Getting it.

"How will this help me in the future?"
The classroom cynic can bite through all the prep. work, all the learning, all the ...
What has happened to the current generation?
I have sensed in recent years, in classroom observations, a loss of joy from Y.4 upwards.
Even recent graduates I talk with seem to have lost a spark.
I can only generalise of course, but I am concerned.
In the Arts we seek creativity and imagination in learning, only to be sidelined by assessments and ordering of understanding.
Surely MoE can avoid this unhealthy trap of mere game playing?
And yet MoE still remains a mystery to many. But for how long?
Some of my colleagues, particularly in Higher Education, still say Drama when they mean MoE and then continue to make the same mistake every time thinking it doesn't matter. It should matter.

Reflection without penalty.

As a tool for learning that is evolving all the time I found myself telling a colleague this week that the version of MoE I currently use has been pretty much bastardised to meet my current approach to teaching.
I was still asked, with others, to deliver training. I wonder how much at odds it will be to recently trained colleagues?
With new approaches to timetabling [KS3/4] now enabling teaching to take place over longer periods, perhaps MoE can now take its place in the broader curriculum?
The current training schedules, at least the ones I have seen, seem unnecessarily complicated, dare I say, tedious?
Sir Jim Rose' report has centred Drama for learning in KS2, well almost! And beyond?
I sense change and look forward to seeing where this will lead to in the next 18 months.

But you can't come in.

I've always enjoyed the potential of MoE.
The creative learning buzz it can create still amazes me. I also relish the fact that it enables me to do TIR work. For a Drama teacher I believe this to be the 'hub' for successful lessons.
Will KS3 catch up with KS2 in recognising this? I believe it will.
Yet again I think it works really well when the 'MoE rules' are adapted rather than followed too closely.
I totally agree with Andy Kempe here. Too much irrelevancies have been placed in the MoE agenda. Adaptability is the key.
To some degree the creativity of the teacher using MoE is stifled if the 'rules' are followed too strictly.
So how best to show / demonstrate MoE to non specialists?
Is the current approach the right one?

Lecturing, Teaching, Performing. Learning?

Back in the early 90's I was watching Luke Abbot deliver some Drama work with young students.
There were about 20 or so observers.
Returning from the break early, I mentioned to a colleague [we were the only two adults present] that we had caught the youngsters playing together and not performing. When Luke returned with the other observers, the children settled to restart their performance.
Luke was trying to demonstrate an approach to teaching.
Because of the adult audience presence the youngsters were always performing/ aware of the audience.
In the classroom, alone with the teacher [their only audience] this doesn't happen.
Dorothy, bless her, has had children performing to audiences[ teachers, students] most of her career. The evidence is clear.
Children will behave differently, learn differently, in front of observers/audience. The situation is different to a classroom situation. They are not comparable.
In addition to which they are being filmed!
This doesn't exactly create false outcomes that cannot be replicated in the classroom...or does it?

Four steps back - one step forward

With some reluctance you sometimes have to move away from the idea to move forward with the idea.

This can occur for many reasons, often outside the control of the teacher.
Again the adaptability of colleagues in recognising the signs is really important if MoE is to have the intended impact on student learning.
Personalisation and independence of student learning is surely at the heart of current educational thinking? The boundaries of teacher expectations is bound to be challenged.

Stepping Stones

Team teaching today.
A difference of opinion between colleagues[ almost in role ] 3 students kicked out of group, in role as cameramen.
Advice...go on strike, demand a meeting to conclude differences!
A super learning lesson, students in negotiation at end of period.
You really test the comfort levels of colleagues particularly when colleague is less experienced with MoE.

Have you experienced something similar?

By Association...

Andy Kempe has stated that in his experience, he sees many variations of the MoE approach.
In essence, isn't this inevitable?
I have watched Dorothy be pretty flexible in her approach over the years.
Luke Abbot perhaps lacks this flexibility?
In any art form surely to stay static is to hold back both learning and creativity?
It is this element of experimentation that informs my current practice.

I'm pretty sure most practitioners of MoE will agree?

Sometimes 2+2 will do.

You probably know the names.
The supporters and detractors of Mantle of the Expert.
Luke Abbot for, Andy Kempe against.
I want to continue the developing dialogue on this blog.
I believe with the recent growth in the use of MoE in classrooms, a very close analysis of what can, what shouldn't and what will be achieved by using MoE could radically change education for young people.

I have used this approach as a Drama teacher for 17 years, and always used it to teach PSHEE and Citizenship.

Can MoE really drive a whole curriculum?