In Specialised Drama, students have agency to explore innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership within the Arts. They conduct in-depth creative inquiries into personal, local, and global challenges. Students refine their self-management, problem solving, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills. They apply critical and creative thinking and display capacity to be resourceful and take risks. Students experience the challenge and pleasure that comes from the study of drama that can be transferred to a range of careers and situations.

Dramatic works have the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich all students, excite the imagination, and encourage students to reach their creative and expressive potential. They learn that drama exists in process, as much as in finished artistic products and understand the collaborative contribution of actors, directors, playwrights, designers, and technicians. The skills and knowledge acquired through the study of Specialised Drama may prepare students for a variety of pathways such as theatre, media, communications, and community cultural development. Students work collaboratively, collectively, and independently, making and responding to dramatic works for a range of audiences.

Students develop transferable skills useful in any academic, professional, and vocational context, such as independence, collaboration, teamwork, and leadership. Students become highly skilled at working with others and communicating clearly to achieve joint enterprises. They develop skills as researchers and engage with theories and ideas critically and creatively. Students engage with technologies and become adept at pivoting to new technologies that help them achieve their goals. Students develop production skills and hone practices that present ideas and projects in ways that engage target audiences. They become empathetic and aware and skilled in the practice of collaborating with others respectfully and using Work Health and Safety standards.

The Specialised Drama course is written under The ARTS Framework 2021: BSSS ARTS Framework

Achievement Standards for ARTS courses can be found within the Framework.

Through the study of the Arts, students learn to express their ideas, thoughts and opinions, as they discover and interpret an increasingly complex technological and interconnected world. The subjects in this Learning Area share common understandings and broad conceptual underpinnings and imperatives.

Innovation in Drama

Students learn about innovative dramatic practice, past and present, and employ techniques and forms to break with conventions, and to be inventive in their work. They examine First Nations Australian innovations in translating the traditional to modern contexts. They explore the dramaturgical and technical capacity to encompass innovations in technique, performance, direction, production and/or digital platforms. Students examine the nature of ensemble and group practices, and the reinvention of traditional notions of theatre, processes, and roles. They develop skills in inquiry, resourcefulness, sustainability, and curiosity. Students appraise works that have revolutionised theatre over time and challenged and redefined audience expectations.

Leadership in Drama

Students learn about leadership in the context of creating dramatic works. They explore the possibilities for shaping and influencing a dramatic work through engagement with aspects such as producing, writing, directing, performing, or designing. Students develop skills in creative risk taking, integrity, initiative, and confidence to share their vision. In learning about leadership, they gain understanding of the various roles required in a dramatic work, and the communication, teamwork, and collaboration skills necessary to shape and effectively execute performances.

Entrepreneurship in Drama

Students learn about opportunities for creativity and examine the various avenues for engaging in presenting performances. They examine the theatre landscape and different pathways for participation in the creative arts. Students learn from the past about the ways that theatre groups and performers have overcome obstacles and worked creatively within constraints. They develop an enterprising mindset and consider the possibilities for authentic experiences for a range of audiences. Students appraise the role of technology in dramatic ventures, now and in the future.

Interdisciplinary Inquiry in Drama

Interdisciplinary inquiry is an approach to learning about and addressing complex issues to explore new perspectives and advance critical thinking. Students explore how drama can be used to learn about concepts from other disciplines, and how forms, structures and techniques from other works are employed to inform, persuade, or entertain. They develop skills in synthesising viewpoints, recognising bias, and drawing conclusions. They examine how to incorporate knowledge and skills from disciplines and consider how dramatic works can incorporate other mediums, such as multimodal texts.

Independent Study

An Independent Study unit has an important place in senior secondary courses. It is a valuable pedagogical approach that empowers students to make decisions about their own learning. An Independent Study unit can be proposed by an individual student for their own independent study and negotiated with their teacher. The program of learning for an Independent Study unit must meet the unit goals and content descriptions as they appear in the course. Students must have studied at least THREE standard 1.0 units from this course. A student can only study a maximum of one Independent study unit in each course. An Independent Study unit requires the principal’s written approval. Independent study units are only available to individual students in Year 12. Principal approval is also required for a student in Year 12 to enrol concurrently in an Independent unit and the third 1.0 unit in a course of study.

Specialised Drama A/T/M  (721 KB)

Specialised Drama A/T/M (313 KB)

The following courses are also available:

• Drama
• Studies of Drama