All of you must have heard the quote, “Actions Speaks Louder Than Words.” And, when it comes to teaching this quote perfectly fits the learning pattern of the students.
If you are a teacher, then you must have encountered the scenario where students are just listening to the lecture in the class and are not understanding anything.
You must be wondering, how can I regain the interest of students in the classroom? Is there any way to make things understandable for them?
Well, if you have been struggling with this thought, then this is just the apt blog for your needs.
Have you ever heard about the role-playing teaching concept? If not, then also need not worry as this blog will take you to every corner of role-play teaching and will give you the true essence that how you can implement it in the classroom.
So, without any further delays, let’s deep dive and see what this technique has in store for you.
What is role-playing?
Before moving on further, it is very important to understand the basic idea behind role-playing in teaching.
Role-playing as the name suggests is an art of teaching where the students take different roles for a particular topic or a situation to act according to that.
This will not only help the students get a better hold of the topic but also help their peers in better understanding of the concepts with the help of the role they are playing.
To understand it in a broader perspective, take the example of a History chapter and you gave the student to discuss Hitler, then that student will enact Hitler based upon the chapter and will provide all the details about the character while enacting.
Advantages of role-playing
You must be thinking, does this technique works? This is one of the major questions that can strike anyone's mind before implementing the technique.
If this technique has any proven results to depict, then only you will be convinced to use it in the classroom with your students. Right?
So, why not have a look at some of its advantages and see what it has in store for you and your students.
1. This technique of learning is very motivational and keeps the students engaged with the learning for a great time. When the students start using this technique, they feel elated and keep on finding ways to use it further.
2. With this technique, you will give real-world scenarios to the students for enacting that make them more concerned about their surroundings.
3. Students will also start getting command over the life skills like teamwork, negotiation, cooperation, and debate while using this technique.
While enacting a role students will come across these several factors in their role and will understand all these terms from a broader perspective.
Therefore, rather than gaining knowledge at the theoretical level, they get an in-depth knowledge of practical skills around them.
4. Role-playing also enhances the critical thinking power of the students. While using this approach, students get an opportunity to see their peers and observe the critical things.
These will ultimately help in boosting and improvising their critical thinking skills.
If role-playing is effectively used in the classroom then it can un-turn various stones for students' development and their prospects. So, why not give it a try and see for yourself how it works in your classroom?
How to implement role-playing in the classroom?
Now comes the section that you have been eagerly waiting for since the beginning of this blog. This is one of the major concerns that need to be addressed.
Only knowing the technique won’t bore any fruits if you don’t have an idea about its implementation.
There are a few simple steps that you can use to implement this technique in your classroom and see the wonders for yourself.
So, let’s get started and have a closer look at the implementation part.
Step 1: Identify the situation
Before jumping into the role play, everyone in the class must be well-versed with the situation which everyone will enact.
For example, take the History chapter that you want to teach in the class. Before dividing the role among the students, you should give a briefing about the chapter in the initial phase.
This will not only help the students get an idea about the role they will be playing but also sets a base ground for them.
Step 2: Give details
Now comes the time when you need to give more details about the topic to the students so they can easily understand the topic and present it well.
In this step, try to give more clarity about the topic to the students so that they start feeling an urge to play the roles and understand the topics at an in-depth level.
Step 3: Assign roles
Then assign the roles to the students in such a way that you have a clear picture of the characters that need to be performed to depict a particular act.
For instance, students need to enact the scene of World War II, therefore every student should be given a different character that they can perform while role-playing.
You can also make sure that every student is assigned a character so that their interest is not lost. Moreover, make sure that if there are a large number of students then divide them into small groups and then assign the roles.
Step 4: Act out the role
Now comes the showtime, where students need to perform the act or the role they are designated to perform.
Students can have in-depth research about the topics they are going to perform. This will not only help them gain better knowledge of the concepts they are learning but will also offer an opportunity to their peers to understand concepts well.
Students can even find some innovative ways on their own to check which things work better for understanding the concepts.
Step 5: Reflect upon the learnings
Once the class is done with the role-playing act, it’s time to have an open discussion and see what the students have learned.
This will not only allow the candidates to introspect on their learnings but will also give you an idea of whether the students have understood the concept or not.
In addition to that, it will also tell you about the effectiveness of the technique in your classroom.
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, role-playing teaching is a great asset that you can implement in your classroom.
Once you start using it, there is no going back and you will see how fruitful results it can offer you.
So, give it a shot for yourself and see how it will impact the teaching in your class.
ALL THE BEST!
