Changing Cultural Leadership
| Module title | Changing Cultural Leadership |
|---|---|
| Module code | DRAM153 |
| Academic year | 2026/7 |
| Credits | 60 |
| Module staff | Ms Emily Kreider (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 20 |
|---|
Module description
The world of work is changing rapidly. How we engage, empower, listen and communicate with people is more important than ever. In this module you will consider how drama and performer training skills readily transfer into spaces of embodied, emotionally literate, people centred leadership and effective communication. You will reencounter a range of performance principles and creative tools alongside somatic and dialogic techniques to enhance your understanding of healthy leadership culture. You will consider diversifying models of leading and courage building as a map to inclusivity and innovation. You will use these tools to meet your ‘audience’ as they are; and to explore authenticity, context and curiosity in how you hold and inspire people.
The second half of the module centres on extending your toolkit into professional experience; to observe, shadow and assist in a range of change-making facilitation and industry leadership contexts. You will be supported in creating a practical and reflexive output of your design.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module aims to enliven your future practice through shared understanding and experiential learning models.
- To extend your portfolio of practice and skill, enabling you to build on Drama/Performer skills to improve confidence in contemporary work and leadership dynamics
- To enable you to observe, assist and explore a range of leadership and cultural working contexts, supporting future pathways into employment
- To enhance your resilience and confidence in experimentation and trial-and-error methodologies
- To prepare you with the tools to uplift, influence, change and/or contribute to healthy cultures of work and ambitiously analyse top-down leadership models
- To examine how trust, creativity, agency and contextual clarity inform working structures
- To enhance skills for embodied ease, curiosity and creative confidence in working environments of complexity, ambiguity and pressure.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate and understand advanced embodied Drama skills and creative knowledge as readily transferable to leadership, facilitation and people engagement working contexts.
- 2. Design an enhanced toolkit of skill and methodology that maps onto your professional development to ambitiously evaluate sustainability, inclusivity and care, rigor and clarity in individual and collective working processes
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. Apply in-depth and reliable skill in healthy stretch and experimentation frameworks, and ease and resilience in trial-and-error and courage building processes
- 4. Work with an advanced knowledge of listening, tone, embodied and people centred communication skills to better advocate and influence change in working contexts.
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Demonstrate self-efficacy, problem solving and informed action mapping, working in a self-reliant manner, adapting working methods for each new situation, self-advocacy, and acknowledging own and others' ideas and contributions.
- 6. Demonstrate and evaluate your skillset and approach to changing contemporary leadership through practical and reflexive outputs.
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the module will cover some or all of the following:
- To harness, explore and perform foundational Drama and Communication skills, identifying your toolkit, in readiness to extend into a range of leadership and employment contexts
- Observe, shadow and support experienced leaders and mentors. Participate and/or observe in appropriate culture and creative leadership sessions, helping to deliver within these frameworks and structures
- Research through practice, read and think critically, encountering materials, resources and training specific—but not limited to—embodied leadership, organisational dynamics, people centred decision making, power vs status, experiential and playful learning, collaboration, performer training, somatic and dialogic techniques, authentic facilitating and leadership delivery, courage and trust building methods.
- Conduct reflection and evaluation, with a focus on your own personal development, areas of praxis and identifying future trajectory and progression
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 580 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 20 | Studio-based contact hours, staff led practical workshops and facilitation, 1 to 1 supervision, performer training, staff supported student experimentation, sharing practice research and feedback, practical seminars and discussion |
| Guided Independent Study | 160 | Shadowing creative and culture programmes/organisations, engaging with mentorship and operational observation, supporting leadership work and facilitation, or equivalent project-based learning and professional opportunity assisting |
| Guided Independent Study | 350 | Preparation for summative outputs, independent practice, rehearsing, researching, performer training, planning, reflection & critical response, practical experiments, preparing project work, archival research |
| Guided Independent Study | 70 | Engagement in other CPD training and employability opportunities |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ongoing Reflexive micro-outputs | Journal/voice-note/audio-visual output equivalent 500-750 words | 1-6 | Oral and written |
| Presentation of Practice draft outline | 5-7 minutes shared practice/ structured experimentation | 1-6 | Oral and written |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation of Performance Practice | 50 | 15 minutes | 1-6 | Oral and written |
| Reflexive Output | 50 | 4,000 words or equivalent captured reflexive practice. Option to be a 30 min. dialogic assessment/mock leadership podcast/presentation (to be approved with convenor) | 1-6 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Presentation of Performance Practice (15 minutes) | Presentation of Performance Practice (15 minutes) (may take a digital/recorded form) (50%) | 1-6 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Reflexive Output | Reflexive Output (4,000 words or equivalent captured reflexive practice. Option as a 40 min. dialogic assessment/ mock leadership podcast/presentation) (50%) | 1-6 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, either you will normally be deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Botsman, R. (2025). How to trust and Be Trusted. Pushkin Industries (Audio Release)
Britton, J. (2013). Encountering Ensemble. Methuen.
