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==Descriptions, Definitions, and Synonyms==  
One of the earliest definitions of role play is provided by Mann and Mann (1956):

#where a person is asked to perform a role which is not normally his own, or
#is explicitly asked to perform a normal role but not in a setting where it is normally taken.

(Yardley-Matwiejczuk 68)


The ''American Heritage Dictionary'' defines role-playing as 

#''Psychology'' A therapeutic technique, designed to reduce conflict in social situations, in which participants act out particular behavioral roles in order to expand their awareness of differing points of view. 
#An instance or situation in which one deliberately acts out or assumes a particular character or role. 

According to Stacie Nicole Smith, senior associate, director, and curriculum writer for the Workable Peace Project, role play is defined as a form of experiential learning that gives participants the opportunites 

#to have direct experience with content
#to practice or develop new skills

(Smith 194)

Role is a key concept in sociological theory. It highlights the social expectations attached to particular social positions and analyses the workings of such expectations. Role theory was particularly popular during the mid-20th century, but after sustained criticism came to be seen as flawed and became less widely used. However the concept of role, properly understood, remains a basic tool for sociological understanding. The structural account of roles locates a position in society, such as that of a teacher, and then tries to describe the standard bundle of rights and duties associated with an ideal type of this position. These expectations, which are socially based, constitute the role (Scott & Marshall, 2005). 

In most role-playing exercises, each student takes the role of a person affected by an issue and studies the impacts of the issues on human life and/or the effects of human activities on the world around us from the perspective of that person. More rarely, students take on the roles of some phenomena, such as part of an ecosystem, to demonstrate the lesson in an interesting and immediate manner.

==Application in Classrooms and Similar Settings==
http://www.brookfieldps.org/schools/whisconier_m_s_/online_classrooms/5th_grade/mrs__blankenship/images/larger_cartoon_classroom.jpg

The variety of uses of role play:
*Social psychology research
*Clinical research
*Therapy and treatment
*Training tool (commonly used to train therapists, counselors, social workers, and teachers)
*In the classroom


Role playing unfolds in Jane Nelson's (a [[Dreikurs, Rudolf]]-[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Adler/ Adlerian] writer's) model of classroom meetings.  It is the seventh of eight building blocks for carrying out effective class meetings, and it falls hand in hand with brainstorming.

     "''Practice role-playing and brainstorming'': Nelson has students in class meetings role-
     play problems and interactions between individuals that could occur in the classroom or in
     the outside world.  Often, after these role-playing sessions, students would brainstorm to
     consider how these incidents could be handled in a different or creative manner" 
     (Wolfgang 130).


"Role-playing is useful for practicing appropriate behavior in more complex social interactions where students must choose from a wide range of possible behaviors. Good topics for role-playing include sharing materials, including classmates in activities, and supporting someone who makes a mistake. Role-playing allows the teacher to acknowledge the complexity of these situations and give students practice in making responsible choices" (Brady et al.)

"Role play also provides opportunities for deep learning along with a process for confronting our existing ideas about how and why certain thins happen, breaking them down, and offering a new model or set of postulates to replace the old ones"  (Smith 194).

There are many types of role plays which can be used in the classroom setting. The goal of all of these methods is to engage the student in real world thinking and problem solving. One type is called "option display." (Harmin, 1994) This method works well for situations where a controversial issue is being addressed where the answer is not very clear. The procedure would be to list the problem/question then construct a display with possible solutions, finally research, discuss, debate, and decide on the proper solution. (Harmin 1994) In a situation like this, students can be given role assignments by their teacher; in doing this, the student is then forced to see the issue as best they can through the eyes of an individual affected by this in a different way from themselves.

==Evidence of Effectiveness==
'''Links'''

*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game Role-playing game, from Wikipedia]
*This is an example of a role play that is designed to foster the analysis of personal values.  It should help students to develop strategies for solving personal and interpersonal problems.  This is a teaching method written in lesson plan format.[http://www.usask.ca/education/coursework/mcvittiej/methods/role.html Role Play]
*This lesson uses student background knowledge and reverse role-playing to improve students' awareness of issues related to cultural and linguistic differences, and allows them to work cooperatively. 
[http://www.everythingesl.net/inservices/sensitize.php Sensitize Your Mainstream Students]
*An example of historical role play within the English classroom.[http://www.aspa.asn.au/Projects/english/histrp.htm Historical Role Play: Dramatic Storytelling in the Classroom]
*[http://www.learnenglish.de/Teachers/roleplays.htm Role Plays in the ESL Classroom]

'''Articles from Educational Journals'''

