What is moe?
The Mantle of the Expert is a dramatic-inquiry based approach to teaching and learning invented and developed by Professor Dorothy Heathcote at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the 1980’s. The big idea is that the class do all their curriculum work as if they are an imagined group of experts.
They might be scientists in a laboratory or archaeologists excavating a tomb, or a rescue team at the scene of a disaster. They might be running a removal company, or a factory, or a shop, or a space station or a French resistance group.
Because they behave ‘as if they are experts’, the children are working from a specific point of view as they explore their learning and this brings special responsibilities, language needs and social behaviours.
Let us be clear: the children are not putting on a play or running a business. They are simply being asked to agree, for a time, to imagine themselves as a group of scientists, archaeologists or librarians with jobs and responsibilities.
Through activities and tasks, the children gradually take on the same kinds of responsibilities, problems and challenges that real archaeologists, scientists and librarians might do in the real world.
How does moe work?
In the Mantle of the Expert, there is always an “enterprise” to be run. And always a client who needs help with a job needing to be done. The emphasis is on the tasks the children need to do, to make the “enterprise” a success and to serve the needs of the clients.
The system permits the normal school context of class responsibility to change. Instead of the children relying on the teacher’s energy to drive the work and evaluate achievement, teacher and class share the responsibility for the quality of work. Running the enterprise is, like an enterprise in real-life, based in action and processes; thus it generates a range of different tasks: talking, listening, writing, speaking, making, designing, planning, measuring, weighing, etc. These tasks are channelled by the teacher towards the requirements of the school curriculum.
An Example
Trialled and tested at Tanys Dell CP Harlow
The children are running an “enterprise”: a store. They have to consider the needs of all their clients and customers particularly as the context is invented to challenge the abuse of recreational drugs. (One of the people running a section of the store-the teacher in role-is attempting to bring the plight of her son to the attention of the public by distributing leaflets in the store.) The teacher operates from two distinct standpoints-one within the fictional setting-taking various roles to challenge the class further in their learning through imagined experiences. The other standpoint is as teacher of standards and new knowledge, perhaps as a teacher who has seen a misconception occurring that needs reviewing –each standpoint brings with it different possibilities for learning giving teachers new horizons in choosing which pedagogic tools to apply.
Why use moe?
What are the advantages of working this way?
The “enterprise” provides a context for learning. Teachers can bring together different areas of the curriculum, rather than trying to teach them separately. It is ‘drama’ based, so that classes develop ways to ‘see through other eyes’ helping young people develop ownership over their enterprise. They are motivated by the challenge of making their enterprise work.
This is what people have said about mantle of the expert:
The impact moe has had on the school as a whole has been incredible. From the staff’s perspective we have all been enthused by this way of working. Staff have embraced all the training opportunities, and professional dialogue, and have had the opportunities to take risks in their classrooms, evaluate with colleagues, and then go back and try again!There has been an overall heightening of their understanding of how learning is best facilitated, the level of discussion around school has become much more precise and challenging, the staff relating experiences/ideas etc to academic research/educational theory. Through the project, members of staff have gained skills and confidence. Overall there is a BUZZ! From the pupils’ perspective they are much more engaged with learning. They are becoming more articulate, self-aware and able to develop and move ideas on. They use the words: “fun”, “adventure” and there is an evident degree of urgency in their work – it is real, meaningful and relevant!”