This site has been written to support the material contained in the student coursebook and also to reference further sites for exploration. The Internet is a constantly changing organism. Sites come and go. To help this site grow please send any feedback on this site to the editors Kenneth Taylor &
Jos Leeder.

About the authors of GCSE Drama for Edexcel

Ken Taylor is the Principal Lecturer in Drama at Middlesex University. He is a former Senior Examiner for GCSE Drama and currently a Visiting Examiner. Ken had used his experience to write a number of books on the use of ICT and Drama. Jos Leeder is a Senior Examiner for GCSE Drama and is an Advisory Teacher for English and Drama.

About the GCSE Drama for Edexcel course book

GCSE Drama for Edexcel is specially written for you. The aim of the book is to assist you with your understanding of the GCSE Specification. The book guides you through a range of activities that are planned to enable progression and learning in GCSE Drama.

Overview

The Introduction establishes the framework for the course book and explains how it should be used. This book has been written for you, the student. However, there is also one brief section directed at your teacher. There is also a summary of the GCSE Drama Specification. The word specification is used where previously the term syllabus might have been used to describe an examination framework.

There follows some general guidance about how to do well in the examination. It offers advice about what examiners want to see and what they would rather not see. It suggests practical approaches. It also introduces the idea of maintaining a Working Notebook and that this will mean.

Section 1.1 introduces Paper 1, Unit 1 of the Edexcel GCSE Drama Specification. It explains the four component areas: Explorative Strategies, The Drama Medium, The Elements of Drama, Drama Texts. It then goes on to work through these areas and show how they can be used in practice.

Section 1.2 introduces Paper 1, Unit 2 of the Edexcel GCSE Drama Specification. It refers back to the four component areas: Explorative Strategies, The Drama Medium, The Elements of Drama, Drama Texts. It then goes on to look at a play to see how a playwright expresses ideas about a theme or topic, and explores ways of making the play work on stage.

Section 2 introduces Paper 2 of the Edexcel GCSE Drama Specification. It covers the aspects required for Drama Performance and explains the three options available:
Option A: Devised Performance
Option B: Performance Support
Option C: Scripted Performance.

For this paper you will have the choice of being involved in the performance of a play from an existing script or one that you create yourself.

Section 3 deals with the written components that are required for this examination.

Other points to jump directly to:
The Edexcel main site.
The Drama in Education site. This site was created by the co-author of GCSE Drama for Edexcel, in order to develop links with those involved in the research of drama and education. It hosts a number of pages about the drama teaching and research.

Please follow the links on the navigation bar above and also refer to the coursebook.