Fictional others: Expanding the possible through interactions with the fictional

In this article from NJ: The Drama Australia Journal Carrie Swanson talks about the use of ‘fictional others’ in a Mantle of the Expert teaching experience based on a famous maritime disaster, the sinking of the Wahine. Carrie explains the reason she included four significant ‘others’ from the imagined world in her teaching: the ship’s captain, an incompetent scientist, an uncompromising boss, and a family member who had lost relatives in the disaster. By interacting with these ‘fictional others’, children were introduced to a range of different perspectives, adopted different status positions, gained more empathy and insight and were motivated to strive for scientific accuracy as they carried out investigations to explore the reasons behind the sinking.

The journal is paywalled, so readers usually need to pay to access readings but the link below gives access to 50 free e-prints of the article. Thanks for sharing, Carrie!

https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4MZUqHNfnxUYBGUswciF/full