Mantle of the Expert: the Versatility of Dorothy Heathcote’s Dramatic-inquiry Approach to Teaching and Learning (original) (raw)
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Mantle of the Expert 2.0: from drama in education towards education in drama
Drama Research: international journal of drama in education, 2020
There has been little research examining the balance between process and product in children’s arts education. In this study, Mantle of the Expert, the ‘drama in education’ approach of Dr. Dorothy Heathcote, MBE (1926-2011), has been explored as a method to create a non-scripted theatre performance with seven children between the ages of eight and ten years old. They participated in a single case study of twelve workshops, two semi-structured interviews and one public performance. In this way, the researcher investigated whether Mantle of the Expert could be successfully deployed in the creation of an artistic product and in ‘education in drama’. The results indicate that, in addition to various artistic competencies, the participants developed a strong ownership as performers by means of the process-oriented approach, the collective role element and the non-scripted component of this scheme of work. The researcher suggests that Mantle of the Expert could be further developed into a method that strengthens the artistic process and product in children’s education in drama even more, by further implementing the competence of using artistic mastery or craftsmanship in the methodology.
Mantle of Expert (MoE)’ in Kindergarten Education
Edukacja Elementarna w Teorii i Praktyce
In our study, the complexity of skill development of preschool children is presented through the Mantle of the Expert (MoE) method which is a specific type of education approach based on drama pedagogy. The adaptation of the method was developed by Dorothy Heathcote (Heathcote&Bolton, 1995) and the development potential of the game in kindergarten is exemplified by the expert game of playing library in the ’Central Kindergarten’ in Jászberény, Hungary. The ‘Librarian MoE’ will be demonstrated with the help of the theoretical background of MoE and our empirical research based on a qualitative, structured interview method with parents (N=11). Our preliminary research focuses on the experience of the parents of those children who were actively participating in the ‘Librarian MoE’ during the initiation, creation and operation of the special kindergarten drama game. Regarding the results of the research, it can be claimed that the “play library” created according to the Mantle of the Exp...
International journal of academic research in progressive education and development, 2022
One of the most fundamental issues with the current teaching methodology is that pupils are not motivated or involved in class and find it uninteresting. Therefore, a practical teaching approach should be used when teaching ESL to produce learners with these skills. Mantle of the Expert pedagogy is a practical approach to help learners develop the 4Cs (critical thinking, creative thinking, communicating, and cooperating) in 21st-century learning. This study intends to determine how the Mantle of Expert approach affects learners' attitudes toward language acquisition and explore how learners perceive the Mantle of Expert approach's contribution to speaking ability. As part of the mixed-method approach utilized in this study, questionnaires were distributed to thirty undergraduates at a public institution in Johor. The mean value for each item in the surveys was set to analyse the research questions. In addition, ten students who took part in the lessons that were taught using the Mantle of Expert approach were interviewed based on their opinions. The data's thematic analysis results reveal that most students had a favourable attitude toward employing the Mantle of Expert approach to language acquisition, mainly speaking. Increased engagement, learning benefits, self-efficacy, confidence, motivation, speaking development, and vocabulary acquisition were among the points underlined. To address teacher-centred classroom concerns that affect their learning outcomes, creativity, and satisfaction, instructors must be aware of learners' needs and adopt a new approach that significantly engages them in learning English better.
Mantle of the Expert: Integrating Dramatic Inquiry and Visual Arts in Social Studies
This article introduces the social studies field to Dorothy Heatchote’s Mantle of Expert (MOE). MOE is a dramatic inquiry approach used in several subject areas and can work at all levels in the social studies curriculum. The authors go into the development of using this approach in an elementary and middle teacher education program. After sharing their modeling approach with preservice teachers in an elementary social studies methods course, the authors address what it means for preservice teachers to construct their own MOE social studies lesson plans and how teachers must think of their role as a performing art.
