Using Drama for Learning on Country - Decolonising Curriculum
Location: Darebin Parklands Spiritual Healing Trail (Dirrabeen)
The following Drama for Learning on Country Workshops were conducted on the Country of the traditional owners the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung People of the Kulin Nation.
Story Context: Soft Padded Feet by Aunty Maureen Watson
Before embarking on the physical walk, students gather in a circle at the trailhead to listen to the story "Soft Padded Feet", shared by Aunty Maureen Watson—a proud Kungalu (Gungalu) and Birri Gubba (Biri) woman, Murri elder, activist, and legendary storyteller. This story acts as the primary dramatic lens and physical instruction for the entire lesson:
"Before the tall ships came, this old continent breathed softly.
The kangaroo came first, moving quiet through the spinifex with padded feet that barely bruised the earth. The emu walked gentle too, long toes spreading across the dust like whispers. Possum on the branch. Dingo by the creek. Even the little bandicoot in the moonlight knew how to move careful across Country.
Everything here understood belonging.
The land was not something to conquer. It was mother, memory, law. You walked on her the same way you walked through your grandmother’s house — respectful, listening, knowing somebody had cared for this place long before you arrived.
And the old people say the ground remembered every footstep.
Then one day the horizon changed.
Big white sails rose from the sea like ghosts.
And with them came hard things.
Hard wheels. Hard fences. Hard words.
And creatures with hard cloven feet.
The cattle stamped the riverbanks flat. Sheep chewed the grass to the roots. Horses struck the earth heavy, iron shoes biting into stone and soil. And the Europeans too wore hard leather boots, heels driving into Country as though the land was deaf beneath them.
The old people watched the ground change shape.
Creeks muddied. Tracks disappeared. Sacred places broken open.
The soft padded feet were drowned beneath the sound of marching, hammering, digging, taking.
But still, underneath all that noise, Country remembers.
It remembers the quiet way. It remembers how to listen before speaking. How to take only what is needed. How to leave enough for the next child coming.
And maybe that is what this old land still asks of us now. Not guilt. Not grand speeches. Just this: When you walk here, walk knowing something ancient lies beneath your feet. Walk knowing dreams were laid here long before roads and fences. Walk as though the earth can feel you. And tread with soft padded feet."
First Nations Pedagogy & Connection to Country
For Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, Country (Biik) is not merely an external setting or a passive backdrop for learning; it is a living, sentient relative, story holder, and teacher. Decolonizing drama education requires shifting away from using nature as a prop and instead entering into a reciprocal relationship with the environment. Applying Tyson Yunkaporta’s 8 Ways of Aboriginal Learning, this curriculum centers land-based learning, non-verbal physical embodiment, storytelling, and symbolic visual codes. Students learn to recognize that their emotional well-being (Balit Durn Durn) is intrinsically tied to the health of the waterways (Dirrabeen - meaning place of swallows) and the soil beneath them. By contrasting the heavy, jarring impact of "hard leather boots" against the gentle, listening quality of "soft padded feet," students use drama and movement to physically deconstruct colonial impact and embody ancestral ways of walking respectfully on Country.
Pre-Walk Orientation: Reading the Wurundjeri Seasons
Before stepping onto the trail, students ground their performance choices in the current Wurundjeri Season (rather than the European 4-season calendar):
Biderap (Jan–Feb): Dry, hot, butterfly season → Movement: Light, fluttering, dry, high-energy.
Iuk (Mar): Eel season, cooling → Movement: Undulating, low-level, fluid, winding.
Waring (Apr–Jul): Wombat season, mist/rain → Movement: Heavy, burrowing, direct, grounded.
Guling (Aug): Orchid season, cold ending → Movement: Rising, unfurling, delicate, reaching.
Poorneet (Sep–Oct): Tadpole/Yam Daisy season → Movement: Dynamic, sprouting, water-filled.
Buarth Gurru (Nov): Grass flowering season → Movement: Swaying, rhythmic, expansive.
Garrawang (Dec): Kangaroo-Apple season, summer storms → Movement: Sharp, explosive, shifting levels.
Gathering, Purifying, Contemplation, Possibilities and Triumph
Stop 1: The Place of Gathering – Wa-dam-buk & Soft Padded Feet
Focus: Grounding, setting intentions, contrasting "hard boots" with "soft padded feet."
Activity 1: Land-Based Grounding & Boal "Corpuscle" Sculpting
Contrasting Footsteps & Laban Heavy vs. Light Weight:
Students remove their shoes or stand firmly on the soil.
Guided by Aunty Maureen Watson's story, students explore two contrasting walks: first, the jarring, rigid impact of "hard boots/cloven hooves" using Laban’s Heavy, Bound, Direct qualities; then, shifting into "soft padded feet"—using Light, Flexible, Indirect movements that listen to the earth.
