Established in 2002 as a not-for-profit organisation by a group of artists and drama educators, SDEA's mission is to advance the profession of the drama/theatre educator and advocate for the practice and value of drama and theatre in performance, education and community.

SDEA is run by a volunteer committee comprising 9 members elected on a 2-year cycle supported by a secretariat at Goodman Arts Centre.

SDEA is a member of the International Drama/Theatre Education Association (IDEA) and is committed to making drama/ theatre and education accessible, significant and present in the lives of children and young people everywhere. SDEA's work as an advocacy and professional development body has earned recognition from IDEA's President Robin Pascoe as meeting the goals for the development of arts education mapped out in UNESCO's 2nd World Conference on Arts Education Agenda.

SDEA engages in advocacy through partnerships, consultations, public forums, and meetings with institutions and key policy makers locally and internationally. Over the course of more than 15 years, SDEA has worked closely with the National Arts Council, Ministry of Education, National Institute of Education, WDA (Singapore Workforce Development Agency), as well as local and international learning institutions and professionals to bring drama education practices in schools and communities to a higher level.

Through our international Theatre Arts Conference, youth and community festival Celebrate Drama!, Connections platform, and activities and events, we enable drama educators, applied theatre practitioners, arts managers, arts practitioners, policy makers, school leaders, and community leaders to find new audiences, share ideas, projects, methodologies, experiences, and research.

SDEA also offers opportunities for drama educators and practitioners to enhance and strengthen their knowledge, skills, competencies and abilities through Continuing Education and Training courses and masterclasses. The courses and masterclasses are facilitated by masters in dramatic art forms and drama pedagogy who have been working in their respective fields for many years. We also offer a 40-hour drama pedagogy course - SDEA Drama Pedagogy: Essential Teaching and Learning Approaches, for drama educators with at least 2 years of teaching experience.