Lesson 4: Hearing From the Experts

Using the Mantle of the Expert strategy, students will deepen their role play, hear from a variety of 'experts', evaluate their information and determine how it would change the perspectives of their own characters.  Students will become comfortable speaking in improvisational situations in role.

How do communities work together to solve problems?

What obstacles might they face?

How does hearing testimony from various experts change your character's opinion?

How do we maintain the integrity of our role yet allow it to change/adapt when it is called for?

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to

• use the knowledge acquired through listening to experts to formulate their own characters' opinions
• maintain role while speaking and questioning others

Refer to the list of experts the students wanted to meet in the previous lesson when devising expert roles. Prior to the lesson, choose students to take on the role of each of the experts.  Provide them with resources to help them prepare to answer questions and field comments.

Another option is to give all students an expert role to play.  Every student is responsible for doing research to ready themselves for the discussion.  Students may use the PDF#9 Mantle of the Expert Template to record and gather thoughts. 

Spectrum of Difference/Fold the Line / L'éventail de différence/plier la ligne

Mantle of the Expert / Le rôle de l'expert

Forum Theatre / Théâtre forum

Improvisation / Improvisation 

For more information on Mantle of the Expert, see the works of Dorothy Heathcote. For a more in-depth explanation of Forum Theatre, see Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed.

List of Experts from Lesson 3

Response journals

 

Invite students to participate in the Spectrum of Difference/Fold the Line activity as outlined in PDF#8 Spectrum of Different/Fold the Line. Students will practice respectful listening to peers and make decisions on their own, without the influence of peers.  See PDF#8 for a detailed explanation and list of suggested prompts.

Observe students during Mantle sessions: Are viewers engaged?  Are they asking questions their character would ask?  Are they furthering the drama?

Collect journal responses to gauge the level of student reflection on the activities in the lesson. 

If your space is not large enough for Fold the Line, try the hallway.  Otherwise, set up a sign in each of the four corners of the room (e.g., strongly disagree, disagree, agree, strongly agree).  Students will move to a corner to show their opinion.

Complete the Consolidation section orally to allow for rich discussion instead of writing in journals. 

During Mantle of the Expert, lead the activity by inviting experts up to speak, rephrasing or redirecting comments made, and allowing questions one at a time.  Experts should speak by choice and should never be forced.

Before allowing students to come into the centre during forum theatre, observe them during candid conversations to be sure they can carry on a dialogue.

Remind students of the successful components of role play.

Invite students to learn more from community and provincial experts about the garbage dump in their community. Inform them that students will research and participate in a process to learn more about different perspectives and points of view to formulate a position for their community. 

Explain the techniques of Mantle of the Expert. This is a convention wherein students act as experts in a field in order to resolve a problem or challenge.  The teacher may wish to go first as an expert, followed by others.  Students in the 'audience' are not just viewers; they are active participants, questioning the experts while maintaining their own roles.  See PDF#10 Mantle of the Expert Role Descriptions for a brief summary of suggested roles.  If students come up with others, write a brief summary and 'think about' for each additional role. 

Have students pair off and dialogue with one another.  Students need to maintain their strong sense of character.  Those students who were 'experts' will stay in that role; others can maintain their own role in the community.  The conversation should focus on working towards a solution.  Prompts: What are we going to do?  What if we can't fight the government on this? 

Questions incitatives:

Qu'est-ce que nous allons faire? Qu'est-ce qui arrive si nous ne pouvons pas lutter contre le gouvernement à se propos?

Circulate during partner exploration and jump into conversations as various characters who would challenge the current positions.

Have students make a circle with their chairs to form the audience.  Pairs or small groups of students will bring their chairs into the centre to carry on a conversation with one another. Instruct students to speak in turn. If a student wants to speak from the edge of the circle, they may call "freeze" and replace one of the role players.   If students from opposing communities speak in the centre, the issue of varying cultures should be addressed. Tell them that the purpose of their conversation is to move toward a solution using this technique of forum theatre.  Because it is improvisational, students have the freedom to create fictional pieces of information that would further their ideas and support the context already established.

Have students, in written form, explain if and how the testimony of the experts changed their individual perspectives.

Suggestions incitatives d’écriture:

Est-ce que c'est plus facile ou plus difficile de prendre des décisions comme personnage, ou comme vous-même?

Créez un schéma graphique (tableau, diagramme de Venn) qui compare votre rôle ou personnage et vous-même.