Abstract:
This paper compares two case studies investigating boys’ perceptions of senior drama in Queensland. The first case study was conducted by Sanders in 2003 and the second case study was conducted by Sanders and Saunders in 2024. Comparing the two case studies conducted twenty-one years apart (2003 and 2024) indicates the impact of syllabus design in enabling -and in some cases, disabling- students’ creativity, identity development, and agency, as well as significant changes to the role of the drama teacher in the senior secondary drama classroom.
In addition, the paper shares an analysis and compares the two syllabuses informing teaching and learning in Senior Drama in Queensland. Exploring two case studies positioned twenty-one years apart also offers a unique investigation into system curriculum design. Queensland is one of only a few educational jurisdictions globally with a notable history of exclusively 100% school-based assessment in senior secondary, spanning from 1973 to 2019. This contrasts with most other national and international education systems, which incorporates some form of external assessment for senior subjects. The move in 2020 to a new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system, required a significant redevelopment of Queensland’s senior syllabus which included a strong focus on connecting learning and assessment objectives to Marzano and Kendall’s (2007) new Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, and in Drama, and a dilution of Abb’s (1987) conceptual framework for aesthetic learning.
The paper also identifies recommendations and implications for further research in this area.
In addition, the paper shares an analysis and compares the two syllabuses informing teaching and learning in Senior Drama in Queensland. Exploring two case studies positioned twenty-one years apart also offers a unique investigation into system curriculum design. Queensland is one of only a few educational jurisdictions globally with a notable history of exclusively 100% school-based assessment in senior secondary, spanning from 1973 to 2019. This contrasts with most other national and international education systems, which incorporates some form of external assessment for senior subjects. The move in 2020 to a new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system, required a significant redevelopment of Queensland’s senior syllabus which included a strong focus on connecting learning and assessment objectives to Marzano and Kendall’s (2007) new Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, and in Drama, and a dilution of Abb’s (1987) conceptual framework for aesthetic learning.
The paper also identifies recommendations and implications for further research in this area.