Professional Focus Paper
Course: Drama
1.
Level: National 4
Who is this paper for and what is its purpose?
This paper is for teachers and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
Drama National 4.
Curriculum for Excellence is a unique opportunity to raise achievement and to ensure that all learners are better
prepared than they have been in the past for learning, life and work. This is because the new curriculum gives real
scope to build learning 3–18 in a joined-up, seamless way. As a result, progression in learning can be much
stronger with a clear focus on attributes and capabilities, skills (including higher-order thinking skills), and
knowledge and understanding. These are delivered through the experiences and outcomes of the 3–15 Broad
General Education (BGE) and, at the senior phase, through programmes that build directly on the BGE leading to
qualifications. Because of a strengthened focus on the nature and quality of learning experiences, self-motivation is
likely to be increased and learners consequently more engaged and enthused. To ensure continuity and
progression, qualifications at the senior phase have been designed to embrace this unambiguous focus on highquality learning.
Curriculum for Excellence has the flexibility to meet the needs of all learners in their local circumstances, enabling
each to achieve their very best. For example, some centres may take the opportunity to offer qualifications over two
years which might involve learners bypassing qualifications at a given level, whereas others may enable learners to
work towards qualifications within one year. In both cases, the advice in this paper is relevant to the learning and
teaching approaches that learners will encounter. This paper, then, is intended to stimulate professional reflection
and dialogue about learning. It highlights important features of learning which are enhanced or different from
previous arrangements at this SCQF level.
How will you plan for progression in learning and teaching, building on the Broad General Education?
2.
What’s new and what are the implications for learning and teaching?
Drama National 4 consists of three Units.
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Production Skills
Drama Skills
Added Value Unit
To achieve Drama National 4, learners must pass all of the Units, including the Added Value Unit.
DRAMA
What are the key aspects of Drama National 4?
Integrated approach to skills development
Drama National 4 has three Units, including an Added Value Unit. The two Units (Drama Skills and Production
Skills) will build a range of skills and develop the learner’s knowledge of drama appropriate to this level.
The Drama Skills Unit and the Production Skills Unit may be delivered concurrently or sequentially, dependent on
centre preference and priorities. An integrated approach to teaching and learning will offer learners opportunities to
make connections between all aspects of their learning
The Added Value Unit reflects the culmination of the skills, knowledge and understanding built up through the two
Units and allows learners to apply their knowledge and show breadth of learning.
Staff may wish to take a more holistic approach to teaching and learning as the links between all three elements of
the course are clear.
Stimulus and evaluation as well as the creative process are common elements in all Units and offer opportunities
for holistic approaches across the learning experience.
Wider range of evidence of learning
In Drama National 4, a broad range of evidence will be gathered throughout the course. This evidence should be
naturally occurring and may be gathered using a variety of media and technologies, for example, through video
recording, blogs, written work or interview.
Added Value Unit
Staff should promote creative thinking skills and inspire learners further through the Added Value Unit, for example,
through a final performance devised by the learners from a given stimulus. As this element is the culmination of the
knowledge and skills previously acquired through the Drama Skills Unit and the Production Skills Unit, the stimulus
should be more challenging to the learners. The development of creative and innovative approaches to the
devising element and the application of a range of production skills to realise an effective performance, will promote
creative thinking skills and motivate learners.
What are the key features of learning in Drama National 4?
Learning independently
Across all Units, staff are encouraged to be creative and imaginative in the approaches to learning and teaching
adopted. Staff should work to ensure that learners develop self-reliance and effective self-management as they
experience their learning. For example, staff should consider how the use of a range of media and digital
technology could be an effective method of developing drama from a stimulus to presentation or performance. In
production skills, learners may use appropriate internet sites and access DVD footage to inform their work and
research on current productions and ideas in order to ensure that their thinking is relevant.
Staff should allow learners opportunities to engage with the fullest possible range of theatre arts in order to best
prepare them for a number of different outcomes. Consideration should be given to the relevance of all learning
experiences by, for example, providing frequent opportunities to address social and cultural issues through
dramatic exploration, through asking relevant questions and by finding out information independently. This could
also be done by using television and film as a possible stimulus for devising drama; using news media; or by
researching historical and cultural events. At every stage in this process, learners should be encouraged to reflect
and evaluate their own work and the work of others.
DRAMA
How will you build in opportunities for learners to explore social and cultural issues through their drama work?
