Cultural Aspects of Drama: The Effect of Australian Drama Assessment Policy on Practice

Ongoing and regular assessment is a critical component of the Drama classroom. Australia has a state-based system of education, in which states and territories are responsible for their own assessment policies. Each Australian state and territory has a different system of assessing Drama in the senior years, accompanied by varying methods of grade verification or moderation. This paper reports on an Australian study on the ways that performances are assessed in Senior Secondary Drama in The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland. During this study, significant differences in cultural aspects of Drama were noted, influenced by the state/territory syllabus and assessment requirements set out in policy. This paper examines the significant features of the state/territory Drama assessment cultures and the cultural differences to arrive at conclusions about ways policy can be improved to help bring about better assessment practice in Australia.