*"The Growing of America" is a new resource for social studies and science teachers to complement Boston public broadcasting station WGBH's Earth Day special ''World in Balance.''  It is designed to engage and teach students of the challenges embedded in balancing the economic, environmental, and immigration policy.  Students are given opportunites to explore four core sources of conflict: interests, beliefs, identities, and emotions.  Students practice and develop negotiations and democratic skills necessary for active engagement in public deliberation. 
       (Smith 2004)
*First Grade Trip to Washington D.C.  For three weeks, teachers guide first grade students through monuments, memorials, and buildings in a virtual trip to the nation's capital.  At each stop, students use classroom activities based on the P-D-R (play, debrief, and replay) model connecting their experiences to bigger National Coucil for the Social Studies standards.  
       (Morris 2003)
*Get Out and Vote!" is a school wide role play held at Moorsetown Friends School in New Jersey.  This article describes how students become involved as candidates, issues consultants, publicity coordinators, and reporters as the school simulate primary and national elections.   Step by step instructions and guides are provided which highlight the need for early contact with administration, setting ground rules, thinking about the logistics of the school, connected students to real campaign offices, setting limits, being flexible, and allowing room for fun.  
       (Mansfield 2004)

==Critics and Their Rationale==
"Young people also appreciate and enjoy the opportunity to be active participants in their classes.  Studies have shown that they are more likely to integrate and remember those things that they have learned actively, and that thay are more able to apply them to their lives, particularly when conflict or controversy arises"  (Cushman).

As a learning methodology, role-playing attempts to help students discover personal meanings within their social worlds and to resolve personal dilemmas with the aid of their social group. Through the risk-taking inherent in improvisation, students typically validate the educational payoff of the activity. In a more intensive and personal way than other teaching-learning methodologies, role playing:

*allows students to develop an understanding of others' perspectives
*encourages students to work with others in analyzing situations and developing workable solutions
*provides students an opportunity to apply concepts they have learned in a rich, realistic environment
*gives students the chance to gain insights into interpersonal challenges they are likely to face in their careers and private lives
*enables students to effectively contrast problem-solving methods by role playing a situation several times from diverse perspectives
*offers a constructive channel through which feelings can be expressed and feedback processed 
*presents students with a forum for building self-esteem and confidence 
*helps students realize that college courses can be fun 

Whether the scenarios selected are deadly serious or light-hearted, focused on the affective, psychomotor or cognitive learning domains or a combination, role-playing can have a dramatic impact on the traditional approach of an instructor by requiring:

*the identification and introduction to the class of a sufficiently explicit problem and the exploration of issues which affect it 
*an effective and thorough explanation of the rules mirroring a social system which will guide the role playing exercise 
*an appropriate matching and orientation of students to the roles within the activity 
*appropriate methods of involving especially shy students, perhaps as chief observers/ evaluators 
*setting the stage for students, including establishment of observation tasks 
*monitoring of activity to ensure it pursues an appropriate direction
*debriefing of activity to ensure accomplishment of desired learning outcomes 

(Faculty Development Associates)

By having students enter into new situations as different people, role play provides the following opportunites where students; 

*break out of old patterns of thoughts and behavior
*experience the limitations of one set of strategies and/or the potential of another
*practice new skills and behavior
*confront the psychological and interpersonal responses that are the most difficult to manage in real conflict
*experiment, reflect, and give and receive feedback in a safe setting
(Smith 194-5)

==Alternative Explanations Due to '''Diversity''' considerations==
Ironically, role playing can be used to promote and teach diversisty.  Professor Moradi of the University of Florida uses role play methods to facilitate critical thinking as students shadow or role play for a day a woman who is different from them.  The goal of the role play is to learn and discuss steriotypes and potential attribution biases.  "The excercise can be modified, however, to teach about any combination of diversities..."    (Moradi 189).

==''Signed'' "Life Experiences", Testimonies and Stories==
I personally have an extensive drama/debate/forensics background, so I value role playing as an important tool in my classroom. I think it is important to be placed in a situation, forced to think as another person would. It's challenging to do, but critical. We live in a world where the cause of war and hatred is through misunderstanding. If we can understand why people made the decisions they did, by trying to see things through their eyes, we may not make such drastic decisions such as initiating warfare. I have conducted several strong role plays, but there are two which I am especially proud of. The first one I use with my 7th grade history class in relationship to our study of Columbus. In  this role play, we put Columbus, his men, the king and queen, the Taino native americans, and the system of the empire on trial. There are representatives for each side. In the end, the students see others' perspective and often in their final paper, they look at the Columbus situation very differently. The second one that has become very popular is what I call "The Alliance Game". I use this in relationship to WWI with my 8th grade. In this role play, the students take on 3 different roles from various made up countries (which in reality represent European countries) and fight to gain the most land and essentially stay on top through whatever means possible. The students are always amazed at what kinds of methods are used (including backstabbing and secrets) all to be the best. This allows the students to see why Europe got caught up in imperialism, aliances, nationalim, and militarism before WWI. -L. Keener

I see role playing as a great benefit to students.  Many times one can not empathize with another, unless there is prior experience or knowledge.  Using role playing in the classroom helps students become more familiar with a person or situation.  This should help students to have more empathy for their fellow class members. M. Youngblood  

Role playing can be an interesting way to ge your students more involved in the class. I make use of it in my current events class. Every four years we hold a mock presidential election. The class is broken up into two groups which each choose a person to be their candidate. The group then researches the candidate and prepares him for a debate to be held in class. The students really enjoy the project and it allows them to learn a lot about the candidates. Another simple thing that I do in American History could be considered a type of role play. I have the students choose someone important in American History and then do a diary based on that person. It creates a unique and interesting way to look at famous people. Craig Johnson

Role playing can be an eye-opening exercise for students.  Pushing students to examine another perspective can be a helpful exercise because it models an important strategy; doing so assists students in truly understanding their peers.  Using role playing should be a priority if teachers value students ability to examine perspectives other than their own.

