Perspectives on drama teacher education in Australia

Drama education in Australian schools is healthy with all states and territories offering opportunities to engage with drama from the early years through to senior secondary level where, by studying drama, students can gain credit towards university entrance. Across the six states and two territories students are voting with their feet by opting into drama. The Australian Curriculum The Arts, currently under development, is likely to provide an entitlement to drama within the arts for all students in Years Foundation to Six and curriculum options for students in Years 7 to 12. Drama Australia (originally the National Association for Drama in Education, NADIE) provides leadership for several thousand members. The Drama Australia website (www.dramaaustralia.org.au ) reports healthy levels of research activity amongst Australian drama/theatre educators. To fill out this portrait, this article explores perspectives on drama teacher education. The first part sets the scene by over viewing current provision (in so far as this can be determined). The second part sketches in three examples of drama teacher education as indicators of the wider perspective on drama teacher training in Australia. The third section considers these examples in light of the broader implications for drama teacher education in Australia in the foreseeable future