Responsibility for learning
Learners will experience opportunities to build upon their prior knowledge and skills established in the BGE. Staff
should work to promote challenging contexts which will stimulate learner’s interests and reflect their local
experience. Learners can contribute to the planning of their own learning through a variety of opportunities for
personalisation and choice. For example, in the development of ideas within the Drama Skills Unit, learners are
encouraged to discuss, participate and explore a range of possible options as part of a pair, small group or larger
group. There are a wide range of possibilities for the development of stimuli available for learners to select from,
including dramatic conventions, drama forms and styles as well as dramatic genre. Consideration will also be given
to the range of possibilities within the areas of voice, movement and characterisation. Within the Production Skills
Unit the options for learners to plan their own learning and develop ideas for their selected production role are
available. Learners, with support from staff, should make selections based on preference, level of skill, challenge
and personal interest.
Drama allows for learners to explore, develop and experiment with a range of ideas and skills. Therefore, learners
will take responsibility and personal control of their own learning and will have the opportunity to select a production
role in the Added Value Unit which best matches their interests.
Learners should take every opportunity offered to monitor their own progress in discussions with staff. This will
allow them to evaluate and reflect upon their own decision making, their contribution to tasks and to respond to the
development needs they have identified.
Active learning and collaborative working
Learners in drama will have developed their abilities in working both independently and collaboratively to research,
to devise, to create, to communicate and to discuss and find ways to perform and present. Staff are encouraged to
view their role in this process as a facilitator in the creative process. For example, when learners have selected a
defined production role, it is important to allow them some independent ‘development’ time for their ideas to take
shape and for the group of learners involved in the rehearsal process to have opportunities to work as a production
team with an appropriate level of support.
Collaborative working
In drama, learners will work in groups of varying sizes in order to explore and experiment. Drama learners work
together, taking the lead and initiating ideas where appropriate. Learners can act as learning resources for each
other, discussing and debating ideas, improvising and experimenting with a range of drama forms and conventions
to find the best solution for communicating ideas to an audience.
Learners should construct their own ideas and dramas from a given stimulus, in collaboration with others in small
teams or larger groups. They will develop problem-solving skills as they develop their ideas through
experimentation and exploration, either from a stimulus in presentation or in the application of appropriate theatre
production skills. For example, when working on the Added Value Unit, learners will be working as a core member
of a production team. In the development of the small-scale performance, learners will experience challenges.
Matching the needs of the actors, directors and the parameters presented by the ‘story’ will require learners to be
flexible and adaptable in their approach to their work.
How will you challenge your National 4 learners to develop drama work that pushes the boundaries for them as
individuals?
DRAMA
Applying learning and skills development
The skills and knowledge acquired by learners in drama will be applicable in a wide range of contexts. The Added
Value Unit allows for exciting and motivating opportunities for all learners. The openness and flexibility provided by
the Added Value Unit clearly allows for personalisation and choice and the ability to apply a wide range of
previously acquired skills. Learners can select the topic for their devised work and take on a production role to suit
their learning needs. This will ensure that learner motivation is inspired by learning itself and that their interest in
sustained due to the relevance and current nature of the material. Learners should also be encouraged to apply
their learning and skills in a range of additional contexts, for example, with involvement in workshops and theatre
trips, opportunities to participate in drama within the community, or with a field trip to television studios. This will
help to open up the possibilities and relevance of drama in terms of future employment opportunities for learners.
How will you ensure that opportunities for applying learners’ skills and knowledge in a wide range of contexts are
made available?
3.
Qualification information
The SQA website provides you with the following documents:
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Assessment Overview
Course Specification
Unit Specification
Support Notes
Course Assessment Specification
Unit Assessment Support Packages
Full information on arrangements for this qualification is available at the SQA website:
Drama National 4: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/45713.html
4.
What other materials are available on the Education Scotland website which staff
could use?
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/expressivearts/principlesan
dpractice/index.asp
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/expressivearts/index.asp
Support materials have been produced over the last year to support Curriculum for Excellence and further support
materials and events are planned. This downloadable list is updated quarterly with the most up-to-date details
available from the page below.
Published and planned support for Curriculum for Excellence:
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/publishedandplannedsupport
T +44 (0)141 282 5000 E enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk W www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Education Scotland, Denham House, Almond vale Business Park, Almond vale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
© Crown copyright, 2012
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