Be part of something inspiring: Music and Drama Education Expo 2023

With something in the region of 2,500 music and drama teachers expected through the door across the two days, we are about to embark on the process of putting together a programme of workshops and seminars to inspire them with ideas to take home to their classrooms and drama studios.

And this is where you come in: the programme is built on a core of sessions proposed to us through a call for papers which launched online on 2 May.

A roll-call of experts

Speakers at the Expo year on year are a wonderful mixture of returning stars and new faces. In the drama stream, we have school drama teachers, workshop leaders, the artistic directors of independent drama companies and charities, specialists in SEND, in primary and early years, and in Further and Higher Education. Some teachers bring students to demonstrate, many get the delegates up on their feet and engaging practically – crawling around the floor as Tempest–tossed characters, trying out full–face masks, or stage combat.

Sessions are each 45 minutes long and range from presentations to seated audiences, to on-the-feet practical workshops in rooms cleared of chairs. It's a fantastic, buzzing atmosphere to be a part of, and if you've never applied to speak before, make this your year!

How to apply

Ali Warren, long–time contributor to Teaching Drama and Drama & Theatre, has spoken at many Music & Drama Education Expos, offering useful advice on topics as wide–ranging as assessment at KS3 and teaching students about backstage and technical roles. ‘Applying to present at the Expo is fairly straightforward,’ she says, ‘You do need to know where your focus is, but that helps with the planning too, so although the categories can sometimes bring you up short, it's not as complicated as it might at first appear.’

The categories Ali is referring to are a part of the application process that we include to ensure that we get a good even spread of topics across the programme. For Drama proposals, you will be asked to identify which your session falls under – but you are free to select more than one. Examples include:

• Diversity and inclusion
• SEND
• Policy and funding
• Business and marketing
• Curriculum and exams
• Mind and body
• Drama across the curriculum

Following this, you will be asked to supply the following information in a 1,250-word application:

• Speaker bio (50 words maximum)
• Introduction (20 words maximum)
• Learning Objectives (minimum of four)
• Content (800 word maximum)
• Equipment
• Audience (options are given for you to choose from)
• Key Stage applicability.

Benefits for speakers and delegates

Veteran speaker Zeena Rasheed highlights the many benefits: ‘Speaking and running workshops at Expo has been for me the best CPD: it's fun, rejuvenating and affirming, and I learn so much from delivering and planning, and in the moment. It is a rare opportunity to share Drama–relevant time and work with other experts. When you are in a team of one or two, or restricted to what specialist Drama CPD you can access (this might be none), this is a fantastic experience to genuinely grow your confidence, profile, and pedagogical skills. Taking part in all the other sessions around my own has always been a professional joy.’

And, adds Ali, ‘It's also quite a cool thing to drop into conversations with senior management…’

There's definitely a great opportunity to be taken for career development in offering a session to the Expo. Going to such events and sharing good practice (even if you have to take a day or two off school to do so) is generally looked on very favourably by the powers that be in schools – particularly as you can also attend as many CPD–accredited sessions around your own timeslot as you like, while you are at the show.

Join our programme advisory board

If you don't feel you have a topic on which to speak at the show, there is an opportunity instead to help shape the whole programme by joining our volunteer advisory board of teachers. Also excellent for the CV, the board is appointed from applications which open at the same time as the call for papers.

If appointed, you will be asked in June to suggest some key hoped–for sessions, and then sent a full proposed programme to peruse in the first week of July. You will have two weeks to send us feedback, highlighting any favourite sessions, any which you feel are weaker proposals, and, crucially, anything which is missing from the draft programme, which we can commission to fill the gap directly.

Advisory board input is always immensely useful, and really does make a difference to ensuring that we meet our delegates’ needs. You'll be name–checked in the conference programme and perhaps inspired to submit a session the following year!

To apply with a session for the Music & Drama Education Expo 2023, head to the website: www.musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk/london/submit-a-session

To apply to join our advisory board for this year's programme, click here.