-Liz Naumann

When working with ''Character Counts'' which is a program which teaches students about respect, responsibility, understanding, etc. I used role playing.  My fifth grade students would really come up with some really good scenarios using one of the six traits of ''Character Counts''.  Sometimes I would give them a scenario and then they would have to come up with an appropriate role play to demonstrate the trait we were concentrating on.  

-S.Morrisette

Role playing allows students, particularly struggling readers, to visualize their text.  Previously, I used role playing and integrated word play (In Your Own Words) to further foster reading interest and comphrehension.

- K. Mattis

While I can see the value of role playing, I personally don't use it in my classroom for one simple fact: I myself hate to do it.  To me, I don't get anything out of acting like someone else in a situation that I have never been in.  It doesn't help me understand the materials any better.  I would prefer another method to help me understand: reading an account from someone in this situation, watching a video, etc.  Plus, I think that some students are very uncomfortable role playing, especially in 7th grade where how you look and act are everything.

-Amy Higgins

I find role playing an exceptional teaching tool when working with students to promote self advocacy skills. Allowing my students to 'practice' what to say to their teachers, peers and other adults gives them the self confidence to actually speak up for themselves. R. Hall

To me, role playing is a useful tool, but must be implemented with care. For instance, I once observed a class doing a role-play situation that took place in the Warsaw Ghetto. Students came out of the role play with the attitude that "I experienced the Warsaw Ghetto." This was not only unrealistic, but insulting to actual survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto.   Warner Ferratier

I thoroughly enjoyed my role playing part in the conflict resolution activity. How can a 47 year old man act like a 4th grade girl? I pulled it off, and it made me aware of some of the things that little girls must deal with. Role playing is like a practice test. You understand more of both sides of the issue when you role play, causing you to be cautious with your words and actions. At least that's what I got outof it.  M. Uhls

I think role playing can be a very effective tool in the classroom.  It is great for teaching fluency and expression in reading.  It is also helpful in showing kids the perspectives of others.  If you put your classroom bully in the character of someone that is being bullied, they may get a glimpse of how they make other people feel.  Of course, this doesn't always work, but it can't hurt.  
-NMF

I loved role playing when I was a student in middle school. We were learning the textbook from  Great Britain named "Look Listen & Learn", and there were lots of funny stories in each unit. Everyday, after learning a lesson, our English teacher would ask us to act out. I thought my spoken English improved a lot thanks to those role playings. In my teaching, I used the same method and asked my students to do the same to improve their spoken English. And my kids loved it, too. Different from my teacher, in my class, my students also learned how to analyze the characters and their behaviors, which I think at the same time, helped their reading comprehension.
---X. Z.

I have used role playing in the past and have found that it can be an effective tool for teaching students in a variety of ways. First and foremost this technique allows students to be exposed to new ideas and perspectives from the role that they play in the activity. Role playing is also important because it teaches students to understand the importance of being aware that there can be perspectives that differ from their own and while they may not agree with them, the students can come to understand this perspective.  Ann Harty

==References==
Brady, Kathyrn, Mary Beth Forton, Deborah Porter, and Chip Wood.  ''Rules In School''.  Northeast Foundation for Children, 2003.

Cushman, Kathleen.  (2000) What Makes for Powerful Learning? Students Tell Thier Own Experiences.  ''Horace,'' 16(2).  

Faculty Development Associates (1999).  ''Using Role Playing Effectively In Your Classroom''.  Retrieved Nov. 30, 2004, from http://www.developfaculty.com/index.htm

Harmin, Merrill (1994) Inspiring Active Learners: A Handbook for Teachers. Association for the Supervision of Curriculum Development: Virginia. 

Mansfield, Margaret; Anderson, Betsy (2004) Get Out and Vote! ''Teaching PreK-8,'' 35(2).  56-57.   

Moradi, Bonnie (2004). Teaching About Diversities: The Shadow/Role-Play Excercise. ''Teaching of Psychology,'' 31(3), 188-191.  

Morris, Ronald V. (2003) The Nation's Capital and First Graders.  ''The Social Studies,'' 94(6), 265-269.

Scott, J. and Marshall, G. "role"  A Dictionary of Sociology.  Oxford University Press 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign.  26 June 2006  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t88.e1967>


Smith, Nicole S. (2004) Teaching for Civic Participation with Negotiation Role Plays. ''Social Education,'' 68(3), 194-197.    

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin, 2000.

Wolfgang, Charles H.  ''Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems: Methods and Models for Today's Teachers''.  New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2001.

Yardley-Matwiejczuk, Krysia M.  ''Role Play Theory and Practice''.  London: Sage Publications, 1997.

[[Category: EPSY406 ClassroomManagement]]
[[Category: EPSY490 ClassroomLearningAndManagement(CTER)]]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Role-playing_game