Role Play

CONTENT:

• What is role play?
• When should role play be used?
• Application of role play
• Role play as a teaching technique
• Role of teacher & student
• Advantages & disadvantages
• Evaluation

WHAT IS ROLE PLAY?

•      It is a spontaneous portrayal (acting out) of a situation, condition or circumstance by selected members of a learning group.

      (Roberta, D. , Teaching the adult learner)

•       It is a teaching strategy that fits within the social family of models.

      (Joyce and Weil, 2000)

PURPOSE OF ROLE PLAY:

•    Emphasize the social nature of learning

•     See cooperative behaviour as stimulating students both socially and intellectually.

WHEN SHOULD ROLE PLAY BE USED?

•       To discover how people might react under certain conditions.

•       To provide skills and training in such areas as problem solving and diagnosis.

APPLICATION OF ROLE PLAY:

•       Creating the role play

-Brainstorm for yourself several issues to do with the unit.(Choose one which would make an effective role play.)

-Each role should be described clearly.(Students should be able to read over the character descriptions in a few minutes.)

-Choose a line of action for role players to take.(Simplicity is the key.)

•       Preparing the students for roles

-One way is to give the students a week or so to prepare themselves for the role.  This can be very effective, especially if you have a motivated and inspired class.

-Another way is to give the selected students five minutes before the performance to read over their roles, and discuss their roles with the other members of the role play.

•      The action

-Just before the role play begins, you will introduce the role play. You will explain what role playing is about.

-You will make the problem explicit to your class.

-You might or might not set a time limit for the action.

-You now step back and let the actors take over.

-While your students act, you will make anecdotal records, or fill in checklists, or enjoy the role play.

 

Major steps in using role play as a teaching technique:

•       Defining the problem

•       Visualising the situation

•       Determining the roles to be played

•       Casting the characters

•       Briefing the players and the audience

•       Acting out the scene (x2 if desirable)

•       Analyzing the role play

ROLE OF TEACHER:

•       Defines the problem

•       Determines the roles to be played

•       Casts the characters

•       Briefs the players (Oral or written)

   (The goals, the situation and the characterizations are explained to the players but the action is spontaneous.)

ROLE OF STUDENTS:

•      As role player

Accept roles that he feels appropriate for him.

Try to understand the goals

Avoids getting to far into the role

•      As audience

Make preperation in the form of reading or thinking about situation

Give moral support to the actors and do not evaluate or criticize acting

Carefully observe play in the right of the goal stated, in the manner suggested by the teacher

ADVANTAGES:

•       Stimulates the audience to listen and observe with interest

•       Persons in the audience can often see themselves in the roles played and thereby gain in self-understanding

•       Encourages activity

•       Develop social skills

•       Effective learning

DISADVANTAGES:

•       Only used in simple, clear-cut problems

•       Playing a role can cause fear and anxiety in the players

•       Time consuming

•       May cause misconceptions

EVALUATION:

The students evaluate the scenes they have played.

•       They discuss:

-Which situations they managed to solve and how?

-Which one was the most difficult and why?

-What alternative forms might have been worked out?

They may show some parts again. Some can comment on the act while others are playing.

References:

•       Fogg, P. (2001). A history professor engages students by giving them a role in the action. Chronicle of Higher Education. 48(12). A12-13.

•       McGregor, J. (1993). Effectiveness of role-playing and anti-racist teaching in reducing student prejudice. Journal of Educational Research, 86(4), 215-226.

•       Poorman, P. B. (2002. Biography and role-playing: fostering empathy in abnormal psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 29(1), 32-36.

•       Teahan, J. E. (1975). Role playing and group experiences to facilitate attitude and value changes. Journal of Social Issues, 31(1), 35-45.

•       http://www.economics.ltsn.ac.uk/advice/roleplay.htm , found on April 18, 2002.