Orientation StudiesLaajuus (3 ECTS)

Objective

Students learn the basic theoretical concepts of their chosen line of study and learn how to apply their professional knowledge and skills in the work of a drama instructor.

Pedagogic Studies
Students learn to apply their knowledge and skills in teaching and directing. They acquire further experience and methdological knowledge on the parameters of learning and processes of teaching. Students know what type of learners and instructors they are and gain experience in working with a variety of learners and groups. Students may focus on teaching theatrical knowledge or expression, or methods of theatre-in-education (TIE) or drama-in-education (DIE) to be used, for example, in Basic Education in the Arts and drama studies for children and teenagers.

Research Studies
Students are introduced to the processes of theatre research and their applications in artistic work. They learn to approach research questions productively and to present their projects in writing, orally and through a performance.
Students learn how theatre and drama can work as a means of research and dialogue, as a key to understanding the society as well as a bridge-builder between fact and fiction. Theatre and drama methods are applied in collection, acquisition, analysis, sharing and presentation of factual information.

Students familiarize themselves with genres of investigative performance: a performative essay and investigative theatre, which study the theatre itself or the world through theatrical methods.

Community Studies

Students learn to apply their knowledge and skills in community theatre and drama. They acquire further experience and methodological knowledge in theatre and drama that processes themes that are relevant for a group or a community. Students are introduced to the practices of community theatre and applied drama, where the starting points of the work vary from current topics to community concerns, from local issues to concerns of the whole society or special topics presented by an individual group.

Content

Lectures, writing assignments, practical assignments.

Pedagogic Studies
Studies focus on pedagogical interaction. Students learn about various pedagogical approaches through lectures, practical tasks, tutoring and writing assignments. The curriculum may include, e.g., community theatre methods, process drama workshops or performative essays that are adapted to the context of practical assignments and the age range of the participants. Students can concentrate on community theatre or work with a special group or a theme, focusing on artistic and expressive objectives.
Students can choose elective studies that support these interests from the curriculum of other arts degrees. The study plan must be approved beforehand by the tutor of this line of study.

Research Studies
Students design theatrical experiments and concepts as part of the investigative process. In the project studies, students are encouraged to a reflective and investigative approach, which is supported with tutoring.

Community Studies
Students learn to use interactive methods through which the audience, community or group will be heard. In addition, students gain further knowledge on the philosophy of participatory and community art and their social and psychological dimensions and artistic processing.
In the project studies, students are encouraged to a reflective and investigative approach, which is supported with tutoring

Further information

Students will choose one of the following lines of study, Pedagogic Studies, Research Studies or Community Studies, and focus their professional orientation accordingly in the third and fourth year of their studies.