Milestones & Portfolio of SDEA

  • 2002

    28 September
    SDEA was established by drama educators, theatre practitioners and arts administrators and registered as a non-profit society. Its aim was to foster and establish drama education as a profession by promoting, advocating and advancing the study and development of drama and theatre education in Singapore.

    16 November
    Swopshop 1 – networking and sharing session of drama activities and approaches.

    25-29 November
    SDEA collaborated with NAC and NIE (VPA) to organise the NAC-AEP workshop:

    2-3 December
    Means and Ends: The educational goal of the Arts Education Programme (AEP) in Theatre

    1 December
    Free public talk by Shamini Dias at Library @Esplanade on how to bring books alive at home

  • 2003

    4 June
    Swopshop – back to basics voice and movement workshops facilitated by Michael Corbidge and Christina Sergeant.

    11 October
    Public talks in various Community Libraries, “Drama for the Very Young” (Ruby Lim-Yang).

    1 November
    "Indian Storytelling" (Jeeva Raghunath)

    6 December
    "Drama in the Malay Language" (Rilla Melati)

  • 2004

    March
    PUBLIC TALK “Benefits of drama in-curriculum”

    April
    VOICE WORKSHOP by Nora Samosir and Noorlinah Mohamed

    June
    SWOPSHOP An exchange workshop was facilitated by Sean Tobin, Associate Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage to explore “Beginning a drama class”

    31 July
    HISTORY THROUGH DRAMA WORKSHOP by Roger Jenkins, Artistic Director of Dramaplus Arts. The workshop focused on how teachers can approach history through drama.

    Launch of EIM (Educational Institution Membership). The EIM school or institution could appoint up to a maximum of three EIM representatives organized by the SDEA.

    August
    SWOPSHOP ON IMPROVISATION by Christina Sergeant, Artistic Director of Mime Unlimited and Roger Jenkins

    November
    FORUM THEATRE HOTHOUSE II by Drama Director and Educator Kok Heng Leun, Artistic Director of Drama Box

  • 2005

    February
    PLAYWRITING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE by Jeffrey Tan, Associate Artistic Director of TheatreWorks (S) Ltd. It offered strategies for encouraging and introducing playwriting to young people.

    13-15 May
    Represented at Speak Good English Movement at Toa Payoh Hub

    August
    Hothouse ‘Camp Singapore’ drama workshop for Singapore International Foundation aimed at giving Singaporean children living overseas local insights.

    Publication of in-house journal of ‘Dramatise’ SDEA’s in house journal with contributions on lesson plans, reflections, articles and book reviews under Managing Editor Christina Sergeant.

    Establishing SDEA Outreach Fund funded by Creative communities Singapore for the years of 2005-2007. The Outreach fund brings the experience of drama and other art forms to children and youths who lacked the access to arts education. In 2005, the SDEA outreach Fund partially funded 2 projects: ‘Play Theatre’ by member Judy Ngo with Very Special Arts, ‘Drama for Young Children’ by Faith Liew with Cannosaville Children’s Home.

    27 August
    Inaugural Drama Festival, ‘Celebrate Drama!’ SDEA’s community outreach event held over 1 day at The Arts House

    9 September
    ‘East and West Race’ with NLB as part of the Speak Good English Movement. This event was a variation of the Dramazing Race held in 2003

    Public talk by Jonathan Carter at Marine Parade Library on how drama was incorporated into the international school curriculum.

    December
    Hothouse ‘Teacher as Director’ Wendy Ng conducted a 3 day, 16 hour course for teachers working with young people/non actors towards productions

  • 2006

    10, 27 January
    SDEA’s first strategic meeting where its vision and mission were articulated as:

    Vision: SDEA aspires to establish drama methodology as a vital element in the development of every individual in society

    Mission: SDEA is a professional body that advocates and advances the development of drama in education, therapy and performance.

    February
    Hothouse 1 - Commissioned by the Xin Min Primary School, this course was tailored to teach the teachers in understanding the mechanics of the voice and delivery in their ‘Stand and Deliver’ Programme’. This project was conducted by Christina Sergeant and lasted from Feb to Apr.

    June
    Hothouse 2 – This 12 hour workshop was conducted by Noorlinah Mohamed for the teachers of Crescent Girls’ School. It was called ‘Drama as Pedagogy in Literature and Language Learning ‘

    14-16, 22 July
    The second Celebrate Drama! saw a double week-end-long festival over 2 weekends with performances and workshops held at the Esplanade and The Arts House. Proceeds from Celebrate Drama! went to the SDEA Outreach Project fund and Dramatise.

    November
    HOTHOUSE 3 and 4 – Double Shot – ‘Devising Theatre for Youth’ by Nora Crothers. This 4 day, 16 hour course course was for actors and teachers/directors who worked with young people toward productions.

    'Voicing Shakespeare' was a 4 day, 12 hour course conducted by Nora Samosir for actors, and teachers

    Connections ‘Artist in School’ held at ACM. Connections is a platform for the exchange and discussion of ideas and practices between educators, drama educators and artists.

  • 2007

    18 March
    SDEA Family Dramathlon @ NUS Centre for the Arts saw a half day scavenger hunt for families using drama games

    31 March
    Connections 2 – ‘Language Learning in Primary School Classroom ’ was held at the Singapore Poly was catered for teachers from Primary Schools

    12 May
    NLB Talk, Part of Speak Good English Movement by SDEA member Rina Ong

    19 May
    NLB Talk, Part of Speak Good English Movement by SDEA member Nora Samosir

    28, 29 July
    Celebrate Drama! At The Arts House and the Asian Civilisation Museum

    19-21 November
    Hothouse ‘Devising Performance for Youth Theatre’ by Natalie Hennedige was a 3 day, 15 hour workshop for teachers and practitioners that used various stimuli to create performances for young people.

