MDEE 2023: A sneak preview
Sarah Lambie
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Sarah Lambie, Head of Content for Drama, lets us in on some of the topics planned for MDEE's 2023 conference programme
The Music & Drama Education Expo will return to London's Business Design Centre in 2023, reinstated after the upheaval of the pandemic in its original Spring Term timeslot and as a midweek event, on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 February.
While it is impossible to please absolutely all delegates, it was overwhelmingly indicated to us at last year's September event that teachers would prefer to attend midweek, albeit taking time out of school to do so, and to keep their precious Saturdays for other activities. Many also asked us to return to the Spring setting for the event, giving them valuable CPD and the opportunity to browse for products and services at a slightly less frenetic point in the academic year (if any such point could really be said to exist!)
We are therefore delighted to have been able to meet those requests with the timing of next year's show, and preparations are well underway to make it better than ever.
The full programme of workshops and seminars is set to be announced in September, however as Head of Content for the Drama stream of the conference programme, I am able to give some indications of what that content will be, although the full programme is not yet finalised.
Here, then, is a sneak-peek…
Keynotes
The largest lecture space at the Expo will play host to sessions on some of the major topics of the moment, with expert opinion addressing issues about decolonisation, diversity and inclusion, post-covid recovery, assessment, and the continuing fight to keep Drama a recognised, valued, and government-supported part of the school day. There will also be a number of extremely exciting star speakers – both here and on the Expo's central Performance Stage.
Seminars
Seminar sessions this year are set to cover practical ways to incorporate the technology of the day into your teaching, voice-health for teachers, advocacy for Drama, approaches for Drama in Primary schools, and for a Drama curriculum across all Key Stages.
Workshops
Drama thrives perhaps most at the Expo each year in the practical on-the-feet sessions run by experienced teachers and practitioners which allow delegates to get up and experience exercises and techniques they can then take home and straight into their Drama studio. Expo 2023 will be no exception, with practical sessions planned for working with text, improvisation and devising, approaches to working with students in a manner beneficial to their mental health and wellbeing, techniques for training and getting the best out of young actors, sessions for teachers with students who have special educational needs and disabilities, and sessions geared towards Early Years and Primary teachers. Diverse cultural traditions will be represented in these sessions, with practical inspiration for reflecting that diversity in classroom teaching.
Sharing lab
After the necessarily pared-down Expo as we emerged from lockdowns, it is exciting to be encouraging delegates once again to get close and share ideas in our sharing lab. We are planning some intimate discussions in this smallest of our seminar spaces, relating to Higher Education, and overcoming the challenges of being a department of one, but also some practical table-work, with topics to include the teaching of theatre design elements.
Star turns
As ever, the performance stage at this year's Expo will be graced by a host of inspiring performers and interesting interviewees. Details of these elements are likely to be announced later in the year, but the new term will be accompanied by a more detailed programme announcement for the majority of the conference sessions, and we can't wait to see all our delegates sharing ideas and stealing lesson plans in February!
Music & Drama Education Awards 2023
Back in sync with the Expo for 2023, the MDE Awards will once again be taking place in a glitzy ceremony on the first evening of the Expo – Thursday 23 February. Nominations are open now, and will remain so until 12 September 2022. This is your chance to nominate your drama department, or an individual colleague or inspiring teacher you know, for recognition. Likewise, books, online resources, initiatives, projects and products will all be being celebrated. Nominating is quick and easy, just go to musicdramaedawards.com and click Enter.
