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Assigned-role discussions

Summerlin Page

Description

An assigned-role discussion combines elements of a class discussion with role-play, encouraging students to step outside their normal constraints and tackle an idea from a new point of view. This strategy can be used in many different disciplines, but works especially well in the humanities and social sciences.

Not to be confused with acting, “role-play is the experiencing of a problem under an unfamiliar set of constraints in order that one’s own ideas may emerge and one’s understanding increase” (van Ments, 1999, p.9). The objective is not so much to act, but to step into a different role in order to address one’s biases or stereotypes and look at a situation from another side (van Ments, 1999, p. 10).

Major Concepts

Three types of assigned-role discussions are dramatized discussions, critical debate, and conversation roles (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999). In a dramatized discussion, students are assigned roles from a text and encouraged to act out a theme, and in a critical debate, students choose their sides and the instructor has them debate from the opposing viewpoint (Brookfield, 1999, p.122). The most complicated strategy is that of the conversation roles. Students are put into groups and assigned different roles. One is to pose a problem, one is the “reflective analyst” who gives a summary at timed intervals of what has been discussed so far. There are also the “scrounger” who records ideas of resources or ways something might be worked out, a devil’s advocate who expresses opinions opposite to consensus to keep group in check, a detective who listens for biases, a theme spotter, and an umpire who keeps everyone in line (Brookfield & Preskill, p. 116). For small groups, these roles can be reduced to a storyteller, detective, and an umpire (Brookfield & Preskill p.117). Roles should be alternated so no student is always stuck with the same one, and that everyone gets an opportunity to try each.

Relationship to Teaching Perspective

Assigned-role discussions can be most useful in the developmental, nurturing, and social reform perspectives. These activities give students models for thinking an acting, which is one aspect of the developmental perspective. From a nurturing standpoint, these discussions encourage involvement from everyone while keeping both the introverts and extroverts in check. Having students step outside their usual activities and look at a situation from a different perspective is very useful in a classroom where the instructor teaches from a social reform perspective.

Benefits

Changing up classroom activities with these discussions keeps students involved, and the conversation roles especially keep students alert and participating (Brookfield & Preskill, p. 117). Switching roles and types of discussions prevents boredom, and these discussions are a more active way of learning than a typical lecture. Morry van Ments asserts that role-play activities in the classroom not only enlivens the material, but allows for quick feedback so that the instructor knows how well students are understanding what has been presented (p. 13).

Drawbacks and Cautions

The dramatizations can lead to students getting carried away with the acting aspect rather than being directly engaged with the educational purpose. With critical debate, it is not always possible to split the class evenly, and after the first time, students may purposely pick the opposing side, knowing they will then be assigned to the one they can better debate (Brookfield & Preskill, p. 117). Of course, debates can also become heated, and the instructor must be sure to mediate if things become difficult.

Final Thoughts

Of the assigned-role discussions, I have only participated in a critical debate, and it turned out very well. It was in a gender studies course, and being on the opposing side and being forced to think of how to win an argument from that standpoint was a very eye-opening experience. I look forward to implementing these methods in literature classes in the future, and I see great potential for them to be used in history and philosophy courses.

References

Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (1999). Discussion as a Way of Teaching. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Van Ments, Morry (1999). The Effective use of Role-Play. London: Kogan Page.