This presentation outlines the background and key concepts of the Rolling Role model and was presented at the Drama Australia conference in Hobart 2014. For more information on Rolling Role see http://www.rollingrole.net

1. Susan Davis
CQUniversi ty,
Austral ia
s .dav i s@cqu.edu.au
ROLLING ROLE:
REVISIONING H E ATHCOTE’ S MODE L FOR
CREATIVE COLLABORATIVE AND LEARNING
Drama Australia Conference 2014, Hobart

2. ROLLING ROLE AS REVOLUTIONARY
PRACTICE
Heathcote quoting Machiavelli in 1513
“ T h ere i s not h i ng mo re d i f fi cult to c a rr y o u t no r mo re d o u b t f ul
of success nor more dangerous to handle than to initiate a new
order of things. For the reformer has enemies in al l who profit
by the old order and only luke-warm defenders in al l those who
would profit by the new order. This luke-warmness arises par tly
from fear of their adversaries who have law in their favour and
par tly from the incredulity of mankind who do not truly bel ieve
i n any t h i ng new u nt i l t h ey h ave ac t u al ex p e ri ence of i t ”
 Rol l ing Role Tape 1
 “ d rama is a social ar t deal ing with the af fairs of ma nk ind ”

3.  Voracious reader
 Ear ly interest in
l i terature,
histor y,
geography and
theat re
 St rong per sonal
presence –
inspi rat ional
teacher
 Per formance
exper ience and
professional
act ing t raining
 Great memor y
 D i d n ’ t t r a i n a s a
teacher but had
greatest impact
in educat ion
 Intel l igent ,
many regard her
as a genius
HEATHCOTE 1926-2011
Davis, S. (2013) “Dramatic shape-shifter and
innovative teacher - the creative life and legacy of
Dorothy Heathcote” NJ (Drama Australia Journal),
Vol 37, No 1

4. HEATHCOTE ARCHIVES
MANCHESTER

5. BUILDS ON MANTLE OF THE EXPERT &
DRAMA INQUIRY PROCESSES
 Mant le of the exper t pioneered by Heathcote in the 1960s
 Involves the creat ion of a f ict ional wor ld or f rame where students
assume the role of exper ts in a designated f ield
 I t acts as the means for students to invest igate, acqui re knowledge and
problem solve, wi th them having a real purpose for learning and
discover ing
 The processes she used might include working in role and int roducing
s t u d e n t s to a ‘ c ommi s s i o n ’ ( s u c h a s a mu s e um e n g a g i n g a n
archaeological team)
 Processes might involve mimed act ivi t ies, improvised interact ions,
inter viewing characters in role, wr i t ing let ters, creat ing ar tefacts,
engaging in research
 The t e a c h e r ’ s r o l e i s to g u i d e t h e p r o c e s s a n d t h e d r ama , s t e p p i n g i n
and out of role as appropr iate to st imulate, quest ion, mot ivate and
ref lect .
 ( ‘Ma n t l e o f t h e E x p e r t ’ Heathcote & Bol ton, 1995
 The Treatment of Dr Lister – video wi th John Car rol l )

6. ROLLING ROLE HISTORY
 1980s – Developed concept wi th New Zealand teachers Don
McAra & Sal ly Pearse – overcome tyranny of mul tiple classes of
shor t duration, potential to connect learning across the
curriculum (McAra 2D ar ticle)
 1980s-90s – Rol l ing Role projects wi th post graduate students
and workshops (The Jarrow three, Masters research - Claire
Armstrong Mi l ls, Joan Kerley)
 1990s – Rol l ing Role tapes – 16 tapes – at time of National
Curriculum in England
 2002 – He at h c ote pape r ‘Co n tex t s fo r Ac t i ve L e arn i n g ’ Ro l l i n g
Role one of four main methods described
 2012 – Pam Bowel l proposes revisioning Rol l ing Role for the
Heathcote Reconsidered Conference
 2013 – The Water Reckoning Project – www.water -reckoning.net

