SDEA - Singapore Drama Educators Association

Mark your calendars! SDEA's Theatre Arts Conference is back in 2025.

Titled 'All Aboard! - Navigating Crosscurrents of Theatre Arts Practice and Beyond', our team is curating the exciting line up for the conference.

Come aboard and register your interest today to be one of the first to get important updates on the conference!

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SDEA's Theatre Arts Conference
📅 17 - 19 July
🔗 Get more information and register at https://bit.ly/TAC-2025

Are you a pre-school educator looking for new games and activities for your students? We're back with another swop shop coming up this August!

Come meet with fellow drama educators and exchange a game or drama activity with one another! You will walk away with a whole host of activities, ideas, and pedagogical approaches to bring back to your classroom. You may even find that perfect game to add to your toolbag that you and your students have been looking for all this time!

This session is currently exclusive to SDEA members, so register soon to participate in the exchange!

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📅 23 August 2024 | 7pm - 9.30pm
🎟️ Exclusive to SDEA Members
🔗 Register now at https://bit.ly/swopshop3-2024

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply

Arts instructors looking to teach NAC-AEP in preschools - Are you pedagogically qualified?

Together with your existing art form training and teaching experience, SDEA's ETLA-EC will equip you with the pedagogical qualification to be able to teach NAC-AEP in preschools!

Reach out to us if you have any questions!

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Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood
📅 24 Aug 2024 - 30 Nov 2024
🎟️ SDEA Members: $1,872.00 | Non-SDEA Members: $2,340.00
🔗 Get more information and register at https://bit.ly/etla-ec03

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply

Learn more about our new workshop!

'Caring Curiosities' is a three-hour interactive workshop, that utilises applied drama techniques to enhance the confidence and skills of volunteers working in various community settings.

Do you volunteer in arts communities, or social service communities like senior centres? Join our experienced facilitator Michael Cheng in this workshop and benefit from his experience working with a various communities!

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Caring Curiosities: Enhancing Rapport and Connection with Beneficiaries
📅 31 Aug 2024 | 2-5pm
📍Goodman Arts Centre
🎟️ $72 per pax
🔗 Get more information and register at https://bit.ly/caringcuriosities-aug2024

Meet the faculty for our Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Art Educators - Early Childhood (3rd Intake) programme!

Meet Wong Seet Fun, the third facilitator for the course.

Wong Seet Fun holds a Master’s in Science (Early Childhood Education) from Wheelock College and BA (Hons) in Fine Art and Critical Theory from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

She is the founder and owner of Art Loft and has more than 20 years of experiences working with young children. In the past 15 years, she has also worked with early childhood and museum educators.

Passionate in Museum education for the young children, she works very closely with community partners like National Heritage Board to design tours and workshops to teach and promote art, culture and heritage to children, teachers and Museum educators. She is presently an Adjunct Lecturer with NIEC.

Join the course today!
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Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood
📅 24 Aug 2024 - 30 Nov 2024
🎟️ Early Bird (end 14 Jul): SDEA Members: $1,872.00 | Non-SDEA Members: $2,340.00
🔗 Get more information and register at link in bio

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at link in bio under 'Be a part of SDEA'

Meet the faculty for our Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Art Educators - Early Childhood (3rd Intake) programme!

We’re proud to introduce you to Lavina Chong, the second facilitator for the course.

Lavina Chong is the Managing Director of Wigglepods Pte Ltd, a creative music movement company that specialises in the arts from infants to preschool age. She is an Arts practitioner with 30 years of experience in the field of Early Childhood. She is also an adjunct lecturer with the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC).

Sign up today for the opportunity to learn from our experienced faculty!

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Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood
📅 24 Aug 2024 - 30 Nov 2024
🎟️ SDEA Members: $1,872.00 | Non-SDEA Members: $2,340.00
🔗 Get more information and register at https://bit.ly/etla-ec03

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply

Meet the faculty for our Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Art Educators - Early Childhood (3rd Intake) programme!

Introducing Elaine Ng, one of our three facilitators.

Having dedicated over 25 years in advocating the crucial role of arts in early childhood development, Elaine has shared her pedagogy and touched the lives of young children, families, early childhood practitioners and professionals from all around the world. Her aim is to collaborate and create a holistic ecosystem that would nurture a generation of compassionate, creative and agentic global citizens of today and tomorrow.

