Participating in role play

Role playing involves applying a set of techniques that were first developed by Jacob Moreno, a Viennese psychologist. Moreno contended that people could gain more from acting out their problems than from talking about them. The use of role play in ISTE professional learning derives from its use in educational and organisational psychology.

Role play requires a skilled leader and an environment in which participants feel safe to take risks and to examine their behaviour in depth. While there are challenges in taking part in role play, these are outweighed by its value in enabling participants to examine their theories of practice and to compare them to their theories-in-use.

A role playing session generally takes place in a group setting. It may involve five basic steps:

1. Recall a particular scene or issue.
2. Recreate the original scene with support from the group.
3. Review the scene from different perspectives and develop a new approach.
4. Replay the scene, trying the new approach with support from the group.
5. Experiment with the new approach in your work and personal life.
   (Adapted from Epicentre for Thriving Organisations (n.d.)

Case 3: Effective Communication within Learning Interactions

Catherine, Allan, and Michael's use of role play as a technique for analysing interpersonal communications is underpinned by their understanding of the theories about interpersonal effectiveness derived from the work of Argyris and Schön (see video Clip 13). While acknowledging the challenges and risks involved, Catherine and her colleagues are adamant that role play makes a major contribution to their professional growth and learning (see video Clip 17).

Catherine and Allan used role play to re-enact a conversation that did not go as Catherine had planned. Working with her colleagues, Catherine was then able to identify times when she behaved in Model I ways that undermined her ability to achieve her intended outcomes. Subsequently, they used role play to try out strategies that are more consistent with the values and beliefs Catherine espouses (see video Clip 7).

Recommended reading

Muchinsky, P. (2006). Psychology Applied to Work. Belmont, Calif.: Thomson Wadsworth.
This is regarded as one of the standard textbooks in introductory industrial and organisational psychology.

For more information on role play, you may like to search the literature for “psychodrama”.

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