Primary Schools

Glossary

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 or group of characters, of which the other characters may be unaware, which has the purpose of giving a new direction to the drama
character
the entire intellectual, emotional and physical makeup of a real or fictional person

content

the subject of a drama based on the child’s general experience and needs, or drawn from the content of some other curriculum area
enactmentthe action in which the text of the drama is created
fictional lens
the choice of fictional characters and the situation in which they are placed 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
improvisationthe 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 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 a dramatic world together
process dramathe 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 section of a longer drama text
significance
that which signals something important about plot, theme or life
sub-text
the non-verbal 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
theme
the underlying patterns by which the plot of the drama is connected to life
 
NCCA, 24 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, Telephone: +353 1 661 7177, Fax: +353 1 661 7180, E-mail: info@ncca.ie