Channel their internal "muddy water" issue into physical weight held within the gum leaf.
Boal Image Theatre – The Sculpted Tension:
In pairs at the Yarning Circle, Student A acts as "sculptor" and Student B acts as "clay."
Without speaking, Student A sculpts B’s body into a physical frozen image representing their "muddy" issue or internal barrier, grounding the pose directly in relation to the earth.
Stop 2: The Place of Purifying – Washing Away & Water Flow
Focus: Letting go of uncontrollable factors, fluid release, physical transformation.
Activity 2: Iuk (Eel) & Baanj (Water) Physicality
Indigenous Cultural Movement – Baanj & Iuk:
Standing near the creek bank, introduce Baanj (water) as a living, cleansing narrative agent, and Iuk (shortfin eel), which travels thousands of kilometers through these waterways.
Lead a slow-motion physical phrase mimicking the movement of Baanj flowing through rock pools and the undulating, low-level spine motion of the Iuk.
Laban "Floating" & "Flicking" Release:
Students transition their previous frozen image from Stop 1 into a dynamic release using Laban's Float and Flick effort factors (Light, Indirect, Free flow).
Physical Action: As students symbolically submerge hands or flick water towards the creek, they physically unpack their frozen posture—shedding tension downstream into Dirrabeen.
Stop 3: The Place of Contemplation – Balit Durn Durn & The Food Basket
Focus: Drawing strength from the land, nourishment, internal reflection.
Activity 3: The Seasonal Harvest & Boal's Ideal Image
The Bush Food Supermarket & Physical Symbolism:
Sitting in the wetlands grass, reflect on how Wurundjeri women harvested Murnong (yam daisies) with digging sticks, gathered Kumbungi (bullrush) roots, and collected native grass seeds.
Physical Task: Students use mime and Laban's Sustained Press & Glide to physically enact the slow, respectful gathering of food from the earth—symbolizing "harvesting" internal strength and positive personal traits.
Boal Image Theatre – Real vs. Ideal Self (Balit Durn Durn):
Form groups of three. Each student creates a static pose of their current state (Real Image), then transitions through a 3-step slow-motion movement phrase into their Ideal Image—a posture embodying Balit Durn Durn (strong mind, firm sense of self), rooted like a deep Murnong root.
Stop 4: The Place of Possibilities – One Step at a Time
Focus: Overcoming obstacles, incremental progress, physicalizing support structures.
Activity 4: Boal Forum Theatre & Native Fauna Archetypes
Boal Forum Theatre – Crossings & Obstacles:
Near the fish ladder / stepping stones, two students set up a physical "Human Obstacle" representing a common social or internal challenge (e.g., anxiety, academic pressure).
A third student attempts to walk through/around the obstacle using a specific character movement.
Forum Intervention: Spectators ("spect-actors") can freeze the scene by shouting "Wa-dam-buk!" and step in to offer a new physical approach or act as a "Ladder" (helper) to support the protagonist across the barrier.
Fauna Physicality (Soft-Footed Animal Transformations):
Students choose a native animal archetype from the story:
Marram (Grey Kangaroo): Soft-landing, alert, powerful vertical movement.
Barrawarn (Magpie): Sharp gaze, territorial, high-level reaching.
Berrenun (Goanna): Low-level, patient, deliberate creeping.
Students navigate the spatial levels of the stepping stones using these physical movement qualities.
Stop 5: The Place of Triumph – Bunjil’s Summit & Declaration
Focus: Collective celebration, perspective shift, honoring Bunjil.
Activity 5: Bunjil (Wedge-Tailed Eagle) Ensemble & Laban "Thrust / Slash"
Laban Effort Explosion – Thrusting & Slashing (Triumph):
At the top of Mt Puffalo by the Bunjil Egg, students stand in a large circle facing the open skyline (Wurruwurru).
Transform all remaining heavy/bound energy into powerful, expansive Laban Thrusts and Slashes (Strong, Sudden, Direct)—throwing open arms wide, expanding chest posture, and lifting the chin to signal victory over the obstacle.
Ensemble Movement for Bunjil:
Perform an ensemble movement piece honoring Bunjil (the creator spirit).
Using expansive bird-wing arm gestures (Kwiip Kwiip), the class executes a synchronized physical movement that finishes with each student stepping forward, extending their gum leaf toward the sky, and calling out their personal declaration of intent into the open air.
Return Routine: Integration & De-role
Treading Softly Home: As students walk back, they practice walking with "soft padded feet"—placing their gum leaf inside their journal as a physical artifact of their dramatic transformation and quiet connection to Dirrabeen.
