SAQA

All qualifications and part qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework are public property. Thus the only payment that can be made for them is for service and reproduction. It is illegal to sell this material for profit. If the material is reproduced or quoted, the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) should be acknowledged as the source.

SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED QUALIFICATION THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Master of Arts: Drama and Performance Studies

SAQA QUAL ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE
81239	Master of Arts: Drama and Performance Studies
ORIGINATOR
University of KwaZulu-Natal
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY			NQF SUB-FRAMEWORK
CHE - Council on Higher Education			HEQSF - Higher Education Qualifications Sub-framework
QUALIFICATION TYPE	FIELD		SUBFIELD
Master's Degree	Field 02 - Culture and Arts		Performing Arts
ABET BAND	MINIMUM CREDITS	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	QUAL CLASS
Undefined	128	Level 8 and above	NQF Level 09	Regular-Provider-ELOAC
REGISTRATION STATUS		SAQA DECISION NUMBER	REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		SAQA 091/21	2021-07-01	2023-06-30
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2024-06-30		2027-06-30

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This qualification replaces:

Qual ID	Qualification Title	Pre-2009 NQF Level	NQF Level	Min Credits	Replacement Status
21784	Master of Arts: Drama and Performance Studies	Level 8 and above	NQF Level 09	128	Complete

PURPOSE AND RATIONALE OF THE QUALIFICATION

Drama and performance studies is an academic and broadly vocational discipline, which integrates theory and practice to develop students' understanding and skills in the performing arts holistically. The Programme promotes a multicultural knowledge of the creation and performance of, and research into, drama, dance, theatre, theatre-related media and music, as crucial to the aesthetic, educational and social development of South Africans. Students are equipped with the communication skills, performance techniques and entrepreneurial expertise necessary to utilize drama as an educational tool, enhance employability, and generate employment for the self and others. Specific job opportunities include teaching, law, public relations, advertising, politics and the ministry. Discipline specific careers include acting, dance, directing, design and stage-management in theatre, film and television and in community-based theatre groups. Other fields include arts administration, journalism and script writing, announcing and producing in radio and television, and community cultural and health work.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

Appropriate Honours degree. Entry is also possible through University of Natal's Rule 33 for postgraduate study.

RECOGNISE PREVIOUS LEARNING?

EXIT LEVEL OUTCOMES

The achievement of this qualification means that the learner can:

Apply knowledge, techniques and skills to create and effectively participate in arts and culture processes and products in which drama is involved.

Communicate effectively both in the modes of oral and written presentation and in the application of social and interactive skills.

Reflect on, and engage critically with, drama experiences and dramatic and drama-related products.

Understand the origins, functions and dynamic nature of drama and performance.

Understand and analyse the use of various forms of communication and expression.

Use dramatic skills and forms of expression to make an economic contribution to self and society.

Access creative arts and cultural processes to promote personal self-esteem and national development.

Acknowledge, understand and promote historically marginalized performance forms and practices.

Work effectively alone with others in researching, planning and preparing for performances and presentations.

Understand the cultural/performance polysystem existing in South Africa, and related issues in the global context.

Manage the dialectical interrelationship between theory and practice through the production and analysis of a particular performance form.

Investigate paradigms to research and theorise the local cultural/performance polysystem.

Acknowledge career and employment opportunities and requirements within the South African performance and drama/dance in education contexts. Understand the cultural/performance polysystem existing in South Africa, and related issues in the global context.

Manage the dialectical interrelationship between theory and practice through the production and analysis of a particular performance form.

Investigate paradigms to research and theorise the local cultural/performance polysystem.

Acknowledge career and employment opportunities and requirements within the South African performance and drama/dance in education contexts.

Propose independent research into a particular field of study in the South African cultural/performance polysystem.

Understand the research methods appropriate to his/her field of study.

Manage information and data on his/her field of study.

ASSOCIATED ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Evidence generated through assessment tasks shows that the learner can:

Apply knowledge and skills appropriate to drama processes and products, with evidence of their participation and commitment to such processes and products.

Synthesize information from various sources into coherent oral and visual presentations and written forms, and demonstrate such interactive skills as communicating, listening and sharing, with an awareness of roles and behaviour patterns in social and cultural contexts.

Show evidence of the polysemic nature of drama and music and the ways in which personal and cultural values and contexts affect the creation, performance and interpretation of drama experiences and dramatic and drama-related products; furthermore, to analyse and express opinions about their own and others work.

Demonstrate an awareness of the role and function of drama in diverse social, cultural and historical contexts, of the processes of cultural change, and the need and means of preserving dramatic/musical and cultural heritage.

Provide evidence of the ability to critically analyse various forms of communication, including mass media, as they relate to communication through and about drama; furthermore, demonstrate understanding of the impact of globalisation on drama and cultural expression.

Demonstrate an ability to be innovative and productive in the use of resources in relation to drama activities, awareness of career opportunities in the fields of drama and culture, evidence of entrepreneurial and technical skills.

Show confidence in personal communication and dramatic skills; participate in, and demonstrate an understanding of, educational drama skills in community development programmes.

Participate in performance forms either neglected or marginalized; demonstrate an understanding of the political, economic and other social structures that create and sustain marginalisation, and the contribution of resistance cultural forms to the development of drama and national transformation.

Integrated assessment:

The University of Natal is currently reforming its assessment strategies to include the assessment of applied competence for each qualification. In the meantime, a combination of continuous assessment and traditional written examinations serve to assess the integration of all/most of the learning outcomes for each module in a qualification.

ARTICULATION OPTIONS

Vertical - below: recognized Honours degree

Vertical - above: PhD

Horizontally - within the University: with the approval of the programme directors, coursework modules from other approved disciplines may be incorporated into this qualification, and modules from this discipline may be incorporated into other approved qualifications.

Horizontally - outside the University: subject to University recognition of qualifications and/or credits obtained at other institutions.

MODERATION OPTIONS

The ETQA system for HE is not yet fully developed. Until such time as it is, procedures described under Assessor Criteria will suffice.

CRITERIA FOR THE REGISTRATION OF ASSESSORS

Until the HEQC establishes a registration system for assessors in the HET Band, the University of Natal assumes that, on the basis of its rigorous selection criteria for the appointment of academic staff (who also have opportunities for staff development in assessment), staffs are competent to assess students on the modules they teach. This assessment is quality assured via a university system of internal moderation and external examination. External examiners are appointed for their teaching and disciplinary expertise and subject to the approval of Faculty Boards. The University of Natal ruling is that 66 % of all assessments at exit level, i.e. leading to a qualification, are externally examined.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this qualification was Reregistered in 2006; 2009; 2012; 2015.

LEARNING PROGRAMMES RECORDED AGAINST THIS QUALIFICATION:

When qualifications are replaced, some (but not all) of their learning programmes are moved to the replacement qualifications. If a learning programme appears to be missing from here, please check the replaced qualification.

NONE

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS QUALIFICATION:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

1.	University of KwaZulu-Natal