Many years ago, when I was still relatively new to the process of dramatic inquiry and Mantle of the Expert, I spent a day working in a school with a class of six-year-old students. They were studying a topic based on the story by Oscar Wilde called ‘The Selfish Giant.’ Working together, we set up … Read more
Teaching children to write creatively is one of the most difficult, yet rewarding, teaching tasks we do. It is difficult because it requires a number of different parts to come together at once: the technical aspects of writing – grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc. – the imagination of the student, and something to write about – … Read more
Image from https://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/teaching-and-learning/learning-ideas/family-and-dramatic-play/ All the keys in Try This … draw on the vital and highly sophisticated human behaviour known as play. Socio-dramatic play is at the heart of Dramatic Inquiry. Sounds like fun, but what is it, and what’s the value for children’s learning? First, let’s get some misconceptions out of the way. While … Read more
Viv Aitken and Tim Taylor look at the realities of Mantle of the Expert around the world. Part of a series of online events in the run up to the Dorothy Heathcote Now International Drama Conference 2023. For more about Dorothy Heathcote, go to: https://www.mantlenetwork.com
Here’s an exciting teaching sequence, created using the ‘Read a Sign’ key. The context springs from some kind of ‘sign’ that students can read meaning into. In this case it’s two simple words written on the board, or a large piece of paper: “TOP SECRET”. Students begin by imagining the sort of place these words might … Read more
What if I told you, you had a superpower? A power so common place and ordinary we hardly give it a second thought, yet so powerful it has transformed the world and the evolution of our species. This superpower is free, instantly available, and limitless. It works whenever we want it and sets us apart … Read more
In an online discussion group the other day, one of the participants asked, “Is there hard data to show increased engagement has benefits for student learning?” What a great question! As teachers using Dramatic Inquiry we know what student engagement looks like (‘eyes on stalks’, avid participation in activities, students not wanting to stop for … Read more
‘Try This…’ is a book written to utilise the extraordinary power of stories to communicate and make knowledge memorable. Stories are powerful contexts for learning. Long before the invention of writing, humans communicated knowledge through the medium of storytelling. They wove information and cultural wisdom into narratives that could be memorised and passed down from … Read more