She co-founded The Learning Connections in 2009 which is dedicated to bringing young people together to engage in meaningful arts experiences.

Sign up by today to catch our early bird discount!

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Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood
📅 24 Aug 2024 - 30 Nov 2024
🎟️ Early Bird (end 14 Jul): SDEA Members: $1,755.00 | Non-SDEA Members: $2,223.00
🔗 Get more information and register at https://bit.ly/etla-ec03
Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply

Are you a community volunteer? Do you volunteer in arts communities, or social service communities like senior centres? This new workshop is for you! ✨

'Caring Curiosities' is a three-hour interactive workshop facilitated by Michael Cheng, that utilises applied drama techniques to enhance the confidence and skills of volunteers working in various community settings.

Participants will gain more awareness of their non-verbal communication habits, practise empathetic listening, and learn to build rapport, trust, and connection all of which are essential tools to improve their work in the community setting.

Let's help our community together!
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Caring Curiosities
📅 31 Aug 2024 | 2-5pm
📍Goodman Arts Centre
🎟️ $72 per pax
🔗 Get more information and register at https://bit.ly/caringcuriosities-aug2024

On 22nd June 2024, SDEA launched the 'Drama in Curriculum SG' Campaign. Through this campaign, SDEA aims to advocate for Drama Education to have a greater presence in Singapore's primary school curriculum.

Advocating as a community, we can build a powerful voice. To bring everyone's voices together, we are collating experiences on our community padlet. We encourage all drama practitioners, educators, students and patrons to share their thoughts on the benefits of drama education on the padlet.

Head to https://bit.ly/sdeadramaincurriculumsg_voicesofcommunity and drop in your thoughts now!

Find out more about SDEA's Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood (ETLA-EC)!

This course has been created for teaching artists and arts educators who want to extend their practice to early childhood environments with students 6 years old and below. Scroll through the images above to get more information on schedule, pricing information and funding and subsidies available.

Participants may also be eligible to receive a grant of $500 from the The Tina Sergeant Professional Development Initiative (TSPDI)* to offset the course fees!

Register now!
*TSPDI is available exclusively to members

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Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood
📅 24 Aug 2024 - 30 Nov 2024
🎟️ Early Bird (end 14 Jul): SDEA Members: $1,755.00 | Non-SDEA Members: $2,223.00
🔗 https://bit.ly/etla-ec03

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply

Here's our full lineup of tea parties at the upcoming Goodman Open House happening this Saturday! Drop by our office at Goodman Arts Centre!

📅: 22 June 2024
📍: Goodman Arts Centre, Block B, #04-02

11am - Junk Journaling / Commonplace Book Journaling with Miriam Cheong
2pm - Introduction to Dungeons and Dragons with Matt Lyon
3:30pm - Game Time with Choy Wai Wan
5pm - sgMAN Potluck Party with Ghazali Muzakir and Julian Wong*

We look forward to seeing you there!

*Sign up for the sgMAN Potluck Party by visiting https://bit.ly/sgman-potluck

Improv, characterisation, collaborative storytelling, and lots and lots of dice.

In this tea party hosted by Matt Lyon, you will learn the broad strokes of playing D&D and tabletop RPGs, and how it facilitates improvisation and collaborative storytelling - skills vital to Drama!

📅: 22 June 2024, 2pm
📍: Goodman Arts Centre, Block B, #04-02

This is an open session, so just drop by our space at Goodman Arts Centre and join in!

Join us for a game or two at the Goodman Open House, as Choy Wai Wan hosts Game Time! Take a brief respite from the real-world and venture into the technicolour world of games, where you may have to:

Defuse bombs without getting to look at it
Escape a murder hotel by answering trivia questions
Give the most predictably basic answer to simple questions like "Who is the best Disney Princess?"

What we get to play depends on how big (or small) the party is!

📅: 22 June 2024, 3:30pm
📍: Goodman Arts Centre, Block B, #04-02

This is an open session, so just drop by our space at Goodman Arts Centre and join in!

SDEA's Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood (ETLA-EC) arts pedagogy certification course is back!

ETLA-EC is a signature course by SDEA designed to equip participants with key knowledge, skills and disposition to work with children in the early years, primarily ages 4 to 6 years. This 36-hour course offers a platform for participants to delve deeper into the foundation of their teaching beliefs and how that shapes their practices that are aligned with the principles of teaching and learning in early childhood (arts) education.

