Drama enables the exploration of the past and how it informs the present and future. Drama recognises theatre as a cultural connector that can reach across time and place. It requires us to examine the experiences of ourselves and others and to look at how peoples’ understandings are shaped by their experiences and their contexts.

Ākonga learn through practical embodiment of roles and situations. They explore the purpose of drama and theatre, including the expression of culture, in their own and others’ communities. Through exploring the stories of diverse characters and situations, ākonga have the opportunity to see themselves in the roles they inhabit. This allows them to explore their own stories, and to understand and celebrate their own identities – who they are, what they believe, where they belong, and where they’re going. These reflections emphasise the value of fonua, where a sense of connection with their own identities, and the identities of others, allows ākonga to thrive.

Ākonga are encouraged to engage with theatre Aotearoa as a unique theatrical context. Theatre Aotearoa is an umbrella term for drama, plays, and theatrical performance created in Aotearoa New Zealand or made by creators with connections to Aotearoa New Zealand. While theatre Aotearoa work can be set in Aotearoa New Zealand and performed to local audiences, it can also feature international settings or be toured and performed on the global stage. Theatre Aotearoa has developed through an intermix of cultural identities, perspectives, and practices including contributions by Māori, Pacific, Pākehā, and tauiwi practitioners.

Te ao Māori is an integral aspect of theatre Aotearoa with Te Whare Tapere being the foundational performance tradition of Aotearoa New Zealand. As such, the opportunity to learn through Māori theatre (theatre made by Māori, accessing heritage and kaupapa Māori and applying tikanga Māori) is vital for all ākonga to access. It not only allows deep and enriching engagement with theatre Aotearoa, but also shows them how theatre provides opportunities to challenge dominating cultural and societal narratives and question the status quo.

Drama can be used to explore and articulate cultural and national identities. Drama holds a mirror up to society and can encourage reflection. Through Drama, ākonga explore the lives and worlds of others. Through the practice of manaakitanga, they develop empathy for others and a deeper understanding of themselves.

In Drama, ākonga are required to collaborate and embody the creative process. They investigate, explore, and practise different ways of creating and structuring drama, as well as refining and crafting the tools of the actor. Following and upholding tikanga, within both the wider discipline of drama and their specific learning environment, will help ākonga to draw from and acknowledge theatrical traditions, movements, and practices to empower their learning and creating.

Drama is a collective activity. It connects creators, performers, and audiences through the ihi, wehi, and wana of a performance. Ākonga will learn how the analogy of vaka can foster practices of collectivism in drama through creating supportive spaces where they share a sense of belonging and purpose. Participation in these spaces can instil the importance of service to others by taking on leadership roles with responsibility, humility, and confidence. They will grow in their understanding of the importance of serving the needs of the drama through the work of a group.

The process of making through collaboration helps to develop learners’ skills in listening, as well as communicating their own ideas. When taking direction, ākonga must listen to, interpret, and respond to suggestions and guidance, and then incorporate this into their performance. To contribute effectively, ākonga need to communicate their ideas in a clear and constructive way.

Ākonga will test different ideas to create effective, engaging, and purposeful drama. In group feedback situations, they will explore how to incorporate constructive and appropriate feedback from multiple sources.

Drama is a vehicle through which we can engage in kōrero from generation to generation. It can be a link to the spiritual realm of potentiality, where there are equal parts everything and nothing and stories are waiting to be born.

Ākonga will explore the ways in which drama can influence and enhance wellbeing. They may engage with the spiritual dimension of many drama traditions, from Māori, Pacific, and other Indigenous performing arts, to the religious origins of Greek theatre. Taha tinana, taha wairua, taha hinengaro, and taha whānau are all represented in creating and performing drama, as ākonga must draw from the physical, spiritual, emotional, and social to bring a performance to life.

In order to fulfil its function to heal, educate, entertain, or transform society, drama should allow opportunity to be confronting, challenging, and interactive. As a subject, Drama can offer a defined and empowering environment, safe for both ākonga and kaiako, where budding creators and performers can be encouraged to share their inner world. Whenever dark themes are explored, it must be done safely, responsibly, and with purpose – to convey a message, challenge dominant narratives, or raise awareness of important issues, expressing the power of drama to find light in dark places.

Ākonga should be encouraged to experiment and take risks through their work in order to develop resilience and perseverance within their writing, directing, and performing. Audiences may not always respond to their work as desired. But ākonga will be able to strengthen their craft and refine their skill as creators and performers through reaction and feedback to their work.

Ākonga will explore how the stories we tell and the way we tell them shape our understanding of ourselves, our world, and our place in it. They will explore and respond to stories as a means of understanding other people and other worldviews, and they will experiment with storytelling as a means of self-expression.

Drama connects people through the reciprocal relationship between the audience and performer. This relationship extends to the writer and director, with the wairua of the text being realised and channelled through the performer. These connections and relationships highlight the importance of live performance in Drama, as it relies on people gathering together for a shared purpose: to create and to experience an immersive, unique, and inspiring experience that promotes hauora on both an individual and community level.

This allows ākonga to explore the connections between themselves as performer and those around them, including the wider community. Drama enables ākonga to actively promote whanaungatanga through creating and exploring these connections. They practise building and sustaining connections between performers, as well as between the performer and the audience.

Ākonga will have opportunities to experience both sides of this relationship, exploring how performers work to evoke audience response and how that response feels as an audience member. They will engage with the immediate and transient nature of live drama and recognise that no performance experience, for either performer or audience, is ever exactly the same.