action | the interaction between character and situation in the drama, involving the resolution or attempted resolution of conflict and tension |
brief | a suggestion or instruction given to one character, of which the other characters may or may not be unaware, which has the purpose of giving a new direction to the drama |
character
| the entire intellectual, emotional and physical make-up of a real or fictional person |
content | the subject matter of a drama, based on the child’s general experience and needs or drawn from the content of some other curriculum area |
| enactment | the action in which the text of the drama is created |
fictional lens
| the choice of fictional characters and the situation they are placed in that creates the dramatic context for the enactment |
framing | the process through which a fiction is transformed into directions and suggestions for an enactment. (It is through this process that the drama text is distanced sufficiently from the children to be safe but remains close enough to be explored effectively.) |
genre
| the form of dramatic expression-naturalistic, comic, absurd, etc. |
| improvisation | the spontaneous dramatic enactment of a fiction |
in role
| doing or saying something from the standpoint of role or character |
mantle of the expert | the process by which the teacher implies that the children are ‘experts’ in some particular topic so as to encourage them to research that topic within the drama |
out of role
| talking about issues, choices and possible directions in the drama when outside the enactment |
plot
| the coherent series of incidents that, together with the theme, make up the drama |
pre-text | an effective starting point that will launch the dramatic world in such a way that the participants can identify their roles and responsibilities and begin to build the dramatic world together. |
| process drama | the process by which drama texts are made |
role | pretending to be someone or something other than oneself |
| scene | a short play, an improvised text or a dramatic action |
significance | that which signals something important about plot, theme or life |
| sub-text | the non-ve rbal signals by which thoughts, feelings and attitudes are transmitted |
teacher in role
| the teacher taking a role in the drama and moulding it from within |
tension | the expression in drama of the conflict inherent in the needs and desires of the different characters in the drama that drives the action forward |
text | a class text is the selection, enactment and linking of scenes in the drama, and all the class activities related to this
a drama text is an enacted drama fiction, watched or unwatched, whether it takes place in the class or in a theatre-like situation
a written text is a script that describes a dramatic action |
theme
| the underlying patterns by which the plot of the drama is connected to life |
This curriculum has been prepared by the Curriculum Committee for Arts Education established by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
| Chairpersons | Kieran Griffin | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Michael O’Reilly | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| Committee members | Eibhlín de Ceannt (from 1995) | Department of Education and Science |
| | Evelyn Dunne-Lynch (to 1995) | National Parents Council—Primary |
| | Pauline Egan | Catholic Primary School Managers’ Association |
| | Sarah Gormley (from 1995) | National Parents Council—Primary |
| | Michelle Griffin (to 1996) | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Sr Maria Hyland
| Association of Primary Teaching
Sisters/Teaching Brothers’ Association |
| | Noel Kelly
| Irish Federation of University Teachers |
| | Maureen Lally-O’Donoghue | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Pádraig Mac Sitric | Department of Education and Science |
| | Dympna Mulkerrins | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Goretti Newell | Catholic Primary School Managers’ Association |
| | Emer Egan (to 1995) | Department of Education and Science |
| | Kay O’Brien
| Management of Colleges of Education |
| | Ruairí Ó Cillín | Department of Education and Science |
| | Colum Ó Cléirigh | Irish Federation of University Teachers |
| | Gillian Perdue (to 1993) | Church of Ireland General Synod Board of Education |
| | Br Patrick Ryan (to 1995) | Teaching Brothers’ Association/Association of
Primary Teaching Sisters |
| | Mary Ryng | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Joy Shepherd | Church of Ireland General Synod Board of Education |
| Educational drama consultant | John McArdle | |
| Education officers | Paul Brennan | |
| | Regina Murphy | |
| | Catherine Walsh | |
To co-ordinate the work of the Curriculum Committees, the Primary Co-ordinating Committee was established by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.
| Chairperson | Tom Gilmore | |
Committee members
| Sydney Blain(from 1995) | Church of Ireland General Synod Board of Education |
| | Liam Ó hÉigearta
(from 1996) | Department of Education and Science |
| | Dympna Glendenning
(to 1995) | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Fionnuala Kilfeather (from 1995) | National Parents Council—Primary |
| | Éamonn MacAonghusa
(to 1996) | Department of Education and Science |
| | Fr Gerard McNamara (from 1995) | Catholic Primary School Managers’ Association |
| | Peter Mullan | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Sheila Nunan
(from 1995) | Irish National Teachers’ Organisation |
| | Eugene Wall | Irish Federation of University Teachers |
| Co-ordinator | Caoimhe Máirtín
(to 1995) | |
Assistant Chief
Executive Primary | Lucy Fallon-Byrne (from 1995)
| |
| Chief Executive | Albert Ó Ceallaigh | |