Mantle of the expert – learning in role.: A study on the use of drama with young students in schools

Abstract

This article describes research on the use of the teaching method The Mantle of the Expert within an Icelandic school. The method derives from the field of drama in education wherein students take on a role as experts in a particular subject within a fictional context. In this way, students’ learning takes place through free play which numerous scholars consider to be children’s natural way of development and learning. The methodology of action research was adopted for this study which was carried out in autumn 2016. Participants were three 2nd grade teachers and 41 2nd grade students in a compulsory school in Reykjavík. Data was collected from a research journal, video recordings, and conversations with teachers and interviews with students. The purpose of the study was to examine the use of the Mantle of the Expert and to study its impact on student learning and teacher practice.

The students took on roles as spies, experts of deduction, logic and rational thinking. In role, the spies established a special team along with the local police (teachers in role) to catch a criminal by the name of Siggi the Sour (a teacher in role) who tricked them into inadvertently helping him robbing a bank. Catching Siggi required the students to undertake many tasks and assignments, which, unbeknownst to them, integrated their regular schoolwork into the fictional context. All of the assignments and tasks the students solved in role as spies were organized according to a predefined education plan by their classroom teachers since before the research began. For instance, the students were to study mountains according to the education plan so Siggi the Sour fled to the mountains. In order to catch him, the students had to read up on and investigate different types of mountains in order to find out where he could be hiding. After reading, writing and learning about mountains, using mostly conventional learning methods, the students found out that Siggi was hiding on a volcano, as volcanoes were next up on the education plan.

The results of the study indicate that the Mantle of the Expert has a positive effect on students’ motivation for learning. The findings suggest that students who learn in role, within an imaginary world, experience motivation in education. Especially apparent was the students’ increased intrinsic motivation toward school assignments due to the fictional context providing them with a purpose for every task. This seemed to have a positive effect on students’ self-efficacy and involvement in the tasks at hand. The formation of the expert team and the “common enemy” were meant to instill common interests, values, attitudes and perspectives towards the fictional context among the students. The results also seem to indicate that students in role experience fun in education. The fun was most noticeable at times of great dramatic tension and when free play got to flourish. Such tasks were scheduled daily, which in turn contributed to students’ increased satisfaction in other, more routine assignments within the fictional context. Indications of students’ enjoyment were apparent in their remarks toward the schoolwork throughout the research, as well as in parentteacher communication.

The results indicate that further research into the use of the Mantle of the Expert within Icelandic schools is necessary, for example to examine the method’s effects on learning outcomes. The results will hopefully encourage teachers to further read up on the method, try it on their own and thereby increase student motivation.