SDEA has partnered with Presbyterian Preschool Services (PPS) to facilitate practicum sessions for course participants in their preschools.

✨ Early bird access till 14 July 2024!

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Essentials of Teaching and Learning Approaches for Arts Educators - Early Childhood
📅 24 Aug 2024 - 30 Nov 2024
🎟️ Early Bird: SDEA Members: $1,755.00 | Non-SDEA Members: $2,223.00
🔗 https://bit.ly/etla-ec03

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply

Join Ghazali Muzakir and Julian Wong from sgMAN for a Potluck Party at the Goodman Arts Centre Open House!

The sgMAN Potluck Party is more than just the sharing of food. It is a safe space for men to share ideas, resources, experiences and wisdom. Join us as we chit-chat, eat, and share things that speak to us and engage in a community working towards healthy masculine practices. Participants are encouraged to buy/make their own food and drinks so we can all makan together. They are also encouraged to bring along something that they would like to share i.e., a poem, a passage, a book, a song, or anything really.

📅: 22 June 2024, 5pm
📍: Goodman Arts Centre, Block B, #04-02

This is an open session, so just drop by our space and join in!

We'll be starting off the day at the Goodman Open House on 22 June with a Tea Party on Junk Journalling, Commonplace Book Journalling with Miriam Cheong!

Let's embrace messy journalling! Bring a notebook, and together we will write, draw, scribble, and scrapbook about anything and everything.

📅: 22 June 2024, 11am
📍: Goodman Arts Centre, Block B, #04-02

This is an open session, so just drop by our space at Goodman Arts Centre and join in!

We're gonna be opening our doors at the Goodman Open House at Goodman Arts Centre on Saturday, 22 June 2024!

Experience the warmth of artistic camaraderie at a series of tea parties hosted by members from SDEA during Goodman Open House. Come connect with each other as you mingle with fellow artists, educators, and art enthusiasts over cups of tea. Engage in curated activities and thoughtful discussions, from Junk Journaling, to sharing food, to playing games together, fostering a sense of community.

We'll share more about who will be hosting these tea parties really soon, so stay tuned! Drama enthusiasts of all ages are welcome.

Find out more about the Goodman Open House at https://artshouselimited.sg/gac-goh-2024

*DEADLINE EXTENDED*

We're extending the deadline for the open call for SDEA's Anthology of School Plays to 30 June 2024, 5pm!

We are seeking 15 - 30 minute original scripts that tackle contemporary topics that are relevant to young audiences, including but not limited to mental health, identity, environmental concerns and personal growth. These scripts must be suitable for secondary school students and must have been staged at least once, publicly.

The search for new and suitable writing that is contemporary and relevant to our students is an arduous task. A small subcommittee of SDEA members have rallied to curate an anthology of school plays, with the aim of improving access to new local work for drama educators to use in their class.

Submit your scripts by 30th June 2024, 5pm at https://bit.ly/sdea-anthologyoc

This open call is open for SDEA members. To join, visit bit.ly/sdea-join
For support and enquiries, please contact [email protected]

Here's what our participants had to say about their recent experience with our course "The Art of Facilitating Drama Activities", facilitated by Michael Cheng!

Participants learnt how to identify, plan, and ultimately facilitate drama activities in their practice as social workers, applied theatre practitioners and more. The course was held from 16 - 21 May 2024.

Stay tuned for more professional development and CET opportunities coming soon!

to our event at The Battlebox!

Thank you to some of the supporters of SDEA, who came to find out more about SDEA's cause and enjoy the newly refurbished Battlebox! Our very own committee member, Kamini Ramachandran, led an intimate storytelling tour, and guests had the opportunity to catch a preview of "No Question of Surrender", an immersive theatrical experience written and directed by Jonathan Lim. Shout out to the Global Cultural Alliance for their collaboration towards making this evening possible.

Photo Credits: .photography

Calling all Parents! We want to hear from you.

Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA) and Playeum are developing a Drama based workshop for parents whose child/children are aged between 3 to 6 years of age. This workshop aims to equip parents with the tools and vocabulary to create play-based and child-centered learning situations for their children.

We would like to hear from parents on areas they would like to focus on during this workshop so that we can work on curating a beneficial workshop for everyone!

Help us by submitting answers to the survey at https://bit.ly/survey-dramabasedworkshopforparents

From the bottom of our hearts, SDEA wishes all a Happy Vesak Day!

