Nau mai, haere mai!
Welcome to Mantle of the Expert Aotearoa
A website for kaiako / educators in Aotearoa New Zealandand around the world,
convened by Dr Viv Aitken from 2009 – 2025, now hosted by Whakaari Aotearoa Drama New Zealand.
Here you will find everything you need to understand, plan, and implement engaging learning adventures, using the cross-curricula Dramatic Inquiry approach known as Mantle of the Expert (developed from the work of famed educator Dorothy Heathcote 1926-2011).
This site contains treasures from over 15 years of shared mahi (work) with teachers around Aotearoa, including podcasts, blogs, research, conference presentations, tips and guidance and planning resources. You can purchase the book Real in All the Ways that Matter here.
Mantle of the Expert NZ site transferred to the care of Whakaari Aotearoa, Drama NZ
In August of 2025, I sent an email to website subscribers announcing that this website would be closing at the end of the year. A few days later I received a call from Annette Thomson, the President of Whakaari Aotearoa – Drama NZ, saying that they’d like to take over ownership of the site and […]
Notes from te Kura Hōtoke Winter school 2023
Te Kura Hōtoke Winter school is something of a highlight in the PLD calendar for the DI community in Aotearoa, with its focus on Mantle of the Expert. This year was the first time we included three course levels in the one event. We were delighted to have Tim Taylor from the UK joining us […]
Reflections on working with a master teacher
For five weeks over July and the start of August 2023 I had the pleasure of hosting my friend and mentor Tim Taylor on a tour of the North Island of Aotearoa. We visited Whangarei, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Gisborne, Plimmerton and Auckland’s North Shore. We taught in schools, we presented workshops on our new book […]