7. ROLLING ROLL – INTEGRATING MODEL
 The concept of Rol l ing Role is to involve dif ferent groups or
classes in bui lding a community that then faces some kind of
change. The initiators create a common context and agree to
the key features, af fairs and concerns of the community. The
students/children are then involved in bui lding the
community, the l ives, events and ar tefacts of it and add to
developments.
 Work is of ten lef t incomplete so another group can take it
forward and continue the drama.
 Work produced by classes is publicly open and avai lable to
stimulate other work.
 Heathcote suggested this work lends it self to sharing through
something l ike a website.
 (Heathcote, D. (2002) ‘ C o n te x t s f o r a c t i v e l e a r n i n g : f o u r
mo d e l s ’

9. FINDING THE DRAMATIC CONTEXT
 A context must be found
that is appropriately rich
and complex enough to
al low for a number of
classes to work on it at the
same time, with potential
for them to be engaged in
dif ferent subjects
 in most cases three
dif ferent
communities/perspectives
and timeframes are
identified as being
connected to a specific
problem and point of
tension (past, present and
future . Mi l ls, 1989-90)

11. ROLLING ROLE TAPES 1993
Tape 1 – Set t ing the contex t
Tape 2 – Shi f t ing the approach
Tape 3 – Framing and key ing
Tape 4 – Fashioning the non-negot iable
mater ial s
Tape 5 – Put t ing the dimensions into the work
Tape 6 – B u t i s i t r e a l l y d r am a y o u ’ r e d o i n g ?
Tape 7 – Engaging people to become
interes ted
Tape 8 – Keeping your cogni t i ve/af fect ive
head together
Tape 9 – Making school feel real
Tape 10 – Recycl ing for investment
Tape 11 – Fi rming up the non-negot iable
elements
Tape 12 – The team meets
Tape 13 – See the energy begin
Tape 14 – Planning for detai ls in teaching
Tape 15 – Put t ing in the dimension elements
Tape 16 – Outcomes

13. FRAMING AND KEYING (BEYOND PRE-TEXT)
TAPE 3
 In Rol l ing Role work a teacher generates mater ial out of the domain of
possibi l i t ies and fabr icates i t wi th the degree and sophist icat ion of
tension the class social heal th needs. So f raming and keying related
wi th tension are what makes ideas work and create the knowledge we
want to impar t .
 Framing of class is paramount - I f you want to do tasks wi th an
af fect ive perspect ive, you need to give them a point of view f rom which
to enter that si tuat ion.
 Yo u n e e d to ‘ k ey ’ t h e f r ame – endow them wi th now t ime – key them
into what thei r power is in the si tuat ion. Most teachers begin wi th
i n s t r u c t i o n s . ( N o t ‘ w h a t we a r e g o i n g to d o to d a y ’ b u t k ey i n g i s i n ‘ n ow ’
t ime. You are in the ci rcumstances and empower ing them to enter)
 N ow ‘ k ey i n g ’ i s a ma t t e r o f l e a r n i n g to c omb i n e a v a r i e t y o f s i g n s a n d
clues in combinat ion – i t can be RISKY

16. IT WON’T WORK IF …
 No requirement of investment
 No commitment to outcomes
 No recognizable valuable purpose for the ‘wo rke r’
 No immediate relationship with their real l i fe

17. WATER RECKONING PROJECT –
HEATHCOTE RECONSIDERED CONFERENCE
COLLABORATION
What local and contemporary
experiences can we draw on to inform
our drama?
How do people cope in times of water
crisis?
Why is water so important to our lives
and cultures?
What are the major issues facilng
humanity involving water?

18. The Water Reckoning – Rolling Role Project
www.water-reckoning.net
Context 1 –
Inhabitants of
Ardus Unda before
the disaster
Point of change/tension – Should the
original site become open to tourism. If
possible, should the original inhabitants
be unfrozen?
Context 3 –
Emissaries,
survivors &
descendants of
Ardus Unda
Context 2 –
Researchers
who are
researching the
history of Ardus
Unda
Jason deCaires
Taylor imagery

19. WAY IN - STIMULUS RESPONSE –
PHYSICAL, DRAMATIC, WRITTEN
Example of written response -
Li ttle boy
Dear Diary, I 'm confused and
lost. . . everyone's gone into
hiding, leaving many to suf fer
and fend for themsleves. The
'unknown' is coming to sweep
terror across our homes but
we have no way of stopping
death from coming to us al l .
I ' l l stick it out ti l l the end. I
have sat here for days now,
engulfed in my own thoughts.
Perhaps there is something
out there that would save us
al l . . .