Last Friday we held our second Swopshop! Educators for lower secondary school students came together to share strategies and activities, and had a fun time playing these games together.

Look out for our next Swopshop and other opportunities to come together in the future!

📣10 more days to submit for SDEA's Anthology of School Plays!

If you have a text that has been performed by a school and would like to make this available for other educators to use, we invite you to submit this script!

We are looking for 15 - 30 minute original scripts that tackle contemporary topics that are relevant to young audiences, including but not limited to mental health, identity, environmental concerns and personal growth.

Through this anthology, we hope to make more of such scripts accessible for educators to use.

Submit your scripts by 1st June 2024, 5pm at https://bit.ly/sdea-anthologyoc
This open call is open for SDEA members. To join, visit sdea.wildapricot.org/join-us

If you have any questions, drop us an email at [email protected]

Open Call for SDEA's Anthology of School Plays

The search for new and suitable writing that is contemporary and relevant to our students is an arduous task. A small subcommittee of SDEA members have rallied to curate an anthology of school plays, with the aim of improving access to new local work for drama educators to use in their class.

We are seeking 15 - 30 minute original scripts that tackle contemporary topics that are relevant to young audiences, including but not limited to mental health, identity, environmental concerns and personal growth. These scripts must be suitable for secondary school students and must have been staged at least once, publicly.

Submit your scripts by 1st June 2024, 5pm at https://bit.ly/sdea-anthologyoc

This open call is open for SDEA members. To join, visit sdea.wildapricot.org/join-us

For support and enquiries, please contact [email protected]

The Minister of Education Mr. Chan Chun Sing has highlighted drama as “one of the pedagogical tools that teachers across subjects can adopt to enhance learning.”. This is in response to a parliamentary question by Nominated Member of Parliament Ms. Usha Chandradas on including drama or theatre studies in the core primary school syllabus.

He highlighted as an example, how “speech and drama activities can be employed to develop communication skills in English and Mother Tongue Languages.” and cited the Drama module in the Programme for Active Learning for primary one and two students that aims to develop social-emotional competencies through role-play.

The Ministry of Education has stated that they will “continue to review how drama can be used in schools to support the holistic development of students”.

We would like to thank Arts NMP, Ms. Usha Chandradas for raising the parliamentary question.

We had recently discussed with Ms. Chandradas the impact of drama-in-education and process driven practices, and the perception and positioning of drama in local schools. We shared how Drama is a statutory curriculum requirement in countries such as Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Iceland, South Africa and Canada to name a few.

SDEA looks forward to deepening the conversation on Drama/Theatre's impact and will continue to advocate for policy makers to consider Drama/Theatre being meaningfully featured in the curriculum in a bigger way. We will continue our mission to advocate for value and practice and drama and theatre in performance, education, and community.

Source:
https://www.moe.gov.sg/news/parliamentary-replies/20240508-inclusion-of-drama-or-theatre-studies-in-core-primary-school-arts-education

Join us in congratulating Drama Educator and SDEA President (Committee 2023-2025) Aishwariyah Shanmuganathan! She joins the International Advisory Committee of the IDEA 2024 Congress in Beijing, China this July 15 – 20!

Members of the committee are drawn from the IDEA (International Drama/Theatre and Education Association) Community in four main regions, and from the host organisation IDEAC. Aishwariyah is one of three educators from the Asia/Oceania region and the only educator from the Southeast Asian region to be a part of the Advisory Committee.

She is joined by educators from around the world including Dr. Peter Duffy (USA) who visited Singapore in 2017 to give a talk co-presented by LASALLE College of the Arts and SDEA on Drama, Cognition, and Creativity.

Find out more about the IDEA 2024 Congress and how you can register at idea2024congress.org

Early bird registration ends 15 May!

A peek into what went down at our last Swop Shop, where drama educators got together for a rare day of playing and exchanging games with each other!

If you are a drama educator teaching Lower Secondary students, our next Swop Shop is coming up on 17th May!

Don't miss out and register soon to participate in the exchange of drama activities.

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📅 17 May 2024 | 7pm - 9.30pm
🎟️ Exclusive to SDEA Members
🔗 Register now at https://bit.ly/sdea-swop2

Not a member yet? Get more information and register today with a one-time payment of $40 at https://www.sdea.org.sg/apply