ABSTRACT
There were three of us: one fully qualified teacher and two student teachers. One of the students was a drama specialist in her second year at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and the other, a graduate of English completing his Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) at Cambridge. We were working within an independent drama department of which I was the head. The other fully qualified member of the department was timetabled elsewhere and therefore not directly involved in the teaching of this particular second-year group. Situated within a predominantly working-class area of inner London, the comprehensive school drew on pupils of many different racial origins: English, West Indian and Cypriot mainly, with some Asians. The proportion of black to white pupils, within both the group and the school, was about three to one. Members of the drama department enjoyed slightly reduced class sizes of twenty, rather than thirty, which was the norm, because of the nature of the subject and the limited facilities available. A classroom, situated some way from the main body of the school, had been converted into the drama studio. Since it had to act as a form room and on occasion as a teaching room for other subjects, it was furnished with tables, chairs and lockers. Consequently, space was limited.
