Department aims

Consider your drama department’s aims. The aims need to be achievable and realistic both for you as a teacher and for the students as learners. The immediate thought should be about what the students need in order to facilitate and benefit from their drama education. Ensure that you make your department aims clear to yourself as well as to other people. The department aims will help to identify the curriculum objectives.

An example of a set of department aims is provided below. You will notice that these aims prioritise the theatrical/dramatic elements of the subject rather than the social, as it is more important that drama is seen as a subject in its own right, rather than just supporting work in other subjects. However, it is important to remember that not every department is the same, and so some aspects of these may not be relevant to your circumstances.

Example of drama department aims

To promote understanding of theatre as an art form

• To enable students to use dramatic forms.
• To raise awareness and appreciation of theatre from different cultures.
• To familiarise students with the body of knowledge, principles and vocabulary related to this art form.
• To raise awareness of the functions of dramatic form.
• To learn and develop understanding of how to control the form through a variety of dramatic conventions.
• To feel confident enough to experiment with the art form.
• To raise awareness of the place of theatre within the context of other art forms.

To develop students’ interpersonal skills (through group work)

These include:

• self-confidence
• communication
• cooperation and collaboration
• commitment.

To develop students’ expressive skills

These include:

• imagination
• creativity
• presentation
• working independently and with others.

To enhance a specific group of study skills

The study skills could be cross-curricular and supportive of other subjects. They would involve:

• observation
• research (including the use of ICT)
• concentration
• evaluation (both orally and in writing)
• structured writing of various kinds
• reflecting critically on the quality of their work and refining it, with the support of teachers and peers.

It is a good idea to display the departmental aims and assessment criteria on the wall of your staff room and (if the budget stretches to it) inside the student books.