TEACHER IN ROLE
Teacher in role is an invaluable technique for shaping the dramatic process and developing students’ learning. The teacher takes on a role related to a story or theme and sets up a dramatic situation for students to participate in.
Why use it?
The teacher can directly participate in the dramatic process and influence it from the inside. This makes it possible to present challenging and controversial points of view and to stimulate thought, discussion and action. Teacher in role validates and supports the children’s involvement in a make-believe situation by enabling the teacher to work and ‘play’ alongside them. Children are used to stepping into and out of role in everyday play and are often keen to participate.
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Using Teacher in Role: The Gruffalo
This complete lesson plan for 4-7 years includes such activities as Teacher in Role, Sounds of the Forest, Exploring the Woods, Funny Faces, Gruffalo’s Footsteps and Advice Line. You’ll need a copy of The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson, which you can find on Amazon.
Get the link to instantly download the full 4-page Gruffalo Drama Unit (PDF) for just £4.99 with PayPal.
How to do it
You don’t need great acting skills! Just ‘step into somebody else’s shoes’ for a while to put forward their point of view. If you can use different voices for characters when you tell a story, then you can certainly carry out teacher in role. The use of a token prop or piece of costume can clarify when you are stepping in and out of role: “When I put on this scarf I will be Anne Frank,” or “When I sit in this chair I will be the King.”
You can try out role-play with hot-seating. This will give you valuable experience of assuming a role in relation to the students and responding to comments and questions. Progress to Teacher in Role by encouraging students to participate in the drama . Examples of Teacher in Role can be seen in these drama lessons: The Tiger Child, The Gruffalo and The Evacuees.
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Using Teacher in Role: The Tiger Child
This lively and funny folk tale from Orissa, India, explains why tigers eat their food uncooked and why cats live with people. The plan contains a range of practical and easy-to-do drama activities suitable for Reception and Key Stage 1 (4-7 years).
Joanna Troughton’s beautifully-illustrated book is available from Amazon.
Activities include ten second objects, soundscape, freeze frames, thought tracking, teacher in role, and whoosh storytelling.
Click the button to download the full 7-page Tiger Child Drama Unit (PDF) for just £4.99 with PayPal.
Teacher in Role can easily be used across the curriculum. In Art, take the role of a character from a painting; in Geography become an aid worker or explorer; History lessons can be livened up by a Roman centurion, an Ancient Egyptian child or an archaeologist; stories, of course, provide the greatest source of characters – whether you become the Gruffalo, the Minotaur, Red Riding Hood, Anansi or Cyclops.
(This is an extract from Learning Through Drama in the Primary Years by David Farmer, where many more examples and lesson ideas can be found.)
In the video, drama expert Cecily O’Neill demonstrates to teachers how to set up Teacher in Role and works with a group of primary school students.
