Role Play
Strand-
culture and identity
Sub-strand-
culture and heritage
Role-play is an effective learning strategy in which
students act the part of another character, thereby gaining an appreciation for
others’ points of view as well an understanding of the complexity of resolving
issues and problems in the real world. In the context of social studies, this
strategy may be used to learn about issues and decisions of the past (and how
things might have been different) or about current issues in the local
community or in a broader setting. Aside from knowledge acquisition, preparing
and conducting a role-play activity strengthens students’ knowledge acquisition
skills, their creativity, their value clarification skills, and a variety of
interpersonal skills identified in the curriculum outcomes.
Preparation for Role-Play:
• Identify an
appropriate issue or controversy, past or present, that requires resolution.
• Select an issue
that involves a number of parties, each of which brings its own perspectives to
the debate or discussion.
• Students should
have a good general knowledge of the issue before roles are selected.
• Clearly identify the parties and individuals involved,
and select roles accordingly.
• All students should have a specific role. In addition to
participants in the actual debate, there might be members of a commission,
court personnel, civic leaders, media, et cetera.
• Students conduct research to collect information about
the specific views of the party or individual they represent in the role-play.
• Students use
information they have collected to clarify their viewpoints and to develop
their arguments and strategies for maximum effect in the role-play activity.
• Students also seek to understand other viewpoints and to
develop counter-arguments.
• The nature of the
role-play activity (council meeting, public hearing, court case, etc.) is
determined and reviewed before proceeding.
Conducting
the Role-Play:
• Ensure that the physical setting (room, furniture
placement, necessary equipment) is appropriate for the nature of the role-play.
• Props and costumes
may be included to provide a more authentic experience.
• The issue and its
real-life setting are reviewed before proceeding.
• Unless playing a
specific character, the teacher’s role should be limited to occasional
procedural advice as appropriate. At no time should the teacher attempt to
influence or favor a particular viewpoint.
• The role-play activity should have an appropriate
real-life conclusion, such as a statement or decision announcement by the head
of a commission, judge, or mayor.
• In the case of a hearing
or court case, the role-play should include an opportunity for the
commissioners or jury to meet, discuss evidence provided, and reach a decision.
Debriefing In order to maximize the role-play learning experience, it is
critical for students to have an opportunity to step out of their roles and
debrief, including a discussion on how they felt playing the role, and a review
of the issues and the evidence and arguments presented. Individual students’
positions may or may not have changed; however, they will have a much better
understanding of the issues as well as the complexity and importance of
resolving real-world problems. Solving problems involves debate, negotiations,
and consensus building.
Cultural heritage is part of
the identity of every nation, and even youngest students need to be encouraged
to preserve it. It is important that they try to understand the importance of
cultural heritage, and the connection with the contemporary and responsible
role of each individual in fostering and preserving it.
Among other things, school and
teachers can also contribute to greater awareness of the importance and
preservation of cultural heritage. The role of school and teacher is to
encourage students to learn about different cultures, while preserving their
national identity, their culture, social, moral and spiritual heritage
By observing the Social
Studies lessons, representation of cultural heritage content in randomly
selected lessons of Social Studies was analysed. The results showed that at the
observed lessons most of the teachers addressed the content from the section
Historical development. This is followed by the content sets Hometown, Home
landscape, and Traces of the past. Content sets Children’s rights,
Participation in community, Social issues, and The state of Slovenia were not
addressed at any of the observed lessons. At 29 observed lessons of Social
Studies we noticed the treatment of cultural heritage. At 39 lessons the
cultural heritage was not addressed. Most of the teachers who discussed the
contents of cultural heritage in the observed lessons of Social Studies
addressed the contents of Historical development. This is followed by the
contents of Traces of the past, Home landscape, Hometown, and Slovenia―location
and characteristics. The results thus presented the situation from the
Curriculum for Social Studies . specially with the content of
cultural heritage, it is important that students identify with it to understand
why it is important and, consequently, know how to preserve it, and ultimately
want to do so. Even though, sample of observed lessons teachers is not
representative, it provides basics for planning broader research. There are
also some cautions related to the use of structured observation techniques
which can be structured into three subsections: theoretical and epistemological
criticisms, methodological concerns and pragmatic concerns