Brook, A. (2024). The Third Perspective: A transformative guide to brave communication for the modern world. Hodder Catalyst.
Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.
Buolamwini. J (2023). Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What Is Human in a World of Machines. Random House.
Cruz, M., Fong-Olivares, Y., Davi, W.C., 2022. Brave Dialogues: An Essential Leadership Practice to Foster Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Organizations, in: Leading With Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Springer, Cham.
Daboo, J. Loukes, R. Zarrilli, P. (2013). Psychophysical Phenomenon and Process. Palgrave
Egolf, D.B., 2013. Forming Storming Norming Performing: Successful Communication in Groups and Teams, 3rd edition. ed. IUniverse.
Erenrich, S.J., Wergin, J.F., 2017. Grassroots leadership and the arts for social change, Building leadership bridges. Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley.
Erwin, M. (2024) Leadership is a Relationship: How to Put People First in the Digital World. Wiley
Foster, K., (2023). Arts and cultural leadership: creating sustainable arts organizations, Second edition. ed, Discovering the Creative Industries. Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon ;
Feltman, C., (2021). The thin book of trust : an essential primer for building trust at work. Thin Book Publishing.
Grove O’Grady, A., (2020). Pedagogy, Empathy and Praxis: Using Theatrical Traditions to Teach. Springer International Publishing.
Grant, A. (2021). Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. Penguin Books
Evans, M. Kemp, K. (2018). The Routledge Companion to Jacques Lecoq. Routledge.
Hamill. P. (2013). Embodied Leadership: The Somatic Approach to Developing Your Leadership
Lerman, L. (2003). Critical Response Process. Liz Lerman’s Dance Exchange.
Lerman, L (2014) Hiking the Horizontal. Wesleyan University Press.
Kelley, T. K. (2013). Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All. HarperCollins Publishers.
Mason, J. 2002. Researching your own practice: the discipline of noticing. Routledge
Peterson. A (2021). Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, Chatto & Windus
Quinn, B.P., Maddox, C.B., 2024. The body doesn’t lie: yoga and embodiment in the higher education classroom. Teaching in Higher Education 29, 1425–1441
Robinson, K. (2021). Out of our Minds: The Power of Being Creative. Capstone.
Rohwer, J.J., (2021). Steven D. Lavine. Failure is What It’s All About: A Life Devoted to Leadership in the Arts. Deutscher Kunstverlag DKV, München ;
Ruchika T. Malhotra, Ijeoma Oluo (2022)Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work: MIT Press
Seelig, T. (2012). InGenius: A Crash Course on Creativity (1st ed.). Hay House.
Whitfield, P. (Ed.), (2021). Inclusivity and Equality in Performance Training: Teaching and Learning for Neuro and Physical Diversity. Routledge, New York.
Wright. J. (2006) Why is that so Funny? Nick Hern.
Zarrilli, P. (2002), Acting (Re)Considered: A Theoretical and Practical Guide, Second Edition, New York: Routledge (psychophysical training)
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
Podcast Series:
Work Appropriate - Anne Helen Peterson
Origins - with Cush Jumbo
Worklife - Adam Grant
Dare to Lead and Unlocking Us – Brene Brown
| Credit value | 60 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 30 |
| Module pre-requisites | DRAM167 Contemporary Performance Practices: Training |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 7 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 03/03/2025 |
| Last revision date | 24/06/2025 |