1. Student Handout—Using Role Playing in the Classroom
Effective Techniques
Carefully and thoroughly design role , so that the role playing student knows what is expected.
This will allow the student to speak from the role’s point of view, not their own.
Ensure that students’ behavior reflects the realistic actions of the role. The role playing reacts as
the role requires, and does not try to “win” the interaction at the expense of a realistic
performance.
Ensure that students think about, and try to adopt the role’s characteristics. They should not
just “go through the motions,” without sincere reflection.
Instructor observes without unnecessary intervention, role can be debriefed once role playing is
complete.
Provide students realistic level of data relative to the role, or opportunity to research the role
ahead of time.
Use second person pronouns (you) rather than third (he/she) to enhance students’ role
identification.
Allow students to reverse roles to see the other side’s perspective when time permits.
Challenges
Large classes can lead to less time to prepare roles, high noise level during rehearsal can be
distracting to other groups, and instructor may not be able to adequately observe all groups.
Good vs evil—students may be unwilling or unable to speak from the point of view of a role they
consider undesirable
Instructor should not attempt to influence the outcome towards the “correct answer.”
Lack of social skills—shy students, charismatic student overwhelms others, limited listening
skills.
Conclusion
Allow time to conduct a discussion of the results after the role play to reinforce learning and
address concerns about “winning” or “losing” the role play, vs. gaining an understanding of the
scenario.
Sources:
http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Kodotchigova-RolePlay.html
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