Effective Role play in Learning and Development

By Edward Harbour
Creative Director, AIM Associates

Role play has been around as a learning tool for a long time. Without defining it as such, many of us use role play as a basic tool of life. Whenever we project into the future in a kind of ‘what if’ scenario, we are indulging in a role play; we are projecting ourselves into an imaginary situation where we can ‘rehearse’ our performance in order to influence the outcome.

In a learning environment, role play can be a very flexible and effective tool. The tenet ‘I hear and forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand’ is very applicable here. Role play is often used as a way of making sense of the theory, of gathering together concepts into a practical experience. And yet, it often goes wrong. Why? Because like so many things which are simple in concept, it can become complicated in reality. If used badly in a training environment the role play tool can be ineffective and some times even damaging. One of the main complicating factors surrounding role play is the attitude or emotional state of the people taking part. Quite frankly, many people are nervous - even terrified - at the prospect of participating in a role play.

For the purpose of this piece I am defining a role play as an experience around a specific situation which contains two or more different viewpoints or perspectives. The situation is usually written as a prepared brief and the different perspectives on the same situation are handed out to the participants. Each person will have a particular objective/objectives they want to fulfill which may well be in conflict with their fellow role player or role players. It is how each role player or role players. It is how each role player handles the situation that forms the basis of skills’ practices, assessment and development. The situations will be realistic and relevant to the role players and the most successful ones will be focused on developing a particular skill set.

So how can we take the fear out of the role play experience?

Here are some guidelines that you might like to think about when planning your next session.

Objective

Are you assessing skills or are you developing them? If you are assessing people, they need to know the competency level expected of them and the brief needs to have measurable outcomes

Are you giving everyone the same level of challenge?

We are not suggesting that people in learning and development situations should become actors and rehearse their life scenarios for hours on end but some rehearsal many be necessary, so allow for this

Don’t be too ambitious. For instance, don’t expect to teach people a complex behavioural model and expect them to use it in the real world immediately.

Briefing

The purpose of role play for development is to work on behavioural options within a specified context, whether you are using professionals or colleagues from different parts of your organisation, it might be worth thinking about introductions beforehand to reduce potential tension

Often a role play becomes ineffective because people are unclear about what they are supposed to do. The briefs for all sides of the role play should be unambiguous and totally in line with the objectives. Be clear about the purpose

The briefs will contain enough information for both parties to engage in a believable and relevant conversation which will be in line with the objectives

Avoid giving people the opportunity to play attitudes. If you want somebody to play an angry customer give them something to be angry about. Behaviour, like acting, is all about specifics. A well written brief will help to keep the exchange focused and on track

Adequate preparation time may seem obvious, but it is often overlooked in the belief that it is best to get on with it. People can be encouraged to share what they are trying to achieve with observers, so it becomes a shared, facilitative exercise rather than a battle- this will also defuse fear and tension

In developmental role play, the option can be given to press the pause button where people feel they are getting into difficulty. No-one should be expected to give a ‘performance’. That too will help dissipate the fear.

Observing and feedback

Allow the other participants to observe the role play and give their comments afterwards. Observers can be hugely beneficial to the participants’ learning, again this should be in line with your objectives. The language of feedback is also very important. Words used to express feedback should follow SMART principles

The order of feedback should be participant or participants first (that way it’s untainted by others’ views. If others give feedback and participant(s) wait till the end, they may feel they’ve been bombarded by a lot of tell

If there are professional role players involved, the role player(s) can make their comments after the participant and observers have expressed their observations. It often happens organically (once you have set it up) that once the participant has formulated out loud what happened for them, the observers will start to offer their feedback and in the process will include the professional role player.

Basically the rules are simple, role plays must be focused, the objectives must be clear, instructions must be clear, feedback needs to be specific, relevant, achievable and given immediately. Crucial to learning and developing options of behaviour- knowing what works, what doesn’t work, the range of behaviour available to an individual is the opportunity to go back and have another go (or several goes) at bits of the role play and/or the whole role play.

This article has been directed principally to the use of role play by non-professionals, i.e. those without an acting background. The best professions use their expertise in role play in the ways described above and bring their knowledge and expertise to bear on the design of the use of role play, as well as the writing and delivery.

For a more detailed version of this article please visit: http://www.blogger.com/www.aimass.com or email drama@aimass.com