process, embodying active learning based on human interaction: it reflects a part of students´ daily lives as they connect with others, experience tension, resolve conflict, and create meaning in their world. As young children, students engage in spontaneous dramatic play, characterizations, and celebrations that arise from the imagination and personal experiences. As they grow into adulthood, the form of their drama changes. They adopt different styles of behaviour with different people, embellish stories as they recount them, and enter the world of the imagination through print and audio-visual media.
Drama education enhances career development. It fosters personal growth and self confidence, which are important in all careers. The knowledge, skills, and attitudes acquired through a drama program will be valuable in any career. Some students will develop skills in acting, directing, script writing, and stagecraft, which they may use in their career paths.
Learning in drama enhances learning in all other areas. Through drama, students are able to make connections between previous and current learning as well as between various subject areas, thereby making learning personally relevant. Through drama education, students increase their knowledge of and appreciation for the theatre, the dramatic arts, and all the fine arts. Drama education also provides opportunities for students to attend professional and community dramatic performances and to develop their skills as informed and thoughtful audience members. For all students, drama is instrumental in fostering lifelong learning.
Province of British Columbia
Ministry of Education
Standards Department
© 1995 Copyright
Maintained by: Fine Arts Coordinator - Drama
Revised: January 28, 1999
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