Drama: Level 1

Qualification - NCEA level 1

Course Overview

Drama is for everyone. We all have kōrero pūrākau and stories to share. Drama helps us to understand cultural perspectives and worldviews and connect with our community. It celebrates and explores te ao Māori, Pacific, and European whakapapa and helps us to prepare for the future by challenging us to explore the attitudes and beliefs of characters in drama from Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.

Through drama, learners explore the lives and worlds of others and develop a deeper understanding of themselves and empathy for others. They will engage with the ways in which drama can uplift and sustain the mana of communities, groups and individuals.

Drama is for the learners of today who will be the adults of tomorrow — adults with an appreciation of who they are in relation to others, where they come from and what kind of world they would like to live in. Students also use extracurricular work to form their Internal portfolios.

Big Ideas

  • Drama is influenced by whakapapa and is a way to respond to and share identity, culture, and perspectives
  • Drama is a collaborative, creative process
  • Drama weaves wairuatanga through storytelling, communication, and expression
  • Drama is an act of whakawhanaungatanga — meaning is created through the reciprocal relationship between the drama and audience


Topics covered

Drama: Level 1