The Mantle of the Expert

The mantle of the expert is a system for learning through the active imagination and enquiry methodology.  It was developed by the educator Dorothy Heathcote. She sees the mantle of the expert as “an active urgent, purposeful view of learning, in which knowledge is to be operated on and not merely taken in.” (Heathcote & Bolton, 1996)

The mantle of the expert makes the learners pretend as if they are the experts. Through the work the pupils do they create an imaginary enterprise.  They then work on an imaginary job as if they were the real people in charge. This project work creates opportunities for the children to explore the curriculum in any subject. The “enterprise” part provides the context for learning. This is good for teachers and pupils alike as the teacher could bring together different areas of the curriculum, rather than trying to teach them separately. It is a ‘drama’ based way of learning, this allows for more imagination skills to be used as well as the classes developing ways to “see through each other’s eyes” helping young people develop ownership over their enterprise. (Mantleoftehexpert.com, 2014)The pupils are motivated by the challenge and chance of making their enterprise work. They also take great pride in their work. The mantle of the expert also allows the pupils to get a hands on approach to learning and be fully involved in projects. These projects give them a great idea of what they are studying in a very memorable environment

The aim of reducing subject boundaries resonates with the work of Dewey whose focus was to involve learners in problem-solving. Having strong problem solving skills is a great trait to work on and have for the future for these children who would participate in the mantle of the expert.

The only disadvantage I could think of Is that this may only be beneficial to children who are not shy and want to have a hands on approach to learning, whilst some children may well want to take a step back and not have such a lead role in the enterprise. However, it could be possible that by giving these children a specific task in the group (which is something that happens in this way of learning) they can excel and their confidence can grow so they feel that their opinions do matter and are valued.

I believe that both Heathcote and Wenger share a concern that all learning has to be situated within a recognisable scenario for the pupils but Heathcote creates her social context in a way which tries to replicate the real world. Wenger and Heathcote share a common concern that learning is too often separated from familiar normal life and happens in a separate space, and that testing happens ‘out of context’ in an atmosphere that discourages most collaborative work. (Wenger, 1998)

 

When we took part in our project we had to make our own company which we called Jools & Sons. We then had to build a bridge with materials that would cost under a certain amount. This involved us researching material costs and finding out key information about bridge building. We also all collaborated our ideas in a way that benefited one another. We also made our bridges unique to ourselves to give ourselves a unique selling point by making our bridge colourful. Here is our finished bridge/tunnel design.