ABSTRACT
Drama has had a chequered recent history in the school curriculum. It was not included as a National Curriculum subject, and yet there still are Heads of Drama, and drama studios, in many secondary schools. Drama and Theatre Studies are popular options at GCSE and A level and there are vocational courses in Performing Arts. There are however no National Curriculum ‘orders’ which now so dominate the lives of teachers of other subjects; but as a consequence the subject experiences some vulnerability. Valuable guidelines have been prepared by the Arts Council (1992), the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (1989, 1992), and the Department of Education and Science (BES 1989, 1990). Helpful books for teachers (e.g. Bolton 1992) include some on drama for special educational needs (Peter 1994, Kempe 1996).
