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Context elaborations – level 7 drama

Context elaborations are possible contexts for learning, with a suggestion of how they might be used with the focus achievement objective.

The most successful drama work is explored and created within a context. The richer the context is, the more possibilities there are to develop skills, and explore the use of elements, techniques, conventions, and technologies.

These contexts help students to relate to the content of their learning and make connections between what they are learning (the context) and how it fits into their everyday lives.

These context elaborations are based on the key concepts for drama.

The context elaborations mirror culturally responsive pedagogies.

They are examples only. Teachers can select and use entirely different contexts in response to local situation, community relevance, and students’ interests and needs.

Choosing contexts for the year

Choose a couple of rich contexts to work in for the year, such as the following:

  • a play with depth of character and important themes or issues, such as The Crucible by Arthur Miller, A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare, or Once on Chunuk Bair by Maurice Shadbolt
  • a theatre form or movement, for example, realism, and the variety of forms this has taken in different places and times
  • a theme or idea, for example, recording our lives.

Works by New Zealand playwrights are available for purchase from:

Drama-rich experiences

Use classroom teaching and learning time to guide students through exercises and workshops, which gradually expose them to drama-rich experiences.

Drama practice in the classroom and beyond should embody the concepts of manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, ako, tino rangatiratanga and tangata whenuatanga.

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Students and teachers work together in an atmosphere of trust based on knowledge of, and the acknowledgment of, each other’s experiences, culture, viewpoint, and place in the world.

Students and teachers support each other’s learning and development, and share decision making and choices about the work.

Ensure expectations are explicit in every task and activity.

Build a spirit of group solidarity and trust, a sense of pride, and a shared commitment to the art and the audience.

Provide several opportunities to explore contexts and the portrayal of characters in new and engaging ways through research and committed inquiry into histories and the social and political issues of the time.

The contexts and activities for learning in the following examples provide opportunities for students to create and perform work in role and in different theatre forms and cultural contexts.

Examples of drama-rich experiences

Two examples (select links below) show how a rich context can be used to explore drama activities and create works for an audience.

Each context would be explored for at least 10–15 weeks. It is not expected that teachers cover all the activities within the suggested programme. These are examples of what could be done.

< back to level 7 drama AOs

Last updated September 10, 2015



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