    23 November
    Commissioned workshop by MOE ‘An Introduction to Incorporating Drama activities and Theatre Games into the Classroom.’ It was for the North Cluster Schools and was facilitated by Christina Sergeant

    Talks with WDA –  SDEA invited to participate in setting competency standards for arts educators in the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) for the Creative Industries

  • 2008

    15-17 February
    SDEA Professional Development Workshop for Mendaki was a 19 hour workshop facilitated by Noorlinah Mohamed and Felicia Low for teachers on Drama as a Pedagogy

    27, 28 February, 1 March
    SDEA participated in WDA’s Career Fair at Marina Square

    April, May
    Connections 3 ‘Drama and Mother Tongue’ engaged Chinese and Malay teachers in separate symposiums on ‘The Use of Drama Pedagogy in the Teaching of Mother Tongue in schools

    12 April
    Connections Forum 1 ‘Pendidikan Seni: Topik: Pembelajaran Bahasa Melayu dan Budaya Melalui Seni’ facilitated by Onniata Effendi, Teater Ekematra, teachers from Tampines Primary: Nazreen Osman, Hidayah Sidek, Norisha Ismail, Haslinah Osman

    2 May
    Connections Forum 2 N6 Cluster Chinese language symposium – ‘Drama and Chinese Language Learning.’ Teachers from primary, secondary and JCs from the N6 Cluster shared the principals of drama pedagogy at workshops that took teachers through the basic use of drama in the Chinese language classroom.

    28 July
    SDEA took part in a TTLM (Teach Less Learn More) project using drama pedagogy in Mathematics. Particppants came from Evergreen Pri, Huamin Pri and Greenwood Pri.

    Hosting of Fullbright Scholar from US Ms Abra Chusid. Abra was heavily involved on Celebrate Drama! and shadowed drama teachers and artists during her stay here

    14-17 August
    Celebrate Drama! at The Arts House included palys, short film screenings, roving performances and workshops. SDEA also invited a ‘The Oral Stage’, a youth theatre group to perform a dance and movement inspired piece.

    November
    WDA Physical Theatre 1st Intake

    December
    WDA Physical Theatre 2nd Intake

  • 2009

    14, 15 February
    PLAYFUL PERSONAS: DEVISING PERFORMANCE WITH HOIPOLLOI & EXPLORING INCLUSIVE CITIES

    21, 22 February
    SERIOUS FUN: PLAYMAKING WITH HOIPOLLOI (England) both workshops conducted by in collaboration with British Council

    March
    8 hr professional development projecrt offering drama in pedagogy to Malay and Mandarin Language teachers at Tanglin Sec School

    21 March
    Connections IV ‘Forum on Arts Pedagogy’, a collaboration between SDEA, NAC and East Zone Center of Excellence for Creative Arts.

    14 March
    Shakespeare and Young Audiences by Tim Crouch, in collaboration with British Council

    16 March
    Workshop at Greenridge Secondary School

    1. Interdisciplinary Arts in the teaching of Literature by Noorlinah Mohamed
    2. Playwriting for Teachers by Haresh Sharma

    18 March
    Workshop on ‘Applied Theatre’ by Dr’ Peter O’Connor from Applied Theatre Consultants, Auckland, New Zealand at the Little arts Academy

    April
    Physical Theatres Swopshop

    May
    WSQ course on Drama Pedagogy led by Dr Prudence Wales.

    September
    THEATRE CREATION WORKSHOP PROGRAMME by Mark Hill, Artistic Director, ZenZenZo Physical theatre Company, Brisbane, Australia

    Completed an 8-hour professional development projects offering drama pedagogy to teachers at Anglican High Secondary School for the teaching of Social Studies. Jeffrey Tan, Noorlinah Mohamed, Elvira Holmberg and Oniatta Effendi will also begin taster workshops for the students to assist in introducing drama in the classroom.

    November
    Re-run of the WSQ course, ‘Physical Theatre: From Artistry to Pedagogy’.

  • 2010

    March
    SDEA Seminar ‘Selecting an Arts Programme or Arts Educator for your School’- How Singapore schools can make informed decisions that will impact, enhance and elevate learning of their students.

    22-26 March
    In collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic’s School of Communications, Arts and Social Science (CASS) SDEA ran two applied theatre Workshops by Dr. Peter O'Connor, Applied Theatre Consultants, Auckland, New Zealand, 1. Impacting the Youths 2. Ethics of Applied Theatre Practices

    April
    SDEA was invited to write resource packs for teachers for 4 shows at the Singapore Arts Fest. The were for the plays ‘Cool’ ‘Gatz’ ‘Emily of Emerald Hill’ and ‘Those Who Can’t Teach’

    June
    WDA Elements of Drama (Intake 2)

    July
    WDA Elements of Drama (Intake 3)

    10, 17, 24 July
    Elements of Drama with Raffles Institution Literature Teachers.

    20- 21 August
    Celebrate Drama! held at the Arts House looked at Applied Drama for the Community and it catered for social workers, youth workers, counsellors, pastoral care workers, educators and corporate professionals in marketing, public relations

    October
    Connections

    29 November- 3 December
    Theatre Creation workshops with included Viewpoints, Butoh and Suzuki facilitated by Mark Hill at LASALLE College of the Arts

  • 2011

    3-5 June
    SDEA’s inaugural Teatere Arts Conference held at LASALLE College of the Arts. It featured over 60 presentations and workshops from local and international practitioners and academics