20. DIFFERENT CONVENTIONS
 Second hand account
 A wr i t ten account or repor t
 A stor y told about another
 A let ter in the voice of the
wr i ter
 Act ion as i f from a fi lm
 Creat ion or re-creat ion of
paint ing or photograph
 Finding or drawing up
plans
 Drawing or map
 Rules or inst ructions
 Clothes or ar tefacts of a
character, t ime or place
 Enacted Role
 Ef figies
 Por trai ts
 Identiki t creation of role
 Li fe sized model
 A conversation overheard
 A repor ted conversation
 Finding a cryptic message
 Ri tuals & ceremonies
 Formal demonstrations,
meetings, briefings
p. 166-
167

21. PIVOTAL EXPERIENCE – TUVALU VIDEO, WATER
SHARING EXPERIENCE – REAL
WORLD/DRAMATIC WORLD
Student writing afterwards….
I realize what a struggle our mother went
through to enable our survival, what she
sacrificed.
I was an orphan amongst the chaos. I
longed to go back but there was nothing to
go back to. So I grew up here in this land.
Although not fully accepted, we have
learned to live, survive, celebrate and
commemorate our losses and gains.
The world still does not know, or want to
know what really happened at Ardus Unda.
Now we need to speak the truth, to tell our
story so that justice can be done.

22. KEY ROLE OF PUBLISHING
 T h e wa y t h e p r o j e c t a c t u a l l y ‘ r o l l s ’ i s
that work is of ten lef t incomplete,
but publ ished and shared, so other
groups can use i t and take i t forward
to cont inue the drama
 Embodiment and cr ystal l isat ion of
ideas and emot ions
 This helps val idate the work created,
and extends the communi ty of
pract ice and col laborat ion
 Shared ownership and negot iat ion of
the creat ive outcomes that can be
shared wi th the wor ld
 Ar tefacts can be endowed wi th new
meaning

23. Visual examples of work ‘rolling’
Original pre-text
Queensland beach
photo shoot &
response
Queensland
beach shoot
– character &
symbolic
clothing
Greek follow on

24. IMPORTANT LEARNINGS FOR STUDENTS
At the beach – I star ted under standing what i t was al l
about , feel ing i t
Watching the video af terwards, the way i t was put
together helped to make sense
When people did di f ferent scenes, for example the
one where one group did a water r i tual
The cup of water act ivi ty – feel ing what i t might be
l ike
Per forming and having other watch, watching other s
present
Choosing what to do wi th our cup of water, had to
think about the issues
In the vi l lage, l ining up and wai t ing for water, i t
helped me appreciate how i t might be in developing
count r ies
Having the pr int out of di f ferent scenes we could
choose f rom
Watching the video of Tuvalu, real izing things l ike
t h i s a c t u a l l y h a p p e n , t h e s i t u a t i o n i s n ’ t t o t a l l y
unreal ist ic
When we got one l i t re of water and had to decide how
to use i t

25. LEARNINGS FROM PROJECT
 Flexibi l i ty of the model (options for appl ication, one teacher
mul tiple classes, mul tiple teachers one school , mul tiple teachers
across di f ferent schools)
 Learning that matters – context connecting past, present and
future
 Impor tance of team planning and communication throughout
 Impor tance of aesthetical ly charged mediating tools, framing
and keying in
 High selectivi ty in ar tefacts, signing and pivots
 Power of teacher who empowers
 Rules of col laboration – using the work of others
 Publ ication of work that is then used for meaning making
 Faci l i tating learning that translates across boundaries

26. Rol l ing Role – There is not a lot written on it
yet. it is so radical, but we wi l l create a
dif ferent way of thinking. We are on the cusp
of something.
(Heathcote Tape 16)