The Mantle of Expert

This approach to learning was developed by Professor Dorothy Heathcote in the 1980's who was known for being one of worlds most influential drama teacher which was set out to improve the ways of teaching (Bolton, 2003). Her work spans from over fifty years and her way of teaching is known to be different from others because it allows one subject to combine other skills from across the curriculum within one task (Sayers, 2011). The way of learning through the The Mantle of the Expert engages all the learners to believe that they are 'experts' within the field of study allowing them to have the chance to play together as a group while working. This way of learning can create opportunities for children from deprived areas of society to see what job expertise are out there which will encourage to engage further within education.

The video below shows a group of children that took part at being 'experts' for a few days in different subjects. As you study the children within the video you can see that they are excited to explain and tell us how they felt about what they have learnt. It shows that they are engaged with the learning and have a vast amount of information about their specific subjects.



According to Abbott (2007, cited in Aitken, 2008, p. 36) The Mantle of the Expert consists of three pedagogic structures which positions children as adult 'experts'. it also re-positions the power of the teacher to becoming equal to the students to discussing ideas and playing a role to help make children be fully engage with the situation. The three main Structures are:

1. Inquiry Learning- where the teacher will identify a problem and create a scenario for the learners to employ and then facilitate the learners to achieve their goal.                                                                             
2. Drama for Learning- also known as process drama, which acquires the  teacher and student to take on imaginary roles to help create a dramatic world which can help the learners to become more engaged with the problem solving.                                                                                                       
3. Expert Framing- the students are positioned as 'experts' and are asked to create an imaginary professional company with a particular point of view which they believe to make them right fro the investigation or problem solving.

By engaging with the use of this learning approach many of the children are experiencing different kinds of skills and having the ability to work as a group, for many this may be the first time. By working as a group children are using their social skills to communicate to one and other, they also experience many of the employed abilities which come from working in a group, these are shown within the mind map to the left.



References
Image 1. http://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/about-moe/introduction/what-is-moe/ 

Atiken, V. (2008) Retrieved 19th March 2014 from Dorothy heathcote’s mantle of the expert approach to teaching and Learning: a Brief introduction. http://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/MOTE-Chapter-3_Aitken_Pages-from-Connecting-Curriculum-Fraser-v3-220213.pdf  

Bolton, G. M. (2003) Dorothy Heathcote's Story: Biography of a Remarkable Drama Teacher. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham Books Ltd.

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), p20-35