Watching the detectives: a study of arts criticism in a junior secondary drama classroom

Master of EducationThe purpose of this study is to examine the place of arts criticism within a junior secondary drama curriculum and specifically within the researcher's own teaching practice. Through the adoption of a reflective practitioner stance, the researcher explores the implementation of strategies designed to increase students' understanding and use of arts criticism skills. During the data collection process, the focus of the research moves from the students' responses to the teaching strategies, to the researcher's investigation of her teaching practice in relation to these teaching strategies. Arts criticism is defined in this study as being a part of the aesthetic field; it involves students' spontaneous and considered responses to arts works. In this study, arts criticism is understood both as an event in itself, allowing students to make considered reflective responses to arts works, and as a tool that enables students to communicate their immediate aesthetic responses. The study explores the place of arts criticism within the aesthetic realm through the writing of Abbs, McDonald and McLean. It establishes that there are limited practical resources available for teaching arts criticism in a drama curriculum. The significance of the teacher's role in establishing arts criticism within a drama curriculum emerges from the data analysis. The importance of the teacher's choice of vocabulary in the development of effective arts criticism strategies is evident. The metaphor of the Drama Detective is found to offer the students a constructive way of becoming engaged in arts criticism activities. This study confirms that arts criticism is a vital of part of the drama curriculum and it suggests possible means for the drama teacher to incorporate arts criticism into their drama teaching practice with junior secondary students