I've found myself worrying a bit lately that I'm not getting Mantle of the Expert 'right'. Then I wonder what I could be doing to get it more right. Then I get more confused.
I'd decided that the story we'd been building lent itself nicely to looking at the microhabitat of a log. This is what happened.
While I narrated, my colleague was in role as the Tree Surgeon, acting on the advice of the Tree Team to cut down the broken branch of the King of the Oaks. The children were completely absorbed in this drama, slowly shuffling their small selves closer to the action and getting higher and higher up on their knees. After removing the branch, she left it there on the floor 'because she thought it might make a good microhabitat for someone.'
At this point, it's worth noting (as it still surprises me pleasantly every now and then) how completely okay the children were with my colleague, their teacher, playing the role of the tree surgeon. They knew they were seeing a story, but one that they had influenced and could see unfolding according to the decisions they had made as a team. It's powerful.
Anyway, I paused the story and wondered what creatures might come and live in log on the ground. From here we did some outdoor learning, finding woodlice, worms, slugs and a reluctant toad under logs. Then the children produced some art work which they added to the log (see image of overpopulated log). It was good curriculum learning with lots of engagement and questions from the children.
My worry was: was it Mantle of the Expert? There was someone in role... the children were sort of a team... but there wasn't a client really, or a commission. I'd set them the task, not in role but as their teacher, and they'd had little say in the matter really.
This is what I have decided (rightly, or wrongly!).
There was a team and their decisions and actions mattered. My colleague in role was not setting them a task today, but was acting upon work they had done previously. I was continuing the story, but very much based upon the children's work as the Tree Team.
There wasn't a client.... today.But the client from a previous session was involved, and the decisions the team had made for her had a bearing upon her actions.
Perhaps I could have turned microhabitats into a commission.This is something I'll ponder on for another time, to give the activity more purpose.
However, their work (researching and creating minibeasts for the log) still had a bearing upon the ongoing narrative.The story continues to be created with the children and influenced by their choices, questions and decisions.
We were working within the Three Dimensions of Imaginative-Inquiry:
Somewhere within the three circles.
All this wondering reminded me of a conversation I had with another MoE trainee during our recent training weekend. We were both unsure at times of whether what we were doing was 'Mantle' or 'not proper Mantle'. We concluded that it didn't really matter... as long as we were trying things out. Thankfully, Luke (Abbott, Mantle guru) agreed.
Notes and thoughts
- I had not previously used the narrative voice alongside a 'video' convention. It worked well. Plus, it helped to guide my colleague who did not have as much time to prepare as she may possibly have appreciated.
- It's good to return to the Three Dimensions of Imaginative-Inquiry and try out different things within each one. There's a lot to explore.
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