"Participants in drama are driven to seek for meaning because they are emotionally involved and this effective impulse leads to cognitive understanding.

It is, therefore, the uniqueness of the creative and the real, the subjective and the objective, the emotional and the cognitive, which means that the skills of critical analysis are developed and drama becomes a powerful medium for developing progression in English.

Drama places demands upon the critical thinking of participants and emotional engagement which are unique in the school curriculum. Regular and planned drama approaches which confront pupils with critical analysis, creativity and deconstruction, will move them from a superficial response to an awareness of, and developed skills, of critical thinking"
(Cracking Drama, NATE 2001)

• Drama can be used to explore a range of texts - fiction and non-fiction, including the wider range of media texts
• Drama provides the safe environment for the exploration of the text, and a way for pupils to voice their ideas through the medium of a character
• 'An active approach to text' is better than saying 'drama'
• The stress in KS3 should be on the process of drama techniques, conventions and collaboration
• Drama techniques need time to develop, from session to session, throughout the year
• Regular training for primary and English teachers is essential
• Practical strategies are straightforward and unthreatening, and are easy to adopt -
  o     a drama studio is not required
  o     small spaces in the classroom can work well
  o     build up the approaches gradually
  

References
NATE Book: "Cracking Drama"
KS3 play: "About Face"