Advanced Facilitation Unit 1: The Reflective Practitioner

This unit is offered at the start of the course. It lays the foundations for you to learn how to use reflective practice to identify and improve specific areas of your drama facilitation practice.

This unit content is indicative.

Advanced Facilitation Unit 2: Skills and Repertoire

This unit focuses on improving workshop content. Following a series of masterclasses, you are required to demonstrate both in-depth expertise in a workshop style of your choice and breadth of repertoire and domain independence in the development of workshops from non-drama source material.

This unit content is indicative.

Critical Perspectives

This unit enables you to develop skills in the identification, analysis and exploitation of extant sources of knowledge to support your professional decision making.

This unit content is indicative.

Executive Effectiveness: Enterprise, Management and Organisation

In this unit, you develop your skills in identifying and applying analytical and project management paradigms/techniques, while pursuing your professional goals.

This unit content is indicative.

Option: Directing for and with Young People

This unit enables you to develop your skills as a director to increase the aesthetic impact of a performance for, or with, young people. Some of these option units may not be available every year. It will be dependent on student numbers.

This unit content is indicative.

Option: Creative Learning and Outreach

In this unit, you design and deliver outreach projects that synthesise both creative and educational approaches in the development of community engagement in small and mid-scale venues. Some of these option units may not be available every year. It will be dependent on student numbers.

This unit content is indicative.

Option: Difficult Discussions: Facilitating controversy in public engagement

Through this unit you develop facilitation skills that increase the transformational impact of socially engaged/issue-based events. Some of these option units may not be available every year. It will be dependent on student numbers.

This unit content is indicative.

Effecting Change: Innovation Project

This unit centres on the creation of a small performance, the setting up of a new group or the launch of a new stream of work. It gives you an opportunity to apply skills developed in the Advanced facilitation units in combination with those learned in either the Critical Perspective or Enterprise, Organisation and Management units thus beginning the process of synthesising the skills learned on the programme.

This unit content is indicative.

Major Project

In this unit, students combine skills and techniques developed across all previous units in the planning and delivery of a substantial drama or theatre project.

This unit content is indicative.

The Teacher

Sam is a teacher in a secondary school. They originally trained as an actor but then moved into teaching. They mainly teach English, Citizenship and SRE but despite delivering some drama sessions for pupils in years 7- 9 they feel they have lost touch with theatre and the arts.

For the Advanced Facilitation: Reflective Practice unit Sam initially focuses on their work with the year 9s. They undertake a Critical Perspectives investigation into the uses of drama in cross-curricular and pastoral contexts and based on this gain approval from their head of department to create and deliver a drama-based scheme of work for their SRE classes. They also design an evaluation strategy for the new scheme of work and gain credits on the Executive Effectiveness unit for this.

Sam also plans to develop a school debate club as an extension of their work on Citizenship and takes Difficult Discussions: Facilitating Controversy as a specialist module.

For the Innovation Project, Sam works with a group of Year 12s to develop a peer led TIE project about identity and status anxiety. This involves drawing on current research on how to engage with these issues and then the development of a piece of participatory theatre to be shown to Year 9s across secondary schools in the area. The piece involves the use of Theatre of the Oppressed techniques which is also used as evidence for Advanced Facilitation Skills and Repertoire unit.

For the Major Project Sam directs a whole school play about environmental issues using a devised process and collaborating with the music department to create an original score. The performances are used as a fundraiser and sit as a centre piece in a publicity strategy to promote youth engagement with local environmental groups. Sam completes the project by writing a critique which triangulates the outcomes of the performance with critical theory on youth engagement.

The Freelance Facilitator

Alex is a recent graduate in Applied Theatre. They are aiming to develop their practice in a semi-rural area with very little drama provision. They have started a youth drama workshop in a local village hall.
For the Advanced Facilitation: Reflective Practice unit, they focus on their work with the youth drama workshop. In Critical Perspectives they investigate arts and youth engagement policy in rural areas and combine this with an Executive Effectiveness assessment by applying for seed corn funding for youth engagement activities.

