2018...The beginning of new adventures!

Although I'm not new to Mantle of the Expert, I wouldn't consider myself successful by any means. I have 'attempted' three MOTE's over my 10 year teaching career and have always fallen short. I have found it hard to balance giving the children control and facilitating the learning. Needless to say they have died a natural death. I often struggle with knowing how to begin a Mantle and how best to engage the children. Perhaps this is where I have gone wrong.

I recently attended a two day, winter workshop with Viv Aitken and Tim Taylor at Waikato University which was one of the most intense, but exciting workshops I've attended. It became apparent how lucky I was to have two experts in the field of Dramatic Inquiry very early on. Another bonus was the connections I have begun to make with the other attendees. I will publish my notes here at a later date.

My ideas around why I've been unsuccessful so far are that I didn't move the children through the steps outlined below from Tim's How to use the Continuum of Engagement  article:

Attraction
Attention
Interest
Motivation
———————
Engagement
Concern
Investment
Obsession

I have also not fully understood my role as the facilitator and how much of the 'real life' to include in the Mantle's. I think I've allowed for the children to cat as adults too much and have stepped out of the process more than I should have. The children still need me and my guidance and without it they have floundered.

I'm super excited to have another go and my journey will be recorded here...the good, the bad and the ugly!

I'm still trying to decide how I will capture the children's learning through MOTE. Perhaps a blog, or a scrapbook. Watch this space...