Why Study Drama?

Why Study Drama? By Mrs Eylece Blaikie, Teacher in Charge - Drama

After 30 years’ experience as an educator in the Arts, specialising in Drama at both co-educational and single-sex schools in the state, private, Catholic and independent sectors, I have extensive first-hand knowledge about the benefits of studying

Drama and how these skills apply to life well beyond school.

My personal experiences are backed by extensive research which affirms that students who study Drama until at least Year 10 acquire communication, creative thinking and problem-solving skills and learn about global history and diversity. Research also suggests that Drama students develop skills of connection and empathy and are less likely to partake in risky behaviour. Additionally, students who have studied high school Drama successfully transfer these fundamental skills to a range of post-school industries and professions.

“Without a doubt, Drama class was responsible for developing what I would consider my most valuable skills in the workforce. I can tell you with absolute certainty that I have not used matrix multiplication since I studied Math C, I haven’t written a short story since English, and I haven’t found the kinetic energy loss of a collision since Physics. What I have done, is sat in a job interview and had to explain why I was the best candidate for the job. I have sat across from clients and interfaced as to what problems they are encountering or what they would like from our product. I have stood up in a meeting every fortnight to discuss my team’s progress. I am always chosen to speak on behalf of the team, not because I’m the best software engineer (I’m not) but because I’m the best communicator.”

- Adrian Irwin, Head Dayboy, 2013 - 2018, Software Engineer

Despite all the research that points to the benefits of studying Drama, there is still reluctance to select Drama in Years 9 and 11. So why should your son study Drama?

Physical Environment

At TGS, Drama is tailor-made to suit the physicality of boys. Lessons are taught through game play and competition – areas in which boys thrive - and the boys create their own drama experiences. Rydberg as cited in Higgins (2016) asserts: “When students are put in charge of their learning, they develop life skills such as flexibility and adaptability by having to make adjustments along the way rather than waiting for the teacher to tell them what to do”.

Our Year 7 students enjoy Drama because of the games they invent, and the creative and humorous work produced. Who would think that boys who are achieving at the highest level on the sporting field would love Drama classes just as much as football? Yet in an inclusive environment such as TGS, they do – and they thrive!

“The lifelong skills of public speaking and the ability to be my true self, I believe, has directly stemmed from my time spent in Senior Drama. Skills which have and continue to provide opportunities for both my teaching and footballing career.”

- Ryan Ensor, 2010 – 2014, Secondary

English Teacher, Professional

Footballer - Newcastle Jets

Empathy

In engaging both verbally and physically in texts specifically selected for boys, Drama allows for selfexploration and growth through understanding of actions and consequences in the safety of the classroom.

Boys can step into someone else’s shoes and get an insight into the road others travel. The doyen of drama education, Heathcote (1970, p.1077) argues that “role play offers one of the most efficient ways of gleaning information in emotional experience without having the actual experience.”

“Two different skills I learnt from Drama that I use in both work life and personal life are communicative skills and understanding people’s emotions; reading body language and knowing when to emphasise phrases to get your point across.”

- Will Cruice, 2010 – 2014,

Para-Planner, Medical Speciality

Returned servicemen visit TGS to personally share their stories in the Year 10 Verbatim unit, Australian’s At War. Students then create improvisation and script around these experiences, showing empathy for those whose lives were impacted. The opportunity to explore the devastating effects of bullying in our Year 9 Realism unit, listen to the experiences of refugees told through Physical Theatre in Year 9, or the excitement of the student who has discovered the inner psychology of a tormented Hamlet in the Year 12 Transform unit, all create empathy for those whose lives have been inhabited.

How Drama Helps in the Workplace

The skills reflected in all the QCAA Senior Syllabi seem to be written explicitly for Drama. A longitudinal

study on the development of life skills in Drama classes revealed that creativity, collaboration, communication, initiative, and problem solving, developed through applied improvisational skills, were used to help medical students, pharmaceutical students and professional scientists improve their communication skills with patients and the general public (Stutesman, Havens and Goldstein, 2022).

Dramatic Misconceptions

One dramatic misconception is that the study of Drama is about preparing to be an actor. But that is not what studying Drama at school is about. We have many boys who have been initially excited by the prospect of selecting Drama then do not choose it. They have been told, “You don’t want to be an actor, so why pick Drama? History is a much better choice – you’ll learn research skills and more about... history!” Whilst History is a fantastic subject, it may be that your son is a kinaesthetic learner. There is no better way to learn about Ancient Greece than through the eyes of playwrights and philosophers of the time who invented theatre as we know it today! Drama is not about preparing you to be an actor but engaging you in “innovation and creative thinking which contributes to equipping students with highly transferable skills that encourage them to imagine future perspectives and possibilities” (QCAA Drama Syllabus Ver1.1, 2019, p. 2).

Students also steer away from studying Drama in Year 11 and 12 as they believe that it will score lower on the ATAR ranking and affect their overall ATAR score. Scaling for each subject changes every year, and students sometimes believe that they should do subjects which have scaled higher in the past. The reality is, you will do better in a subject that you enjoy studying, and how you perform in a subject can make a big difference in your scaled score. As a Drama educator who has witnessed the transformative ability of Arts subjects in terms of selfgrowth and self-awareness, it is also my belief that students and parents need to place less importance on a single ATAR number and more on the myriad of skills gained on the journey towards a new phase in the life of the child. “Drama taught me so many valuable lessons, ones that can’t be learned in any other classroom. Lessons such as expressing creativity, teamwork, listening and appreciating difference of opinion, being bold and looking for something bigger and better, finding the joy in work and creating. These are things that directly help me with what I do in my job but each of these things could be used in any job or line of work to make it a more happy, healthy environment.”

- Sean Johnston, 2014 – 2018,

Bachelor of Music Theatre,

Queensland Conservatory, Currently cast: Link Larkin ‘Hairspray’, Regent

Theatre, Melbourne

Jamie Watson (L–R): Clancy Wright, Ruben Fitton, Gus Downie and Noah Taylor

References

Higgins, P. (2022). Using digital devices for creative reflection in Drama to develop risk-taking in Year 8 boys. (Conference paper) Retrieved from https://www.theibsc.org/teaching-learning/action-research/action-research-posters

Heathcote, D. (1970). How does drama serve thinking talking and writing?. Elementary English, 47(8), 1077–1081.

Queensland Curriculum Assessment Authority. (2019). Drama 2019 v1.1: General Senior Syllabus. Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/senior-qce/syllabuses/snr_drama_19_syll.pdf