The Mantle of the Expert

The mantle of the expert is a system for learning through active imagination and enquiry methodology. This was developed by an educator who was called Dorothy Heathcote who’s work spans over 50 years.

The mantle of the expert’s aims is to reduce subject boundaries which resonate with the work of Dewey whose focus was to involve learners in problem solving (Suzie Pugh 2014). “It is a conceptualised learning approach based in AT1 Speaking and Listening & Drama for Learning which focuses on curriculum domain/s the teacher wishes the class to learn.”(Mantle of the expert)

This is designed to give learners more responsibility for their learning as they work on the tasks alongside their work. It also enables them to become more confident and is designed to increase this and their engagement in tasks.

“The technique can be used to actively explore issues across the curriculum through drama, empowering pupils by giving them an opportunity to assume responsible roles and make decisions in guiding the outcomes. In the UK, many schools are adopting Mantle of the Expert as a cross-curricular approach.” (Drama Resource)

An advantage of doing this is that it allows the children to make the decisions for themselves,  However it is the teachers  job to guide the drama , but they can step in and out of role as and when they need to. IF you click on the link below there is a video which can help to describe the approach:

http://dramaresource.com/strategies/mantle-of-the-expert

"Learning transforms who we are and what we can do…it is not just an accumulation of skills and information, but a process of becoming a certain person. “ (Wenger 1998)

The Mantle of the Expert could coincide with The Leonardo Effect as they can work together. You can place the Leonardo Effect into a drama role and optimise the learners understanding. Going through each stage and having a drama role enables learners to think for themselves, engage more in tasks and work as a group to achieve the best outcome. The aim of this is to harness and use the ability of learners to play together for curriculum purposes.

http://www.imaginative-inquiry.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/moe-element.png

 

“The development of a community of inquiry, the acquisition and application of new skills, the frame of role-play, cross-curricular experiences and activities  based on relevant problems, which are perceived as ‘real’ by the community” (Taylor 2006)

The Mantle of the Expert is a very good way to engage learners in tasks. Giving them responsibilities to undertake their own learning can allow them to take more confidence in group tasks and team work in future life.  It can help them to broaden their minds and come up with new ideas that enable them to come out with a better outcome than what they would if they did not use this method.

References
http://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/about-moe/faqs/what-is-mantle-of-the-expert/comment-page-1/
http://dramaresource.com/strategies/mantle-of-the-expert
Wenger, E. (1998) Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Taylor, A. (2006) A Critical Evaluation of ‘‘Mantle of the Expert’’ as a Teaching and Learning Approach, Based on Pupil and Practitioner Opinion.  http://www.mantleoftheexpert.com/community/research/ .

The Leonardo Effect

Stage 1 Capture Learner’s Imaginations: Use first-hand experiences in relevant contexts to inspire self-generated questions. Drawing on learner’s inherent curiosity a process of discovery-based learning begins, involving research with multimedia, books, experts, fellow pupils etc. Learners feel empowered and teachers feel energised to learn with them.

Stage 2 Development:  Learners explore in depth, develop ideas and conduct experiments via visual, aural and kinaesthetic means. This exciting and open-ended stage enables children to make connections, drawing out the learning process to facilitate development of all the learning capacities including skills, knowledge and understanding.

Stage 3 Creation:  Learners are challenged to apply their knowledge and skills in an innovative and creative context, which takes their learning to a higher level, exceeding usual curricular requirements.

Stage 4 Reflect and Communicate: In this phase pupils evaluate their own work and communicate their knowledge to a wider audience in the school or beyond in a multitude of ways, or embark on a new learning adventure inspired by the skills and knowledge they have acquired. (Suzie Pugh 2014)

The tunnel

A way in which this can be shown is through a task that we did in our seminar groups. The task was to work in groups to create a company that builds bridges, create some designs and design a bridge that is to be built connecting Swansea over the river.

Once we had built our design, drawn up plans and created a budget, the lecture – Suzie then came round and we had to present our ideas. The cost and how long it would take to build. The key was using our imagination and it really shows in the group I was in because instead of building a bridge, we decided to build a tunnel that went under the river so that it wasn’t a landscape spoiler.

You can also see in my group that a lot of development takes place because we looked in depth at other bridges that we already built, developed from them and came up with new ideas. This is what helped us to come up with the tunnel idea rather than the bridge idea as it seemed more viable.


Replica of tunnel through water

There is also a lot of creation that has taken place because in the group we applied our knowledge to what was already built and worked from there. WE then came up with what the bridge would look like through the ideas of current bridges and even went as far as trying to design it so you could see how it looked from a landscape view rather than just a tunnel under water.

View of Right side of the Tunnel

A view of the Entrance to tunnel

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe that we managed to acquire the last stage as well because we evaluated our work, presented it to our fellow students and explained how it would be built how e acquired the idea and the costing. There is also a video below which shows the presentation of a bridge that the other group had created and you can see the level of depth that has been done in order to achieve what they have.

 

References

http://www.leonardoeffect.com/resources/Factsheet.pdf

Suzie Pugh 2014