Thanks to Cordelia Huxtable for permission to reproduce her dissertation on Mantle of the Expert written in 2009.
In this dissertation, Huxtable makes the case for the strong links between MOTE and the Key competencies.
A good read, which firmly places MOTE in the NZ context.
2012 is off to a flying start. A number of teachers at primary and secondary are plotting great things in their classrooms for term 1 or term 2. The summer school paper in Tauranga is going really well, and a bunch of new teachers is coming through all enthused and ready to try the approach.
We have already held a small skype call for secondary teachers around the country in which we discussed some planning ideas. This group meets again (over skype) on Weds 22nd Feb at 7pm. Meantime, the conversations continue via the MOODLE discussion forum on the website. Check out this link for more.
If you are a secondary teacher and would like to join this group, please let Viv know.
The next face to face cluster meeting in Waikato will be Tuesday 7th Feb at 5pm at The Education Leadership centre, downstairs at the rear of the Faculty of Education building, University of Waikato. All are welcome.
The suggestion is that we look at different ways to establish and build belief in a MOTE company / enterprise. Some new ideas have come through teachers’ work recently which would be great to share. Please bring your ideas / questions about this crucial stage of planning for a MOTE. Please also bring a plate of food to share.
The other focus for the gathering will be planning for our open evening, coming up in March.
A small gathering was held via Skype on January 10th, enabling a conversation between various secondary teachers interested in using Mantle of the Expert in their teaching in 2012.
The group discussed the issues of working within timetable and assessment constraints, how to get started in MOTE with inexperienced children, and some possible planning ideas for building a MOTE experience to incorporate English, Drama and Social studies.
This group of teachers will be meeting again via skype close to the start of Term one. If you are a secondary teacher and would like to join the group, please email Viv for information.
This week the celebration of Dorothy Heathcote’s life was held in Spondon, Derbyshire, UK. It was great that our own Sarah Marino was able to attend, to represent Drama NZ and Mantle of the Expert practitioners from this part of the world.
Pamela Bowell gave a moving address at the ceremony and she has given permission for this to be reproduced here. It’s a lovely snapshot of what it was like to work alongside DH, and the legacy she has left behind.
Dorothy-Heathcote-–-a-personal-reflection-by-Pamela-Bowell1
Natalie and Alex from Puketaha school have provided a link to their classroom blog. Check out the ‘links’ on the right of our home page or click the link below to visit. You might notice that some of the blog is written in role…
Thanks guys for sharing this with us!
http://classof2011room1.
A final reminder that enrolments for ALED 515, the University of Waikato’s postgraduate paper in Mantle of the Expert will be closing soon.
This year the paper will be taught through a combination of oncampus classes (16th to 20th January, Windermere Campus, Tauranga) and follow up work online (concluding end of term one).
The paper offers a combination of practical experience, theory and assistance with planning for your own classroom. Past students have included primary, secondary and community educators. The course has been a fantastic experience in the past and looks like shaping up to be a great group this year too…. Further information is on the attached flier.
Check out the new page just inserted into the website under ‘planning in MOTE – teacher resources’ Or click here. On this page you will find 10 concept ideas for MOTE plans all very different and all with a distinctly NZ theme.
These concepts for Mantle of the Expert units of work were designed by third year students as part of their learning on TEAL 387 at Waikato University. My thanks to these students for agreeing to allow their ideas to be shared with other teachers. They are loosely categorized according to the main curriculum learning areas that they cover – though the ‘incorporated’ approach of MOTE means that each concept gives opportunities to teach right across the curriculum including opportunities for rich learning in Maths, Literacy and ethics / values. Key competencies are not indicated but are core to any MOTE experience.
Please note, these concepts provide only the broad framework for planning – naturally a great deal of micro-planning would be required for individual lessons and to ensure teaching for learning. It is important to note that the concepts as they stand do NOT include indications of drama conventions and other drama for learning strategies which the teacher would need to use. And naturally, the direction of the inquiry would flex and change depending on the interests of the children in the class. Nonetheless, I think you will agree that these concepts provide a stimulating set of NZ based ideas for MOTE units – and we really need to start building a collection of those!
Very sad to report the death of another important figure within drama education circles in this part of the world - Prof. John Carroll. I attach here below an extract from an obituary for John written by Susan Battye. To read the whole thing, visit the drama NZ website….
Professor John Carroll, BA NE, MEd PhD Newcastle(UK) has died. A staunch supporter of Drama New Zealand from its inception, he will be sorely missed by many members for his intelligence, wit, humanity and devotion to the work of Dorothy Heathcote. He has made an enormous contribution to the development of Drama in Education and his death is most untimely.
His friend, Gerry Boland writes: ‘John Carroll died in Bathurst at approximately 12:30am, Thursday, 27 October. His life’s partner Julie Martello, his sister Lee, and son Jack were with him when he expired after making a stalwart fight against cancer over many months.’
T o me he was an Aussie chum who was colloquially known in Drama circles as ‘one of the Johns’. He is immortalised on film working with Primary aged students in Newcastle upon Tyne in role in a Mantle of the Expert drama about Dr Lister. We were fortunate to have been able to see John last year during a presentation to the Drama Symposium organised by the Critical Studies Department at the University of Auckland. Within the world of academia John Carroll paved the way for Drama to enter the brave new world of screen mediated drama. There is no doubt that his pioneering work in Australia has been of benefit to us all who work in the field of Drama in Education.
A successful planning session was held in Hamilton last week where local teachers came together to brainstorm ideas and share advice for term four:
Amongst others, we generated the following ideas:
The gathering was useful not only to touch base with other teachers but also to remind ourselves of some of planning steps and guiding principles of planning in MOTE. Again, it was impressive to see primary, early years and secondary teachers sharing ideas. Kia Ora team!