Learning from a master

Warning: this is long.Today I had the magical joy of watching Luke Abbot (Mantle of the Expert guru) in action.  I'm sitting at home trying to sum up what I saw and the only word I can think of is exactly that: magical. Which sounds corny, but I mean it in the literal (ish) sense.

He worked with a Year 5/6 group: the Year 6 children were in the middle of a 'Mountain Rescue'  context: a famous singer was stranded on Mount Everest with a severely injured leg. The children were in role as a mountain rescue team. The visiting Year 5 children were brought into the fiction by Luke: they became Sherpas, expert in Mount Everest and living in a village on the mountain. 

Next, he worked with a Year 3/4 class who had also been involved in a Mountain fiction. He began simply discussing their work with them, gradually becoming a mountain ranger whose team had all left him because of the overwhelming problem of litter on the mountain. He wondered what he should do: who would help him? The children quickly offered their own help (not yet an expert team) and Luke discussed with them what skills his team would need. From here, he then whispered: "Something else has been happening on the mountain too... a crack has appeared, and there are sounds coming from it. Now, the Native Americans believe that mountains talk...…" Myself and the other teachers then became the mountain and the children talked to us.

Some brief notes and ideas: Before each episode today it was clear that Luke spent time inviting children into, or back into, the fiction. Each episode started with a discussion, some wondering, some questions. During this Luke latched onto the children's ideas almost like a door into the fiction. For example when he was talking to the Year 3/4 class, it was when they talked about the litter on the mountains that Luke became the Mountain Ranger. During a conversation with the Year 5/6 class they started talking about 'the husband', a role which had not yet been explored, so Luke became the husband. It was very gentle, but irresistible by the children.

Luke talked about roles and today it was made clear to me the importance of introducing different viewpoints through the roles; these give depth and purpose to the fiction, creating different dimensions. They help to bring the world to the children.

At each stage children owned their story. Luke co-created roles and fictions using the children's ideas. It was so clearly a shared journey that no child felt forced in or upset at being taken over. For example with the 'Mountain Rescuers' fiction, Luke checked at each point that the original team was happy for the visiting team (who became Sherpas) to use their map and make marks on it.

The investment and concern in the children was quite incredible; and during each episode it increased the more work Luke did with them. At the end of the Year 3/4 session children were talking about the problem of litter with real feeling and passion. Once the Mountain became a talking role, they cared about it and sought its permission, instead of laughing and giggling.

The final element which became clearer to me today was tension. I still don't understand how it was done, but the tension during the Mountain Rescuers episodes was what kept the children engaged, focused and purposeful.

Finally, putting words to something I've been thinking a lot about in school, Luke talked about the importance of equity over equality. In this type of work, every child gets a say (equity). However, they will not all get the same thing from the work (equality) and this, despite the current curriculum and assessment demands, does not matter.

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For a longer reflection, I  thought the most helpful way to reflect would be by looking at the different elements of MoE and trying to match them up with what I saw today.

Some of the nine elements (see MoE beginner's guide pg 34 on)  Narrative: used to set up the context of the children; offering a way in to the fictionToday this was clearest during the 'Mountain Rangers' episode. Luke invited the children into the narrative using the voice of the Chief Ranger: litter was becoming a huge problem on the mountain, to the point where many rangers had left their posts to go to jobs in the city. The Chief is finding it hard to recruit new rangers. In addition, a crack has recently appeared in the mountain from which mysterious sounds have been coming. The local Native American people have said that this is the Voice of the Mountain and should be listened to.

Expert team:

• A mountain rescue team (already established prior to today): the children readily took on the role with some children looking at Google maps of the mountain, others researching the current weather conditions, and some creating a medical kit.

• A team of Sherpas: these were children who joined the 'Mountain Rescue' fiction. They were drawn into the fiction through a discussion initially. Luke mentioned Sherpas then asked whether anyone knew any Sherpa names (Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was mentioned). Would a team of expert Sherpas be helpful? Children agreed it would. The new recruits became the Sherpas through being given the task of researching Sherpa names and taking one on for themselves. They also identified where abouts their village was on the map of Everest previously created by the Mountain Rescue Team. Luke became the chief Sherpa and took on this role throughout which clearly supported the Year 5 children into the fiction.

• Mountain rangers: Luke began to co-create this expert team with the children. He began by talking to them about their work in the Rockies. Gradually he stepped into role as the Chief Mountain Ranger whose team had all quit due to the growing problem of litter on the mountains. He used pictures of litter-strewn mountains to create concern among the children. At one point he said, "What am I to do? I have no one to help me!" at which point the children all said, "We'll help you." Later Luke pointed out that as yet the children were not fully committed to their role - it's superficial. They need more depth and meaning. However, the beginnings were there.

Client: giving purpose and focus to the team's activities.

• A famous popstar stranded on a mountain

• The Chief Mountain Ranger

Tension: creating excitement and interest, producing energy and urgencyThis is an element  I have found very hard to achieve so far. During the 'Mountain Rescue' drama today there seemed to be tension everywhere:

• Level 4: Herculean tasks - rescuing someone stranded and injured on Mount Everest

• Level 7: pressures of timing limitations - how long would she survive?

• Level 8: pressures from sickness - the singer's injuries and their severity

• Level 9: breaks in communication - the Sherpas' radio kept cutting out

• Level 12: loss of faith in some companions - Luke stepped into role as the singer's husband who had had enough of her and had left her going up the mountain

I noticed the role of tension in a way I hadn't before: it kept the mantle going and involved children who, out of role and away from tension, were not particularly interested. It stopped the drama from fizzling out and carried it on from session to session.

Different points of view: 
While planning my attempts at MoE, I had sort of glossed over these as I didn't really understand the point of them. Today, it became a little clearer. During 'Mountain Rescue' there was the sister, the manager, the husband and the singer herself. During 'Mountain Rangers' the children spoke to the mountain (my favourite part of the day).

The different points of view give the context depth and elevated it from play to drama. They keep the Mantle going, beyond a quick acting out of a rescue. This was particularly clear during the 'Mountain Rangers' context, when the children were presented with the role of the Mountain. After becoming quite excited about turning adults into a mountain, as soon as they could talk to the mountain they took on their role with more seriousness: they spoke to the mountain and considered its answers. They stopped laughing and chatting and many wanted a turn at asking a question. The children were genuinely concerned for the mountain; at the end of the session, out of the fiction, they carried on talking about the problem as other children in the school went to lunch.
 Drama strategies and conventions: methods and techniques that give teachers a way to create dramatic moments in the class. Today I think I noticed:

• 1: the role actually present (the singer's sister, the Chief Sherpa, the Park Ranger....)

• 2: the role present but  framed as a film (the singer's manager)

• 4: the role as an effigy that can be brought into life-like response mode (the mountain)

There are 33 conventions and I just can't get my head around them, so that will do for now.

The two main things that I will be working on next:* introducing and using different points of view* easing children into the fiction more gently and with deeper collaboration from them.