Role Plays and Expressive Exercises

" Should art educate, inform, organize, influence, incite to action, or should it simply be an object of pleasure?"

- Augusto Boal  (1979, Introduction, Theatre of the Oppressed. 1979. London, Pluto Press)

Over recent years, there has been greater interest in employing active learning techniques in the college classroom.  Faculty are recognizing that learners gain knowledge and insight through action.  In addition, professors are more aware of differences in learning styles, and the importance of using a variety of instructional techniques to address as many of these as possible.  There has also been increased emphasis on creating community in the classroom, whereby students learn through interactions with each other and assume joint ownership of the educational experience.

All of these considerations can be addressed by using acting games in the classroom. These techniques include re-telling events using different genres; depicting physical representations of relationships, power and coalitions over time; and manifesting physical characteristics of key agents, in addition to  role plays.  Immediate, sensory-rich lessons can help students assume and appreciate different points of view,  model dynamic systems, gain insight into their own biases, engage with concepts, increase awareness of multi-faceted issues, feel empowered in the learning process, and collaborate to create a product.  They provide opportunities for participants to tap into their imaginations, think for and express themselves, as well as attend

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themselves, as well as attend to the voices of their classmates.  As a result, students can experience growth in cognitive, social and moral domains.

These acting games can illuminate subject matter in many different disciplines and with a range of material, including literature, historical figures and turning points, business and law cases, scientific and mechanical processes, healthcare, human services education, psychology, ethics and political science. 

The following resources are available on this site in full text:

Lyons, Richard E. Student Centered Learning Strategies.  Using Role Playing Effectively in Your Classroom.  Faculty Development Associates. Ventrol Data Systems, Inc., The Internet Division.  Available at:  http://www. developfaculty.com.tips/tip29.htm.

This page highlights the advantages of using role play, as well as some techniques faculty can use to maximize the effects of this approach.  Several examples of  role plays are provided.

Using Role Playing Effectively in Your Classroom

As a learning methodology, role-playing attempts to help students discover personal meanings within their social worlds and to resolve personal dilemmas with the aid of their social group. Through the risk-taking inherent in improvisation, students typically validate the educational payoff of the activity. In a more intensive and personal way than other teaching-learning methodologies, role playing:

• allows students to develop an understanding of others' perspectives;

• encourages students to work with others in analyzing situations and developing workable solutions;

• provides students an opportunity to apply concepts they have learned in a rich, realistic environment;

• gives students the chance to gain insights into interpersonal challenges they are likely to face in their careers and private lives;

• enables students to effectively contrast problem-solving methods by role playing a situation several times from diverse perspectives;

• offers a constructive channel through which feelings can be expressed and feedback processed;

• presents students with a forum for building self-esteem and confidence;

• helps students realize that college courses can be fun.

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Whether the scenarios selected are deadly serious or light-hearted, focused on the affective, psychomotor or cognitive learning domains or a combination, role-playing can have a dramatic impact on the traditional approach of an instructor by requiring:

• the identification and introduction to the class of a sufficiently explicit problem and the exploration of issues which affect it;

• an effective and thorough explanation of the rules mirroring a social system which will guide the role playing exercise;

• an appropriate matching and orientation of students to the roles within the activity;

• appropriate methods of involving especially shy students, perhaps as chief observers/ evaluators;

• setting the stage for students, including establishment of observation tasks;

• monitoring of activity to ensure it pursues an appropriate direction;

• debriefing of activity to ensure accomplishment of desired learning outcomes.

Role-playing is an especially effective teaching-learning tool within the social sciences and occupationally oriented disciplines, contributing to long-term retention of fundamental concepts. What more effective way of promoting an understanding of the judicial system could be found than by having students with assigned roles conduct a mock trial? Or what more valid means of mastering an understanding of the role of entrepreneurship could be utilized than by having students develop a business plan, which is then presented to a group of potential financial backers? How better might one develop conversational foreign language skills than to role-play an everyday situation staged in an appropriate location? Give it a try!

Copyright Ventrol Data Systems, Inc., The Internet Division

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Harbour, Edward and Connick, Jill,  2004. Role playing games and activities rules and tips. Aim Associates. From the free resources website www.businessballs.com, Alan Chapman, ed.  Available at: http://www.businessballs.com/roleplayinggames.htm

This British site is primarily geared toward corporate trainers, yet has application for educational settings.  It addresses the definition of role playing, suggests means of preparing to overcome hesitancies on the part of participants, and provides direction in goal setting.  Also covered are the timing and structure of these exercises, as well as ways to clarify directions and expectations of the players.  Instructions for debriefing are offered, as well.