Beyond the obvious : three acts in educational drama
2009
Researching research is not a common theme in educational drama. Nor is the educational drama process from a participant perspective a typical focus of research, at least not if the participants are disabled. Yet this is the theme of this thesis, a drama in three acts. The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyse, and discuss both the ways in which research within educational drama can be carried out and represented, and the experiences of the participants of the educational drama process. The theoretical framework that steers the research process is built up of two pairs of frames, each of them, like Russian nesting dolls, containing further frames. The first frame, relating to the outcomes of conducting research in educational drama, comprises philosophical, representational, and personal theories. As the second question asks what educational drama is, the subject related frame is built up of pedagogical, drama educational, and aesthetic theories. The study in its entirety follows the structure of the researcher's hermeneutical learning process and takes the form of a journey starting from what is familiar, stretching towards what is new and different, and finally returning back to the beginning with a new view on what was there at the start. The thesis consists of two separate but related studies. The first, a familiar study conducted earlier, Alpha in Act I, was carried out among upper secondary school pupils. In the second, the new and therefore unfamiliar study, Omega in Act III, the participants are adult individuals who are physically and communicatively disabled. In between these two Acts an element of "Verfremdung" where the Alpha study is systematically scrutinized as the purpose is to teach and to manage the reader to think. Meta-discussions on the philosophical issues of the study are conducted throughout the text, parallel to the empirical parts. The outcomes of the first research question show that philosophical, methodical, and representational consistency is crucial for research. While this may sound like stating the obvious, this has nevertheless not always been considered fact, especially not within qualitative research. The outcomes further stress that representational issues are also to be recognized when presenting non-rational aspects of educational drama. By wording the world, through the use of visualising language, the surplus of meanings of educational drama can be, as they are within this study, made visible, sensible, and almost tangible, not only cognitively understandable. The outcomes of the second question point to the different foci of the studies, with Alpha focusing on the rationally retold experiences and Omega focusing on nonrational experiences. The outcomes expose educational drama as a learning process comprising doing, reflecting, and being. The doing aspect communicates the concrete efforts in creating a piece of theatre, while the being aspect relates experiences of being as situated, embodied and sensuous, reciprocal, empowering, aesthetic and artistic, and existential. Reflection is the twine that runs throughout the process and connects both doing and being. In summary, the outcomes could be formulated as "learning from learning how to make theatre". Content 1 Prologue 2 A drama in three acts 2.1 Scenery-research design 2.2 Programme-theoretical frames 2.3 Script-structure Act I Alpha-The implicit framework Act II Epiphany-the turning point Scene 1-Positioning Alpha Scene 2-Consequences of positions Act III 93 part I Omega-The explicitly chosen position Scene 3-Changed positions Scene 4-Adjusted aim and research questions Scene 5-Hermeneutics suggested as a philosophical framework Scene 6-Consequences of the change Scene 7-Validity and ethical consideration part II Omega-The obvious and beyond Scene 8-Cast Scene 9-Preparations Scene 10-Negotiation and Creation Scene 11-Performance 3 Educational drama-how and what 3.1 Adjusting methods of research 3.2 Being, reflecting, and doing 4 Epilogue References the ICF also includes a list of environmental factors." Available http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/ Retrieved 15.12.2008. 7 By "intertextuality" is meant that every text and every reading of text depends on prior readings of texts and codes. In the intertextuality as these texts meet new meaning will appear. About intertextuality see Kristeva (1980). 8 Within this thesis I use the concept drama and educational drama as synonymous concepts. These concepts refer to what also is called drama in education (DIE) and theatre in education (TIE). Within this distinction DIE is primarily regarded as theatrical curricular teaching methods and TIE is more focused on participatory performance programmes. Including a non-educational context these distinctions would be named applied drama versus applied theatre (Nicholson, 2005, 2-3). 9 According to Gadamer (1997, 146) the best way to pinpoint one's understanding or prejudice is to put it at risk. 10 A dramaturgical technique that can be used to weave together two scenes in theatre or in film. (Sundstedt,1999). 11 "Realist tales" refers to a form of representation derived from van Maanen (1988) who describes the author of such tales as an omnipotent onlooker who is, without being involved in the field of research, capable of catching the reality on a piece of paper and interpreting it correctly. See also Woods (1999) and Richardson (2000). I also refer to the 'scientific writing' concept, which represents a belief that words are "objective, precise, unambiguous, non-contextual, and non-metaphoric" (Richardson 2000, 925). The opposite of this form of writing is the "experimental" or the "literary" (Richardson 2000, van Maanen 1988, Woods 1999). These forms are further discussed in the thesis. 13 Nativity is one of the three drama projects which are included this study. The two others are Alpha and Omega, which additionally constitute the research projects of the study. 14 According to the principle of tacit knowledge, Wittgenstein (1921/61) makes a distinction between things that are non-uttered and non-utterable. 15 The second research project in educational drama is named Omega and is presented within Act III of this thesis. 16 According to Eriksson (1992, 60), the research process starts with a concern instead of a problem. She claims that our search does not begin with our knowledge and our science but with our concern. By daring to feel concern within herself the researcher can direct her gaze towards what she feels is in order within her own area. 31 I want to remind the reader that the aims that are formulated in the two research projects, Alpha and Omega, are subordinate to this main aim. 32 Webster´s Encyclopaedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language 33 The concept text hereditists from the Latin textum, woven fabric, and textere, to weave (SAOB, Available 40 Åsberg, 2000. 41 Uljens, 1998. 42 Methodology is related to the Greek concepts methódos which means 'method' or 'way of doing'. The concept consist of the parts meta, after, and hódos, way and the final part logos meaning 'the philosophy of'. Methodology is not synonymous with method but rather 'the philosophy of methods'.
NJ, 2018
Drama in Education reaching beyond Art Form or Teaching Tool Dichotomy
European Journal of Social Science Education and Research, 2018
Abstract In the following article we try to re-evaluate, the place drama occupies in contemporary elementary education. By limiting the role of drama to literature studies and theatre productions, we lose a greater potential Theatre Pedagogy has to offer to a much broader educational spectrum. The participatory practices of Theatre and Drama in Education (TiE, DiE) promote active learning, based on a most organic children’s activity – play. While students co-create the fictional world of drama, teacher's guidance is crucial in setting new challenges, encouraging students to find creative solutions and reflect on often-complex social issues. Because of its art component, drama challenges the participants on a cognitive as well as emotional level, becoming a truly transformational experience. As such, Drama in Education is especially useful when approaching sensitive and controversial topics. This thesis is presented on a case study observing Year 6 students at St’ Michael’s CE Academy in Birmingham, UK, using Drama in Education method as part of History curriculum. Key words:: drama in education, theatre pedagogy, participatory practices, holistic teaching, sensitive topics.