The Mantle of the Expert

The Mantle of the Expert (MOE) is an innovative, hands-on approach to learning, which permits teachers at all educational levels to use a holistic approach, offering a solution to removing barriers between subjects, one of Robinson (2006) and Gatto's (2012) main concerns.  Invented by Dorothy Heathcote, MOE allows children to use their imaginations, as they adopt a role and pretend to be experts in a real life scenario, which makes learning relevant (Mantle of the Expert 2014). The dramatic approach allows children to have autonomy over their learning and engages them in many curriculum subjects, often without them realising (Edulink 2014). Importantly, this approach allows them to develop their language skills through an imaginative, emotive scenario (Egan 2001), which links well with Wenger's (1998) idea of how children learn best. Children absorb themselves in the active learning experience (Heathcote 2002), to the extent that they forget what is happening around them.  It is the perfect example of what Csikszentmihalyi calls flow learning (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi 2002) and Aronica and Robinson (2009) refers to as being in your element, as even hunger cannot take the learner away from their work.   

The scenario usually runs over the course of a term, where learners are put into teams, given a task and given a particular role.  Each performs their role, including the teacher, to ensure the task is researched, planned and a final product produced.  Throughout the process children face ethical decisions, which can be debated easier using this process than in a traditional classroom situation (Mantle of the Expert 2014).  MOE offers an opportunity for children to learn from each other and reflect on the decisions they make.  They then finish by pitching their final project to an imaginary client, in the hope of winning the contract.

Using an example involving the Three Little Pigs, Grimley and Holt C of E Primary School explain how they use MOE to help children practice skills they have learnt across the curriculum, something Bolton and Heathcote (1996) would see as good practice.  This also supports Deweys theory of experiment, as it cements learning and ensures information does not become innate (Sayers 2011).  MOE has proved extremely successful, at Grimley and Holt, as the children are extremely passionate about it and appreciate being treated as an adult, which is often not practiced in Britain's authoritative education system.   OFSTED (2014) have also graded the school as outstanding and praised the school on their engaging curriculum, which enthuses the children and ensures consistently good behaviour.

We trialled the MOE approach ourselves, and took on the role of a bridge construction company.  Each group was briefed about the commission and given a role from Project Manager to Structural Engineer.  Many skills were used including teamwork, negotiation, problem solving, communication, entrepreneurship, financial awareness, and gross and fine motor skills.  ESDGC was also incorporated into the scenario as we were asked to consider environmentally friendly options.  From this empirical evidence it is easy to see what a beneficial experience it is for children, as although we clearly had fun, we remained on task throughout. It would now be a great experience to see this approach in a classroom situation, over a full term, to gain a more in depth understanding of the process. 

Originally influential in the 1980's, MOE became over powered by the implementation of the National Curriculum (Sayers 2011).  It is however, making a comeback, as we strive to make classrooms more inclusive, which from my experience can only be a good thing, as it encourages collaborative learning and creativity.  I can understand that the way our secondary schools curriculum is already strained, makes this approach difficult to implement.   However, we can see from this video that it can easily be implemented in a primary school classroom, but it is important for Head teachers to support the approach and help teachers deliver this exciting approach to learning (Sayers 2011).

References

Aronica, L. and Robinson, K. (2009), The Element. London: Penguin.

Bolton, G. and Heathcote, D. (1996), Drama for learning:  Dorothy Heathcote's Mantle of the Expert Approach to Education.  Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Egan, K. (2001), The Cognitive Tools of Children's Imagination. Presented at the Annual European Conference on Quality in Early Childhood Education. Netherlands.

Nakamura, J. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002), The Concept of Flow. In Snyder, C. and Lopez, Z. Handbook of Positive Psychology. (pp.89-103). New York: Oxford University Press.

Sayers, R. (2011), 'The implications of introducing Heathcote's Mantle of the Expert approach as a Community of Practice and cross curricular learning tool in a Primary School'. English in Education. 45, 1, pp.20-35.