Protocols and Place

Overview

This is lesson 2 of 18 in Canadian Theatre: Voices, Contexts, and Performance. Students establish respectful protocols for engaging with First Peoples’ dramatic works and worldviews, building on prior learning about tableau and observation without requiring anyone to disclose personal identity, cultural knowledge, or experience.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• distinguish accurately among First Peoples, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.
• explain why place, Nation-specific context, sovereignty, consent, and cultural belongings matter in drama.
• identify the difference between learning from an Indigenous dramatic work and imitating or reproducing protected cultural material.
• co-create protocols for responsible rehearsal, performance, research, and response.
• justify an ethical decision using clear, respectful reasoning.

Success criteria

• I can describe why “Indigenous” is not a single, pan-Indigenous culture.
• I can identify when permission, rights-holder guidance, or an authorised source is needed.
• I can name a respectful alternative to performing ceremony, regalia, accents, stereotypes, or “generic” Indigenous movement and sound.
• I can use evidence from a scenario to explain what should happen next.

Curriculum links

• Explore and create dramatic works through imagination, inquiry, collaboration, and purposeful risk-taking.
• Examine the social, cultural, historical, personal, and environmental influences on drama.
• Demonstrate awareness of self, others, audience, and personal and social responsibility.
• Receive, provide, and apply constructive feedback while using drama-specific language.
• Traditional and contemporary First Peoples’ worldviews, cultural belongings, sovereignty, and the ethics of cultural appropriation.

Lesson structure (75 minutes)

1. 0–8 min · Welcome and safety frame. Teacher explains that today’s learning concerns respectful engagement, not performing Indigenous culture; establish that students may pass, ask questions anonymously, and are never expected to share identity or cultural knowledge. Open with the opening question and learning intentions and invite students to silently consider: “What responsibilities come with representing a place or community?” Students listen, privately reflect, and agree to pause or revise if harm is identified.

2. 8–18 min · Tableau: relationship to place. Teacher asks students to create a silent, individual tableau showing a non-specific relationship to a place, such as arrival, care, distance, belonging, or uncertainty; remind them not to imitate a cultural practice, ceremony, clothing, symbol, or movement. Students form tableaux, then observe a partner’s image without interpreting it. Observers state only visible evidence: “I notice…” and “I wonder…”, never “This means…”.

3. 18–33 min · Context and terminology. Using the context and terminology slides, teacher presents only vetted, Nation-specific information relevant to the school’s location and selected dramatic works, following local guidance rather than making broad claims. Clarify the distinct meanings and relationships among First Peoples, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis; introduce Indigenous sovereignty, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, cultural belongings, relational accountability, and the importance of naming creators and Nations accurately. Students record one distinction and one question on the protocols and scenario worksheet.

4. 33–45 min · Learn from, do not imitate. Teacher contrasts studying an authorised work with reproducing ceremony, regalia, language, story, song, gesture, accent, or movement outside its context. Discuss cultural appropriation, permission, intellectual property, and why “generic Indigenous” drumming, spirituality, or characterisation is inappropriate. Students use a think-pair-share to complete the prompt: “A respectful drama response could…, but it should not…”. Anonymous questions may be placed in a collection box.

5. 45–62 min · Scenario sort and justification. Teacher distributes the prepared scenario cards and directs students to sort examples into “proceed,” “pause and seek guidance,” or “do not perform/reproduce”; display the scenario-sort instructions and protocol checklist. In groups of four or five, students complete the scenario decisions on the protocols and scenario worksheet, citing the relevant concern: accuracy, consent, authority, context, cultural safety, or intellectual property. Each group prepares one written justification, not a performance.

6. 62–70 min · Co-create class protocols. Teacher facilitates a whole-class synthesis and records agreed protocols: use authorised texts; name creators and Nations accurately; follow community or rights-holder guidance; seek permission when required; do not reproduce sacred material; do not perform ceremony, accents, stereotypes, or generic drumming; consult Indigenous educators or cultural advisers; compensate expertise; and stop and revise when harm is identified. Students suggest wording, identify any unclear protocol, and explain how it could affect future rehearsal or performance.

7. 70–75 min · Exit reflection. Teacher returns to the closing reflection and exit prompt: “What is one protocol you will apply, and what would make you pause before creating or performing?” Students complete the final response on the protocols and scenario worksheet and may submit it privately.

Resources

• One slide deck covering the hook, terminology, context, examples, scenario instructions, protocols, and exit prompt
• One-page protocol and scenario worksheet
• Vetted resources and authorised dramatic extracts
• Local Nation-specific guidance, where accurate and appropriate
• Teacher-prepared scenario cards
• Anonymous question box and sticky notes
• Whiteboard or shared digital document
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission summary suitable for secondary students

Assessment

• Observe tableau language and discussion: students distinguish observation from interpretation and avoid cultural imitation.
• Review scenario classifications and written justifications for accurate use of consent, context, authority, cultural belongings, sovereignty, and appropriation.
• Collect the exit reflection to identify misconceptions and decide which protocols require revisiting before students study or perform Indigenous dramatic works.

Differentiation

• Provide a glossary with plain-language definitions, visual icons, and sentence starters such as “This requires permission because…” and “A respectful alternative would be…”.
• Offer the scenario sort in written, read-aloud, and enlarged formats; allow students to contribute as reader, recorder, discussion facilitator, or reporter.
• Permit private written responses, anonymous questions, a non-performing role, or a quiet observation space. Do not ask students to disclose cultural identity or personal experience.
• For students ready for greater challenge, compare protocol, consent, and intellectual property in one scenario and explain how a production could be redesigned without losing its dramatic purpose.