Role Playing Games And Activities Rules And Tips

free role playing games ideas and theory for employee training, motivation, team building and development

Here are techniques, theory and ideas for designing and using your own role playing games, exercises and activities, and for using the free role playing games, exercises and activities available in this site. Role playing games, exercises and activities help build teams, develop employee motivation, improve communications and are fun - for corporate organizations, groups of all sorts, and even children's development. Role playing games, exercises and activities improve training, learning development, and liven up conferences and workshops. This free article about role playing ideas and rules has been provided by Edward Harbour and Jill Connick of AIM Associates (Drama) Limited, a London-based specialist consultancy using drama in learning and development. will help you design and use games and exercises for training sessions, meetings, workshops, seminars or conferences, for adults, young people and children, in work, education or for clubs and social activities. Role playing games, exercises and activities can also enhance business projects, giving specific business outputs and organizational benefits. We cannot accept responsibility for any liability which arises from the use of any of these free role playing ideas or games - please see the disclaimer notice below. Always ensure that you exercise caution and sensitivity when using any role playing games or activities which might disturb or upset people, and take extra care when working with younger people and children.

Effective Use of Role Playing in Learning and Development

Role playing has been around as a learning tool for a long time. Without defining it as such, many of us use role play as a basic tool of life. Whenever we project into the future in a kind of 'what if' scenario we are indulging in a role play of some sort, we are projecting ourselves into an imaginary situation where, though we cannot control the outcome, we can anticipate some or all of the conditions and 'rehearse' our performance in order to influence the outcome. Much of the time we are better for it. By way of example, you might wish to speak to your garage to raise the fact that they have still not cured the oil leak. Before doing so you might well rehearse to yourself what you intend to say. This would be a mini role play - we do it all the time because it helps.

In a learning environment role play can be a very flexible and effective tool. The tenet 'I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand' is very applicable here. Role play is often used as a way of making sense of the theory, of gathering together concepts into a practical experience. And yet, it often goes wrong. Why? Because like so many things which are simple on concept, it can become awfully complicated. If used badly in a training environment the role play tool can be ineffective and sometimes even damaging. One of the main complicating factors surrounding role play is the attitude or emotional state of the people taking part. Quite frankly, many people are nervous, even terrified, at the prospect of participating in a role play; not surprising when you hear about some people's unfortunate role play experiences.

For the purpose of this article, role play is defined as an experience around a specific situation which contains two or more different viewpoints or perspectives. The situation is usually written as a prepared brief and the different perspectives on the same situation are handed out to the different people who will come together to discuss the situation. Each person will have a particular objective, or objectives they want to fulfill which may well be in conflict with their fellow role player or role players. It is how each role player handles the situation that forms the basis of skills practice, assessment and development. The situations will be realistic and relevant to the role players and the most successful ones will be focused on developing a particular skill or skill set. If you consider a musical analogy, each 'player' is involved in the same 'symphony' but has a different score - their perspective and objective(s) - for their own 'instrument' - themselves as individuals - their histories.

So, how can we take the fear out of the role play experience?

Here are some guidelines that you might like to think about when planning your next session.

role play objective

• Be very clear about what you want people to get out of the role playing experience. Muddy thinking at the outset will result in muddy outcomes. Clear thinking and role play preparation result in clear outcomes.

• Are you assessing skills or are you developing them? If you are assessing people, they need to know the competency level expected of them and the brief needs to have measurable outcomes. People also need to trust that the role play will have the same level of challenge for them and their peers. So, don't put people through an assessment role play until you know they have reached a certain standard (through development activities and role plays).

• Are you giving everyone the same level of challenge, or are you flexing according to the level of skill demonstrated by each individual? The former is more recommended for assessment, the latter for development (see above).

role playing placement - where in the agenda?

• In skills development programmes, trainers and facilitators often schedule a role play exercise at the end of a course, to gather in the learning, and to assess how well the participants have understood the training. Leaving it until last can cause 'the dreaded role play' to loom large in people's minds, causing a negative distraction throughout the course. So instead, introduce people to the role play experience gently by holding mini role plays earlier and throughout the training. This serves a double purpose: it de-mystifies the experience so that people become more comfortable with the idea of 'performing' in public; and, it more fairly shows role playing to be a very good tool for rehearsing life, which is its main function.

• To illustrate the important value of role playing, here is a theatre analogy: actors spend hours rehearsing a twenty minute scene. They do it again and again to get it right; to get the behaviours and the relationships right, to make sense of the scene and to understand the issues. They get feedback in the form of notes from the director, which they will immediately apply to the work in hand. They carry on in this way until it's perfect and the scene becomes part of them. This is not to suggest that people in learning and development situations should become actors and rehearse their life scenarios for hours on end, but the principle is the same.

