[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-593108-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":80,"doc-detail-593108-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":73,"head_meta":75,"extra_data":77,"updated_unix":79},105,"en","mask-usage-and-drama-teacher-understanding-in-australia","Mask Usage and Drama Teacher Understanding in Australia","","Research investigates how some Australian Drama teachers engage with masks in classroom practice. The study addresses a gap in empirical evidence regarding teachers’ skill levels and their extent of mask use in teaching Drama, within a broader project about potential impacts for masks and education in the Australian curriculum. Findings indicate that most teachers engage with masks, while many report limitations in training and foundational theory, often self-upskilling to support mask work with children.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mask-usage-and-drama-teacher-understanding-in-australia/593108/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mask-usage-and-drama-teacher-understanding-in-australia/593108.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aran","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":33},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",{"@type":56,"mainEntity":57},"FAQPage",[58,64,68],{"name":59,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":61},"What is the primary purpose of the research?","Question",{"text":62,"@type":63},"To determine how some Australian Drama teachers use masks in classroom practice and to measure their self-reported skill level and degree of engagement.","Answer",{"name":65,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":66},"What do the findings say about teachers’ engagement with masks?",{"text":67,"@type":63},"Most teachers engage with masks, and some do so quite extensively, but many also report limitations in training and foundational theory.",{"name":69,"@type":60,"acceptedAnswer":70},"How do Australian curriculum documents influence mask usage in schools?",{"text":71,"@type":63},"Curriculum statements guide planning and implementation, but references to masks are limited; masks are suggested as exemplars rather than required, leading teachers to adopt them variably.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":74,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":76,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":78,"site_id":7},593108,1792918863,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"success",[83,87,91,95,100,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":84,"show_sort_weight":85,"slug":86},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":88,"show_sort_weight":89,"slug":90},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":92,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":131},{"doc_id":78,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":33,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":117,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":103,"preview_page_count":4},137455076865,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Mask Usage and Drama Teacher Understanding in  \nAustralia  \n*  \nBy David Roy  \nThis paper presents the research and findings of how some Australian teachers of Drama engage with masks in the classroom. It is part of a larger research project looking at the potential impacts for masks and education in the Australian curriculum. With masks both synonymous with Drama, and multiple resources available for teachers to engage with masks in the classroom, there was no empirical data on if and how teachers in Australia engaged with masks in the classroom. This research asked teachers to self-report on both their skill level in mask usage and to the extent that they engaged with masks in the teaching of Drama in the classroom. Findings note that whilst the majority of teachers did engage with masks; some quite extensively; many staff indicated their own limitations in training and in foundational theory. In addition, many staff used their own time and resources to upskill themselves, placing an importance of the potential for mask usage with children. This has implications for university education courses, as well opportunities for systems and professional development providers in supporting teachers of Drama in their skill base.  \nKeywords: masks, drama, education, teachers  \nIntroduction  \nWhilst there is a plethora of material regarding the purpose and role of masks in history, performance, and performance pedagogy, there remains little information pertaining to the role of masks in schools. This research study was designed to ascertain how teachers use masks in their practice.  \nIn education, masks have been applied using the theories of a multitude of practitioners, such as Meyerhold, Brecht, Grotowski, Lecoq, and Brook (Mackey & Cooper, 2000). They are mentioned as potential learning topics in the formal school system curricula (Board of Studies NSW, 2003, 2008, 2009; Queensland Studies Authority, 2013; Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, 2016, 2017b) . Many of the major drama teaching texts used in Australia (for example, Baines & O'Brien, 2005; Bird & Sallis, 2014; Burton, 2004, 2005; Clausen, 2016; Roy, 2009) have sections referenceing mask usage in the classroom, offering suggestions as to forms of teaching and engagement.  \n*  \nLecturer, School of Education, University of Newcastle, Australia.  \nContext  \nThe Australian Curriculum  \nAustralian curriculum documents, both state and the new national Australian curriculum, are the basis from which teachers and schools plan their curriculum implementation. Therefore, any curriculum document statements in relation tomasks will have an influence upon mask usage. There is limited requirement in Australia (ACARA, 2015b; Board of Studies NSW, 2003), or internationally (Ministry of Education Ontario, 2010; Scottish Qualifications Authority, 2015), formasks to be used either as a pedagogy or a knowledge form. The absence of a curriculum mandate on the use of masks in schools’ contrasts with the frequent use of masks by twentieth/twenty-first century theatre practitioners as a training tool for performance (Gordon, 2006; Hodge, 2010). Based on this expert usage, it follows that masks could and feasibly should be embedded in drama curricula, but more research is needed to make this case. As it stands, too little is known about how and why individual teachers implement the use of masks in their classrooms. More also needs to be known about how mask work impacts on student achievement; and broader educational and personal outcomes have also yet to be fully researched. The concepts of ‘how’ to apply masks are examined through theoretical, historical knowledge or specific contextual application of ‘mask’ units of work (Moreland & Cowie, 2007; Roy, 2015), but the impact or reasoning of‘why’ masks might be used appears to be too often absent. Thus school-based research into the pedagogical use of masks is required.  \nThe Arts in the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2015a) makes one sing","cbCainJyUGC4lgp1","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainJyUGC4lgp1","pdf",291508,"English","# Introduction\n## Research focus and rationale\n# Context\n## The Australian Curriculum\n## Arts in the Australian Curriculum\n## State syllabus references (NSW, Queensland, Victoria)\n## Curriculum recommendations vs mandatory requirements","[{\"question\":\"What is the primary purpose of the research?\",\"answer\":\"To determine how some Australian Drama teachers use masks in classroom practice and to measure their self-reported skill level and degree of engagement.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the findings say about teachers’ engagement with masks?\",\"answer\":\"Most teachers engage with masks, and some do so quite extensively, but many also report limitations in training and foundational theory.\"},{\"question\":\"How do Australian curriculum documents influence mask usage in schools?\",\"answer\":\"Curriculum statements guide planning and implementation, but references to masks are limited; masks are suggested as exemplars rather than required, leading teachers to adopt them variably.\"}]","Mask Usage and Drama Teacher Understanding in Australia | PDF",1792076613]