On the basis of the previous assessments, they expand the youth drama workshop into a fully-fledged youth theatre. The work on the first production is supported by/contributes to the Directing Youth Theatre specialist module.

In parallel with this Alex begins to develop a Innovation Project, a package of theatre practitioner and set text workshop to deliver to local schools in order create an additional income stream. This involves developing a communications and marketing strategy and the creation of workshops plans. The plans and subsequent reflection on delivery draws on, and evidences, skills in Advanced facilitation (Skills and Repertoire unit).

For the Major Project, Alex plans a community performance to celebrate the 100th anniversary of a local adult education centre. This involves funding bids to a variety of heritage funds all of which require the use of an evaluation strategy. The project requires a significant amount of historical research to develop the script with a local writing group and Alex then works with a range of volunteers to rehearse and produce the performance. Alex completes the project by writing a critique which triangulates the outcomes of the performance with critical theory on community development.

The Salaried Facilitator

Jamie graduated with BA in Theatre Studies ten years ago and is now the Education and Outreach officer in a mid-scale presenting house. The role involves managing the in-house youth theatre workshops, running a mixed ability/accessible drama group, and designing/delivering activities that support shows touring into the venue.

For the Advanced Facilitation: Reflective Practice unit Jamie focuses on their work with the mixed ability drama group with a view to improving the group’s engagement with devising. This is combined with a Critical Perspectives investigation into pedagogical approaches and neurodivergence. The theatre has just completed a strategic review and Jamie produced an impact assessment of the Education and Outreach programme. This report is submitted via an RPEL to gain credits on Executive Effectiveness module.
Jamie plans the support workshops and engagement strategy for the forthcoming season and introduces some new approaches drawn from, and assessed as part of, the Creative Learning specialist module.

For the Innovation Project Jamie develops a weekly play reading group for elders living in a housing development adjacent to the theatre. This involves developing an outreach strategy and liaising with the local Adult Services team to arrange transport and, where necessary, sign posting to additional support services. The delivery of the sessions draws on, and evidences, skills in Advanced facilitation (Skills and Repertoire).

For the Major Project Jamie plans a series of relaxed performance to supplement the main house season - something the theatre has not done before. They write a strategy paper for the theatre's senior management team and, following approval, a full marketing plan. Jamie then designs and runs a series of training workshops to prepare the theatre's FOH staff for the performances. To complete the project Jamie writes an in-depth evaluation of the relaxed performance season with recommendation for future development.

The Director

Pat is the Artistic Director of a small pub theatre company. They produce 3-4 productions a year on a profit share basis. The company rehearses weekly with sessions fitting around everyone’s day jobs. Most of the work is new writing. Pat wants to grow the company but also wants to pursue a career in freelance directing.

For the Advanced Facilitation: Reflective Practice unit Pat utilises their weekly rehearsal work with a specific aim to develop a greater awareness of the processes they use when working with actors and avoiding the short cuts that have evolved due to working with the same cast for so long.

In Critical Perspectives, they explore the ethical and political implications of verbatim theatre whilst utilising the Executive Effectiveness to apply for funding to develop a performance project about Displacement with local artists who come a refugee/asylum seeker background.

Pat takes the Creative Learning specialist module and uses this to develop a programme of outreach events to support the work at the Pub Theatre. They also work on developing expertise in devising with the Advanced Facilitation: Skills and Repertoire unit to expand the approaches to theatre making taken by the company.

Having successfully been awarded funding to cover production expenses Pat leads a devised process to create the performance about Displacement which, which together with marketing and communication strategy to raise awareness about the performance and the company, gains credit towards the Innovation Project.

For the Major Project, Pat co-ordinates a mini festival of work by emerging artists involving a number of local venues. This includes a commission for Pat to direct a production of new writing in the local mid-scale arts centre.