• Be realistic in your ambitions for the role play. For instance, if you are teaching a complex behavioural model, break it down, rather than have people role play it in one huge chunk. Just as actors don't rehearse a play in one huge lump, they break it down into (sometimes) tiny micro-units and rehearse until they really feel confident with each bit, so the same principles apply to any complex new skill to be learned. Being over-ambitious causes people to lose confidence in themselves and in role playing as a tool. Like any tool, role playing must be used properly or it won't work. If you don't have time to eventually get the participants doing the whole thing properly, in depth, with plenty of rehearsal and revisiting, then just do a part of it.

role play briefing

• Role playing can become ineffective if people are unclear about what they are supposed to do. The briefs for all sides of the role play should be unambiguous and totally in line with the objectives. Here again, any muddy thinking will have consequences. Be clear about the purpose. If you are assessing skills in a certain situation then the brief must reflect this. If you are assessing or developing behaviour, keep technicalities out of the brief. Generally, remove technical content except for the very basic information needed to particularise the culture. Otherwise, lots of technical detail provides a bolt hole for people who are skilled or pre-occupied in technicalities, when they should be focusing on structure, or process or behaviour. The exercise will keep its point and value if it avoids technical distractions.

• Role playing briefs should contain enough information for both parties to engage in a believable and relevant conversation, which should be in line with the objectives. Give as much detail as is necessary - too little and there won't be enough to sustain a conversation, too much and people will be swamped with information, most of which they either won't need or won't remember.

• Avoid giving people the task of role playing attitudes alone. If you want somebody to role play an angry customer give them something to be angry about. Behaviour, like acting, is all about specifics. If you are angry with your garage about a specific oil leak and their inability to cure it, there will have been a specific chain of events that has led to your picking the phone up and complaining. It is not a general anger at everything. Role players can forget this in the heat of the moment if given open licence to just 'be angry'; there needs to be a reason for it. A well written brief will help to keep the role play focused and on track.

• Adequate preparation time may seem obvious, but it is often overlooked in the belief that it is best to get on with it. People can be encouraged to share what they are trying to achieve with observers, so it becomes a shared, facilitative exercise rather than a battle - this will also defuse fear and tension. Again, sharing objectives will help and not 'spoil' the role play.

• In developmental role play, the option can be given to press the pause button where people feel they are getting into difficulty. Although building up a flow in a role play has advantages, it is not a scene from a TV soap, it is a rehearsal tool. And in rehearsals, people stop and start. No-one should be expected to give a 'performance'. Emphasising this too will dissipate people's fear and concern.

role play observation and feedback

• Allow the other participants to observe the role play and give their comments afterwards. Observers are hugely beneficial to the participants' learning. How often in life do we get the opportunity to gain from such focused attention? We not only have our own response to the role play; we can also benefit from our fellow role players' observations, and tutor's point of view, and the feedback from the observers.

• For the observers, explain clearly what you want them to look out for. Again this should be in line with your objectives. The language of feedback is also very important. Feedback should broadly follow SMART principles (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time-bound). Role play feedback should describe specific things that the observer saw and heard, relevant to the exercise and to the person(s) doing the role playing. Role play feedback should not contain subjective judgements or comments based on personal knowledge or assumptions. Feedback should be meaningful and specific - something that the role player can act on. Role play feedback isn't helpful if it suggests that the role player should 'get a new personality' or 'be nicer'. Remind participants that the purpose of the role play is for the development of the person or people doing the role play. Objectivity facilitates learning.

Role play rules are basically simple: role plays must be focused; the objectives must be clear and understood; instructions must be clear and understood; feedback needs to be specific, relevant, achievable and given immediately. Crucial to learning and developing options of behaviour - knowing what works, what doesn't work, the range of behaviour available to an individual - is the opportunity to go back and have another go or several goes at bits of the role play and/or the whole role play. This flexibility needs judging and managing on each occasion, so as to provide a more comfortable experience, and to double the learning value. Aside from which, when you plan and run proper role play sessions, participants will often tell you they actually enjoyed the experience; that they forgot it was a role play, and found it the most powerful learning they've ever experienced!

This free article is aimed to help non-professional role play trainers and facilitators (ie., those without an acting background) to create and provide effective role playing for training and development, and includes the same principles that professional role play facilitators use in designing, writing, and delivering specialised role playing training activities.

© content edward harbour and jill connick 2004, edit alan chapman 2004. Used with permission. From the free resources website www.businessballs.com. Not to be sold or published. Authors accept no liabilities.

The design, facilitation and training of role playing are at the core of AIM's expertise. If you'd like more information or advice about role playing please contact them: phone +44 (0)20 8829 8969, website: www.aimass.com or email: info@aimass.com.

For web articles see:

Pizarro, Dianne and Ruth Buchanan (1999) Dramatic Storytelling in the English Classroom,  a project of the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, Commonwealth Government of Australia,  Australian Secondary Principals' Association

Available at: http://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/index.htm

The focus of this creative site is on the high school English class, and may be adapted  to higher education as well as other disciplines.  The site includes a rationale for integrating acting into lesson plans, including Bloom's taxonomy, Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, and William's classification of creativity.  Several games and activities are described in detail, and are fairly easy to follow.  Offers ideas for conducting learning assessment, such as reflective journals and a variety of checklists. Citations and links are provided.